Road Trip! Thunder Bay to Sault Ste-Marie

Next on the list was one of the highlights of our trip - the Terry Fox Memorial. The 9ft tall bronze statue stands on a hill that overlooks Lake Superior and the famous “Sleeping Giant” peninsula. It depicts the place where Terry Fox ended his journey (East to West in his case). It was unbelievably inspiring to stand next to the Memorial and reflect on our journey thus far, and think about how Terry Fox basically pioneered cancer-research activism.

The Sleeping Giant

We drove along Lake Superior, in complete awe of the greatest lake on the planet. It is the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area, and I could’ve sworn we had reached the ocean. The views were endless.

Note: For those who are unaware, the route from “TBay” to “The Soo” (HWY 17) is winding, narrow, has few shoulders and is frequented by large transport trucks. There are no secondary roads, so we drove in Lois (as planned) through this section for safety reasons.

We took our time driving, as we were a whole day ahead of schedule and decided to enjoy the small towns along the way. We stopped in Rossport, a small B&B-type town with a gorgeous white sandy beach and then continued to Marathon where the local campground had a private lake! We walked around the lake in the evening, and chatted with some locals. The next day, we relaxed on the beach and read our books all day. It was fabulous.

The Beach at Marathon Municipal Campground

A superior lake, indeed.

Late in the afternoon we checked out Pebble Beach, which is scattered with perfect pebbles, smooth colorful rocks, and crystal clear aquamarine water. Could it get any better than this? We left Marathon and continued along HWY 17 to Pukaskwa National Park where we decided to stay the night, where we had high hopes on seeing a moose.

Pebble Beach, Marathon, ON

“Pukaskwa National Park's exceptional beauty is revealed in its vistas of Lake Superior and in the rugged, ancient landscape of the Canadian Shield and northern forest. The spirit of the wilderness envelopes those who explore this special place.

The only wilderness national park in Ontario, Pukaskwa protects 1878 square km of an ecosystem that features boreal forest and Lake Superior shoreline.”

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pukaskwa/index.aspx

We went for a 3km hike along the shore of Lake Superior and couldn’t resist going for a swim at one of the sandy beaches. This park is a gem that should be scheduled into all cross Canada trips.

Pakaskwa National Park, ON

Pedaling Feat was here!

The next day, we continued to Wawa, a town famous for its giant Canada Goose, then onto Sault Ste Marie!!

The Wawa goose

We met up with our next volunteer team that consisted of Lisa’s mom, Diana and her good friend Heather from North Bay. We went for a delicious Italian meal in the Soo, and stayed in the Lion’s Club campground right on Lake Superior. Welcome to Pedaling Feat, Diana and Heather!