Days 39 and 40 - Sault Ste Marie, ON to Espanola, ON

August 10th - August 11th, 2010

Our longest day yet, 138km! As we rode along the ups and downs of the highway, the heat and humidity increased throughout the day to mid-30 degrees. Luckily we were able to go for a swim in Lake Huron at lunchtime to cool off! I had to tuck ice cubes into my clothing to keep myself from melting in the afternoon, unlike Lisa who thrives in the heat! We were still on our moose lookout.... so many signs saying watch out for the moose, but where could they be??

Diana, our newest driver extraordinaire!

Our driving team had walkie-talkies and came up with a very functional system where Heather drove ahead in her SUV to scout out the roads, and Diana followed in Lois behind the cyclists. We stopped in Blind River for the night, where we came across a couple on their wedding night! They were camping in a tent with their dog, and their truck was decked out with wedding swag!

Heather with her scouting vehicle.

Lunch break - Lake Huron

The next day, we continued to Espanola, “A Fine Paper Town”, population 5500. We stayed with Lisa’s friend Cheryl’s family who wined and dined us through a great evening. Cheryl’s mom, Giulie, made a flank steak meal with ciabatta bread and salad, and we ate until we literally felt sleepy. It was nice getting to know the Waram’s and learning about Espanola. We all slept very soundly that night.

Dinner at the Waram's

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!

Days 37 and 38: Pedaling Feat in TBay.

Days 37 and 38: Fort Frances, ON to Thunder Bay!

We continued along HWY 11 which turned out to be a very energizing road, with its sporadic lakes, steep climbs, and frequent twists and turns - the perfect road for cycling!

Lake along HWY 11 - breathtaking

We took a water break at the "Atlantic Watershed" from where all streams flow into the Atlantic Ocean. It was the epitome of our “half-way mark” across Canada and we figured that it must all be downhill from there!

Lisa enjoying the ride, as usual.

Lisa having a solo-dance party, as usual.

Our stop for the evening was a campground in beautiful Quetico Provincial Park. This park is west of Lake Superior on the Canada-U.S. border and consists of many lakes that once formed water routes travelled by Ojibway and fur traders. We went for a “hike” at sunset through the woods along the water, which ended up being more of a wet trek through thick mossy lychen-scattered forest. At one point, I almost lost Lisa who stepped into an animal’s burrow. We got eaten alive by mosquitoes and decided to speed walk on the road back to our campsite.

Hiking in Quetico Provincial Park

The next day, we rode into Thunder Bay and stayed at the Valhalla Inn (sponsored). It was the first visit to Thunder Bay for both Lisa and I, so we were excited to check it out on our day off.

Thunder Bay turned out to be rich in history, due to a large European settlement dated back to the 1600’s with a French fur trading outpost on the banks of the Kaministiquia River. Our local friend and native Thunder Bay-er, Jordan, was able to give us tips on where to eat, and what to see. He even took us for a boat ride along the Kam River where we got to see Fort William Historical Park from the water.

Lisa and Jordan on the Kaministiquia River

Fact of the day:

Thunder Bay has the largest Finnish-speaking population outside of Scandinavia!

We ate Finnish pancakes at the famous "Hoito", a must-eat in TBay.