We continue our journey towards western Canada and arrive on the shores of Lake Superior. We thought the first three Great Lakes were immense? They're nothing compared to Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world!
Wednesday, May 25th & Thursday, May 26th, 2022
These next two days, a lot of driving awaits us to reach the East shore of Lake Superior. Before leaving, we climb to the top of the hill that overlooks Elliot Lake, where there is a Fire Watch Tower. At the top, surprise: Wi-Fi! And pretty good 😏. We were supposed to take a 5-minute tour to admire the view, but we end up staying there for 2.5 hours working! In terms of an office with a view, we're not doing too bad.
Let's go for an afternoon of driving! We are covering kilometers on the Trans-Canada Highway, between huge trucks overtaking us at full speed and long straight roads. The wild landscape around us is amazing. We knew Canada was a vast country, but facing these endless roads and limitless nature, we are really grasping the scope of it. On the GPS, the territory that stretches to the north is immense. We who are crossing the country from east to west, had the impression of covering a good part of it! Not at all! In reality, we are crossing a tiny portion of it.
It is said that Lake Superior is unpredictable: rain and fog can appear at any moment. We experience this firsthand. Just as we catch a glimpse of it around a bend, the rain starts to fall. Lightly at first, then heavily. We make our way to our spot for the night under intermittent rain. It's going to be a wet night! We find a free camping spot on the shore of the lake. After Lake Ontario, then Erie, then Huron, we're used to the Great Lakes. But Lake Superior is on another level. In the mist, in the evening, we admire its infinite expanse.
The night was rough. The rain from the previous day had turned into a real storm and the wind blew very hard. We were on edge all night, and didn't sleep well, so waking up at 6:30 a.m. was tough. We hit the road again under a light rain and a mysterious fog, but this fickle weather gave a certain charm to the landscape.
As we progress along the shores of Lake Superior, we realize that nature hasn't quite gone "poof!" yet. We call "poof!" the moment when, in the span of two or three days, the trees burst into greenery. Here, the maple trees are barely budding. It's like we've gone back in time by a month. We make a stop at a small national park that offers a glimpse of ancient pictograms. It seems to be closed, but we venture in cautiously, as "danger of death" signs mark the route due to very slippery cliffs in rainy weather. Not very reassuring, especially as it's pouring down!
We take advantage of this gloomy day to drive, drive and do our errands: a hot shower at a nearby campground (finally!!!), laundry at a laundromat (with Wi-Fi, please!), some grocery shopping, a full tank for JP. So, a rainy day fully profitable!
Friday, May 27th
Wake up at 6am! That's getting earlier and earlier! 😯 It takes us 1.5 hours to have breakfast and break camp, a record. At exactly 8am, we're in the parking lot ready to start our hike.
🥾 White River Suspension Bridge Trail - 18km
Our first big hike of the trip begins under mixed but dry weather. After two days of bad weather, it feels good! We are the first ones on the trail. We walk slowly, with our senses alert. Our eyes scan the surrounding woods in search of an animal: deer, bear, moose 😁 But it's dead calm. We'll only see bear tracks and moose droppings, which we spare you the photo of. We move between woods, meadows, marshes, lakes, and then back into the woods again.
After 9 km of hiking, we arrive at the end of the trail where the suspension bridge stands, towering 23 meters above the White River Gorge. Impressive!
After a quick picnic in the sun, it's time to retrace our steps on the same trail. Less focused on our surroundings and more on the path, we cover the distance in 2 hours and 20 minutes, compared to the 3 hours and 30 minutes it took us to get there, a great performance.
We find a spot on a beach by the river. The highway is not far away, but the setting is still pleasant. We spend the evening in the company of a colony of pelicans, who constantly come and go on the river. They do everything simultaneously, it's very funny: they take off together, they land together, they swim against the current together, and they all dive together to fish, so that all we can see are their behinds! We spend the evening watching them, it's even better than TV. 😀
Saturday, May 28st
Once again, up at 6am. Since we have a long drive ahead of us before reaching the trailhead, we skip breakfast and immediately pack up camp.
🥾 Top of the Giant Trail - 21.9 kms.
At 8:30 am, we set off on the trail. We just had a banana for breakfast. And 10 minutes after we started, it started to rain. The 22 km hike was going to be long...
And long it is! The first 6 kilometers are on a relatively flat and rolling trail. We make good progress. The next 3 kilometers lead us to the top of the cliff, a steep climb that drains our legs. The last 2 kilometers take us to the viewpoint of the gorges. We are exhausted, soaked to the bone, hungry, but admiring the beautiful landscape.
It's raining and we decide to snack on some nuts and seeds instead of having a picnic. The good news: the landscape was well worth it. The bad news? We have to retrace our steps and go back the same way we came! After 2 kilometers, we realize that the return trip is going to be long. Very long. The 3 kilometers of steep descent wear out our knees. The last 6 kilometers are a torture. It's raining non-stop, our feet hurt, our back aches, our neck is stiff, and our shoulders are sore. We're on autopilot mode.
The view of the Jeep is a real relief. We quickly open the awning to shelter ourselves from the never-ending drizzle and devour our sandwiches, which seemed to have enjoyed this 21-kilometer hike in our backpacks... The good surprise of the evening: the shower in the park is not warm, not even hot, but scorching!! 🔥 A real delight. The question now is how we are going to dry all our stuff!! No doubt, humidity in a Jeep is the worst.
That night, to comfort ourselves, we decide to use the heater for the first time on the trip. An evening spent warm and dry inside the tent. It was a dream.
Tomorrow's plan? We take it easy and treat ourselves to a day of rest in Thunder Bay before starting the Great Crossing of Canada.
2 commentaires
Paysages à couper le souffle ! Falaises vertigineuses, pont suspendu à donner le vertige, dimension du lac Supérieur invraisemblable. On connaît de noms tous ces lacs que vous rencontrez mais on n’imagine jamais leur immensité.
Attention quand même (petit conseil de mamie) de ne pas faire trop de kms le ventre vide et n’attrapez pas une bronchite… ce serait dommage.
Gros bisous.
Mamie.
Que de magnifiques ces photos, elles rendent bien compte de l’immensité du lac, elles donnent le vertige entre les falaises, ce torrent qui se déverse sous le pont de singe est le témoin de la fonte des neiges de cet hiver… Et quelle chance de voir tous ces animaux, j’en ai pas eu autant moi … 🦆 (y avait pas de pélican !! 😁
Maman