Northern Ontario is too big.
8 days (I think?) in and the scenery hasn't changed much. There are some nice spots once or twice a day but for the most part it's the same old boreal forest and muskeg along the highway.
Anyways, another chilly morning in Marathon, but the dew was manageable this time. I lightened my load a bit for the day by sharing some dried fruit for Guy's oatmeal. We split ways for another day, heading away from Superior and towards White River.
Not too much to say about the 95 km to White River. The hills weren't quite as bad today but the wind was on and off in my face. Actually, the wind in Northern Ontario is quite an experience. It can switch 180° in less than 100m from headwind to tailwind and vice versa. I swear the other day that I saw the wind blowing in opposite directions on either side of the road.
After passing through a stretch of mostly wilderness, I made it into the small town of White River (population: 1000 on the dot). The town's claim to fame is that the bear that inspired Winnie the Pooh was bought here by a Canadian soldier heading to Europe. I did the brief tour around town, and found Guy at a gas station.
With no camping options from here to Wawa, another 90 km away, we both agreed that the free camping on the lawn at the visitor center was our best bet. We were asked to wait until the center closed at 8 pm to set up tents so we settled in outside the visitor center to mooch power and wifi.
I did some minor chores (fixing my handlebar tape and refreshing the writing on my bags) and decided that it was easier to not cook tonight so I just snacked and bought some ice cream.
The visitor center free camping became pretty lively. We met a couple hitchhiking across Canada, and then a student from Michigan driving across. Then to the amazement of Guy and I, Risto rolled in at 7:00 pm, having pulled a 180 km day from Terrace Bay in one shot. Amazing, and it kind of made Guy and I feel like wusses for taking easy days.
I woke up during the night, and during a trip to water the grass, looked up to see some of the clearest stars I've ever laid eyes on, despite the streetlights in the visitor center parking lot.
The next morning, I woke up well rested, early and feeling pretty strong. It was 90-ish kilometers to Wawa, and I was determined to push on further than that and finally do a longer day.
Once I got over the morning's hill I caught on a tailwind and engaged the powerful thighs to fly down the other side at warp speed. The speed was sadly not meant to last though, as 30 km from Wawa the wind pulled a typical Northern Ontario 180 and came right down my nose at 20 - 30 km/hr. As if that wasn't bad enough, the last 20 km to town was mostly uphill again.
Still, my speedy morning meant I made it to Wawa by 11:45. I raised my arms in victory as I coasted into the first Tim Hortons in almost 400 km. While enjoying my customary donut lunch, I used the wifi to research the last 220 km to Sault Ste Marie.
With no obvious groceries in that distance, I topped up in Wawa and took a quick lunch at the big goose statue before setting off for a quick 30 km to Lake Superior Provincial Park.
Once again, Google Maps proved it is not great at estimating elevations, as my two easy uphills were actually quite long and steep. Eventually made it to the (very expensive) campground and gathered some firewood from the abandoned campsites. Guy showed up shortly after, to my relief, as it meant I could split the campsite fee. As we started up our cheery little campfire, we were cheerily informed by another campground denizen that there was a burn ban in Algoma. Close one there!
After some planning on the weirdly good LTE and my first shower in 4 days, Guy and I decided to do another night together at Pancake Bay, another expensive Provincial Park.
you would have passed by Dennison lake on the way.
ReplyDeletescene any treasure in the ditch???