Category: Travel posts

Good bye to Wawa…it was a lot of fun…..despite the lack of promise initially….Back on the road for more long treacherous grades….and grand stone gateways……it really is scarier going downhill than up……both cos you don’t know what’s coming…and the fact that there’s a 30 foot trailer pushing us…!!!

Looking back at the pictures you really don’t get the sense of the grades…or just how BIG Ontario really is…!!! But it is…..what I also notice…is just how smokey it is …!!!!

And so to Rainbow Falls Provincial Park…our first camp at a Provincial Park….just the one night here..so we got set up quickly and set out for a trail hike to get our legs moving…big drive tomorrow…..

It turned into quite a phenomenal hike….not Bruce trail stuff….but some trekking across rocks…and the falls…well…..wow…!!!

I counted the stairs on the way back..181……it did not seem like that many on the way down……

Tougher hike than we had anticipated….and with a thunderstorm rolling in it was pretty humid…….so we hatched aplan on the way home….(shhhh…!!)

We found this great little secluded beach (weather was too unpleasant for anyone to be at the beach……)….and we both needed a bath…..!!

A bar of campers soap from the Lions Head farmers market soap lady…voila…the perfect skinny dip bath…….(highly recommended…!!😲)

Well worth the stop at this park….thoroughly enjoyable ……..but…the road goes ever onward………so time to get packed up and on the road again……

If you look it up on tripadvisor….Wawa’s claim to fame is a large sculpture of a Canada goose…….its true……..!!!!

We snagged a spot at Wawa RV resort…… a very nice back in spot with hydro and water. Nice park…nice people……phenomenal ( blistering..!!) water pressure in the showers…!!!!

No Wifi tho’….and very scant LTE….not sure if it has anything to do with the wildfires…but they told us at the office that they had been having problems with it and apologised…….No problem we thought….we will just whip in to Tim Hortons (which we had already spotted on the edge of town.)

Nope….no wifi to be had anywhere in Wawa….so….time to get out the old pen and paper to track our shenanigans ’til I can get some photos uploaded…..I guess thats the next thing on my learning list…is software to work offline…I’m sure this is not going to be the last place we have trouble with a connection…

Wawa……is …….sparse……!!!

Wawa is on Lake Wawa…….

There is a Canadian Tire..(yay)..but no gas bar..(boo)…and no wifi (double boo).

There is the Lakeview Hotel…which, my dear husband pointed out, if one were of a mind to hold a serial killers annual convention……it’d be the place to host it………no one would hear about it..!!

..and I had to smile at the solar panels on the church…….

oooo…..and the thrift store…(the Thrift Barn)…was closed first da we were there…but with a notice like this on the door…we just had to go back again….

But…..the funny thing was…when we went back…turned out it was totally the place to get an impressive variety of locally grown produce….(which we did….!!!)

But actually…Wawa…for all its tiny smalltown charm,,,,,,,turned into a fabulous spot…..

We stayed over at Wawa Rv Resort and Campground…..lovely spot….very nice park…..

And a couple of great hikes were undertaken…….first High falls to Silver falls…its listed on Alltrails as a moderate hike………it was at least that…..very pretty though….it starts at High Falls and finishes at Silver Falls….but both can be accessed by road if you don’t want to do the hike….

There was a clearcut section in the middle…..where the path became very unclear…we decided to walk back down and drive around to the other side……..which was good that we did…cos we also found Sandy Beach….

Silver Falls…

So the next day….the walk was along Sandy Beach……made famous by the whole Group of Seven connection to the north……..and the obligatory swim in Lake Superior……..It is fantastically beautiful

Interesting fun fact…….that I just found out……Lake Superior contains 10% of the worlds freshwater……apparently it has enough water in it to cover the entire North American continent……Canada included..in 30 cm of water….now thats a lot of water…!!!

Beautiful clear water…….but a little on the cold side for swimming….no matter…

There’s no pictures of me swimming…….cos I’m holding the camera!!!!!!!

As if this was not fun packed enough……the last adventure for this spot was finding out there is a ghost town here….finding it…and getting there……

Michicopoten Harbour was part of the first European settlement in the area……and so a harbour was built…and there was a town here……there are still some remnants of the buildings and the wharf……so we got the map out..to see if we could get there.

We followed the road…cryptically named Michicopeten Harbour Road……but it led to a gated road…

But you (one..!) could easily walk around the gate…and seeing no trespassing signs…no keep outs………so here we go……

A bit of a walk down the road we found a path that led down to the shore….from which we could see the remnants of the harbour…and could also see that we were as close as we were going to get…..

I included the little map just cos it gives an idea of where the place is…so we are actually in the bay across from the harbour……

So lots more fun in Wawa than expected….definitely a little hidden gem in Northern Ontario. Good friendly people…surprising myself that I can’t say enough good things about this little dot on the map…….

Back in the truck…heading for our first Provincial Park stay…at Rainbow Falls.

Back on the road again….pretty excited about getting a sighting of Lake Superior today…..as we drive up the east shore. We are also starting to drive into some smokieness…….a very distinct hazieness from the wildfires.

Yes I did check the map…there are no travel warnings or anything close to the road…just some air quality advisories.

Now…just north of the Soo…we started to get in to a bit more smoke…and a lot more grades…!!

The Trans Canada…other side of the Soo…is a collection of 6% and 7% grade inclines and declines……with lots of winding curves thrown in there for good measure…..a hairy drive for sure……the engine was working just as hard on the way down as up…..in an effort not to have the trailer crush us……..or at least thats how it felt a lot of the time….and I wasn’t even driving…!!!

Then we started picking up bits of the shoreline……pictures just cannot do it justice….it is a sight to behold…!!!

As you travel this section of Trans -Canada…the road has been blasted through many many rock formations…which results n these massive stone gateways that you pass through…..time and time again……never gets old……

As we passed through one of the many first nation reserves along this path……Agawa presented us with a stop…with parking spots for bigger rigs….we parked next to one that made us feel quite tiny…!!!

we were not quite sure…as they pulled out ….that they were going to make the corner without wiping us out……..they did…!!!

Lake Superior….more pix of the East shore from the truck….

It is a truly spectacular drive…many Wows were uttered……I have to admit ..I shut my eyes on some of the hills…!!!!

227 kms to Wawa……….

…and then there was Wawa………

We had grand plans of pulling over and stopping, lookouts…there were plenty…….but nothing pull through…or big enough to be able to tell if we would fit before it was too late to stop..!!!

This is not a highway I/we want to be having to back up a trailer onto cos the stop we picked won’t let us pull forward out of…..soooooo…..a lot of pictures in motion from the cab of the truck result..!!

It ended up being a longer drive than intended to Serpent River Campground …..our first campground …ever…!!!

Lovely place…..decent showers…hot water..nice people…….overall a positive experience….(wifi was pretty weak….not enough to sort my pictures)……..but overall we would recommend this campground……and it is just off the Trans-Canada.

Just across the road from the campground ….is Annette’s Diner….looks seriously sketchy…but you have to try stuff so we stopped for brekkie on the day we pulled out…..

It was pretty good….!!!….we kind of regretted not having their fish dinner as the fisherman walked in with a bag of fresh caught fish…!!!

Elliot Lake

We were here for two days…so we thought a little side trip to Elliot Lake might be in order….20 minutes north of the main highway. From what I knew of it…I have only seen the ads for high end retirement condo’s..so we thought it might have some interesting stores. (Having not really been in a store for…how long now?….I can find the automotive department in Canadian tire pretty interesting browsing…..!!!)

Elliot Lake……its a bare bones little utility town in the middle of nowhere…..(upside it has a Can Tire gas bar..!!)..and seems to have suffered greatly from the economic downturn. Reeeeeally nice people…..love to chat ….eager to help.

Scott suggested……next time we stop in a town with more than one horse….!!!

Back on the road across the north shore of Huron….cos the next two nights were booked at Glenview cottages just north of Sault Ste Marie.

Back on the road….

Glenview cottages just north of the Soo…second campground, but the first one with 30 amp service..(A/C here we come…!!) which turned out to be a bonus, cos we had mega thunderstorms pretty much the whole time we were here…..and A/C was definitely a benefit ( we have not really felt the need for it up to now..!!)

We were excited to get up in the morning for the Mill Street Farmers market…we love the Kitchener farmers market, and had a blast at the Lions Head market.

It was nice enough, very organised…very expensive…we left without any purchases feeling a little disappointed……made up for it with a breakfast stop….

Great little spot……excellent food……they were slammed busy but it was worth the wait (their waffles with browned butter and locally sourced maple syrup were amazing…!!!😋)

Next stop …Bushplane museum……now this is a treasure …and totally worth a stop ( $13.50 per adult entry fee..)

There’s also an insectarium in the museum…which looked really cool…but was packed with kids, as it should be, the whole time we were there. The staff were pulling giant bugs out of display cases and letting them crawl on kids hands..!!! (😮)

More than just the planes……there is also the history of the area and the bushplane/wildfire connection….which is very topical at the moment with over a 100 wildfires burning in Northern Ontario… Forest Fire Info Map (gov.on.ca)

It poured…poured with rain the whole time we were in here….another reason we were in no hurry to leave….

Next episode is Soo to Wawa….

Final day in North Bruce.

We have thoroughly enjoyed being here…met many tremendous people, hiked lots of great trails….and enjoyed a very positive start to this adventure.

First ferry of the morning is 9am…and you have to be there an hour ahead…..( and highway 6 north is being re-surfaced…so extra time..!!!…6 am start for us…..MUCHO earlier than we are used to these days….

We were smart enough to hook the trailer up the night before so all we had to do was pull out…..Cape Chin mosquitos said a fond farewell by eating us alive…..( many bad words were said..I will admit..!!!)

Goodbye Cape Chin..a wee bit sad because its been fun…

Chi Cheemaun translates to Big Canoe , I’m told…

We got in the queue…and yes…we were easily the biggest rig there this morning….

The ticket gates are not that wide……came pretty close to taking out one of the concrete bollards….yikes..!!!

Beautiful day to be on the lake……

They pack ’em in pretty tight….!!!

The RV in front of us…..!!!!

I was pretty sure he was going to be scraping the wall on the way off….but no…….unscathed..!!!

More entertainment on the boat was some of the incomprehensible signage…!!!

Coming off the other side……wow what a landscape…….and magnificent drive……and if you want to see it…you will have to drive it…..LOL.

Its narrow, its hilly ( and then some) and there is not really anywhere one can pull off with a 30 ft rig….!!! Hence…few pictures….

Little Current ( yes there is such a place….look it up on tripadvisor…!!!). The main attraction in little current is the swing bridge…..aka long narrow iron bridge only wide enough for one lane of traffic at a time……

And then more driving…..hilly, winding…..not great surface roads….and again…..no real opportunity to pull over with the rig attached. So we had to pass on some of the real beauty spots of Manitoulin….so we will have to come back to this spot…..

North, north then left turn onto the Trans Canada highway….

When you see, read or think the words “Trans-Canada highway”….it conjures a picture of a big , wide , flat multi lane highway does it not…..

The reality……is quite different……its a bit like the devils beeftub road…for those who know it…….only much much longer…..!!!

Entertaining driving……..

To our landing spot for the night at Serpent River campground…….lovely spot…..nice campground…..

I will have to add the pictures later…..my terrible internet connection in the Soo is making it difficult to upload pictures.

We have been to this market every Saturday for about 7 weeks now. Many of them were assisting at the Paris Brew/Tagwerk beer stall….but we have become quite accustomed to having the green crepe from Crepetown for breakfast, egg pies from Tina the baker lady, veggies from Pierce at the Easy farm and generally shooting the breeze with the very lovely friendly vendors at this market……highly recommend it if you are in the area on a Saturday morning 9 am ’til noon.

Paris Brew/Tagwerk

Paris Brew/Tagwerk beers. If you have not had their beer yet you need to hurry over to Wincey Mill in Paris…..or stop in at the Lions Head farmers market on Saturday morning. Bright flavour, clean tasting beers….I’d like to say I have a favourite….but I like them all…!!

Random Ranch Alpacas

Yes, I know….trust me to find the lady with the lovely yarn.

This quite lovely lady is Random Ranch Alpacas……….(http://www.randomranchalpacas.com)

I admit I had to buy some….and having started to knit with it…I had to go back and buy some more. Her alpaca yarn is sumptuous, wonderful to knit with…it’s buttery and smooth in your hands as you ( I !) work.

Crepetown

I’m really going to miss this green crepe…..I kept telling the lady, I almost bought the market morning crepe quite a few times….but at the last minute always defaulted to the delicious green one…..mmMMMMMMmmmm…

Tina the baking lady

The baking lady, Tina, I’m not sure if her stall actually has a name….cos I’m usually just staring at the baked goods on her counter, and praying that the person in front of me doesn’t buy the last candied ginger scone..(to die for…!!)……and those little egg tarts….mmmmmmMMMMmmmm….

The Easy Farm

Pierce the veggie guy…(hope I’m spelling it right…I went for the Pierce Brosnan spelling ’cause he’s quite the handsome guy.😃)…….his salad greens are the freshest and tastiest I have seen/eaten in a very long time…we had to buy extra on Saturday b/c we won’t be here for next market…..totally impressed by the quality of his produce.

Natural Soaps & Body Products

Who knew that I would need any more soap (Joanne S…you know who you are..!!😂)

But this lady…we first found her on the road to Dyers Bay (yes the day I barely survived!!!) She has a campers soap with citronella…..seemed like a great idea (re Bruce bugs.!)..so we bought some…it smells really good actually….

She has some really interesting and glorious smelling products

Maple Syrup guy

He has maple sugar for sale….I made pancakes with it……oh boy…why did I not know about this stuff before…!!!!

Three Trees Art

These are the guys we found on East Road the day we biked to St Margaret’s Chapel.

Dharma farmer

We bought some fresh garlic to give it the olive oil treatment (preserving garlic).

Wow it was nice stuff…..

Jordan Wood Turning

I’m a real sucker for these hand turned bowls…I just wish I could justify buying on for the trailer…..

Big Mama’s

Spicy sauces R her……

The Bread Basket

You gotta be there early, she sells out quick….

…….and then….on the way home, we saw an open sign on the Bison Builders farm on East Road……

Lovely man at the farm….I know that I keep saying it…but we have met soooo many truly lovely people so far……

I thought the two guys there were brothers…..but turns out they were father son…..super nice guys……bought the summer sausage and some pepperettes…will report on them along the way…!!!

This was our last trip to the Lions Head farmers market…we are pulling out north on Wednesday…taking the Chi Cheemaun over to Manitoulin and then on up around Lake Superior…I will miss this market and the great people here….we might have to come back some time….but ’til then….here’s to the next adventure……

Just down the road from our current home, there is a spot on the road we pass, where, hikers park at the side of the road to access the Bruce.

So it seemed like a good idea to do a hike we could walk to instead of driving ….it was hard to find maps…Alltrails didn’t seem to have it listed….and the Bruce maps require a subscription to access them……fortunately tho…they often post them at the access points.

We actually accessed where the P for parking is….

There is a stile with a sign telling you not to disturb the farm animals……when we crossed the stile…we stepped into a meadow populated by a large number of very large black cows…..who immediately all turned to look at us……and then start walking towards us…….

This may have been slightly more alarming than the bear incident…!!!

……and of course they don’t look nearly as intimidating in the pictures….but they followed us across the field and watched us go off in to the forest…(yes…I know …they probs just thought we were there to feed them……it was still a bit unnerving…!!!

Off in to the forest we go…..to find some unexpected little delights in the trees….

Wildlife that was not listed in any of the guides……but I don’t think they were dangerous..!!!

This day….on the mysteriously labelled ‘un-named trail’…….it was a slightly foggy, kind of overcast day which made the forest feel just a little more ‘magical’…or maybe it was the tone set by the gnomes.

I’m realising as I look through the pictures that we did a lot less big scenery shots today….and many more little details………it’s such a beautiful place…..

I tried…and failed to get pictures of the strange little bugs we were up against today….as we walked through the trees…there were funny little caterpillars worm thingies…(and they were yucky) hanging from single strands of silk…as you walk through them…you feel the whispery creepy silk across your skin…and then there are all these little inchworm things on your shirt and hat………it required the acquisition of a stick to wave in front to catch most of them before they were on you….I’m pretty sure they were harmless….but creepy…!!!

More fungi…….apologies for the multiple pictures…but they were sooo cool….

The un-named trail now has a name…!!!

…and more fungi……

…..and then…in the middle of nowhere there is this MCM house….and the path was almost photoshopped fake looking…..

If someone has the story on this I’d love to hear it…!!!

……late in the afternoon now…the mosquitos were starting to gather…and all of a sudden we emerge from the forest…and we are back at the farm at Cape Chin….

This was a great one………this one was a recommendation from a local. We likely would not have found it without direction. The GPS was totally confused…couldn’t find it….but that may also be due to the seriously sketchy network connection (or lack thereof..) that exists up here.

Be warned this is going to be a long one with lots of pictures….it was a terrific day out..!!!

We set of on what promised to be a 10k+ hike with a couple of side trails thrown in to the mix….Nice little free parking lot ( bonus)…and the hike starts out on the road……..and then heads off in the direction of the coast….

Nice easy terrain…( or so we thought ) the first couple of kilometers were nice and flat…almost a groomed trail.

very different again…..

There are a couple of side trails on this section, The John Appleton and the Beth Gilhespy side trail that join together to make a more interesting loop.

Once we got in to the foresty bit, it became a lot more interesting….thankfully the local mosquito population seemed to be having a bit of a holiday today…..Either that or the new bug repellent lotion I bought at Can Tire works better than the old stuff…..!!!!

We had a couple of days of heavy rain so I was hoping to find some fungi about…

I was not to be disappointed.

And some interesting natural sights along the way……

………and then……..we get to the Beth Gilhespy side trail……which…on reviewing the description after the fact…….does say that it has a ‘challenging element’…………….

AAAAAaaaaargh…!! 47 steps down……( I counted them on the way back up.. .!!! )

….and then……

Well…..you just have to give it a go ….don’t you…!!!

Its definitely a bit of a challenge,,,,,,but great fun……our legs were definitely a bit on the wobbly side when we made it back up…!!!

And even after that there was still a bit of scrambling round cliff faces….not too many pictures…because by that time we were on tired legs and a bit more concerned about falling off…..

Oh boy we were tired at the end of this one…….and it looks sooooo unimpressive as a workout…!!!

So we trudged back in to Barrow Bay…..

…and then……we realised why Barrow Bay is so difficult to find………

St Margaret’s chapel, we drive by it every time we go into town, or go anywhere actually. Its just over 7km from our current location…so we decided to bike over to it for a closer look. ( St. Margaret’s Chapel (Cape Chin) – All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go – Updated 2021 (Cape Chin, Ontario) – Tripadvisor )

Pretty little church that is never locked apparently.

Lovely little place…..not necessarily the kind of place you would drive up here to see….but if you are in the area its most certainly worth the side trip to include it in your day. ( bonus…not just the church is open…but there is also an accessible washroom/outhouse onsite).

The stained glass windows all depict local flowers.

We stopped in at a local artists gallery on East Road just for a look….quite lovely prints and cards….lovely spot…

Since one of the themes of this part of the trip seems to be the varied terrains of this part of the country…I could not resist taking some pictures of the rock formations along the road on the way home. Some of them look (I think) like manmade brick walls…..(plus it gave me the excuse to stop for a couple of rests on the road home….don’t tell Scott….!!!!)