"Oh man, I am really tired of driving right now".That's all I was able to write last night before collapsing into bed. I was too tired even to walk down to the local eatery for dinner, so ordered in for pizza.
Although long, the past couple of days has been a beautiful drive through pink granite hills (one might almost say mountains) covered with just enough dirt to support a beatiful forest of birch and evergreens. it seems like this whole area is just a thinly covered block of pink granite. Some of it looks black, but I'm told that's just lichen covering it. In other places it's pink or a beautiful red.
One of the prettiest places is Rainbow Falls, which I remember well from my last trip through here 34 years ago. One of those beautiful woodland lakes sits a few hundred feet above lake superior, and directly at the outlet of the lake is the falls, tumbling down red granite boulders. This must've come as quite a surprise to some unlucky voyageur. From the lake side it looks like one of those infinity pools.
I had hoped to camp there, but the campground was closed for the season, and a big sign said the gate would be locked at 3pm. I had barely enough time to huff and puff my way up to the lookout for a couple of pictures.
Wednesday night I camped on yet another beatiful lake, at Sleeping Giant provincial park. (The giant appears to be either a poorly developed woman, or a man with a large goiter. You choose.) Got in an hour of paddling, although it was still quite windy. My tent was just a few feet from the water, and laughing loons woke me up in the night. This park is about 20 miles off the main road, a route lined with perfectly shaped large christmas trees.
Camping has gotten expensive. This was $37.25 for a tenting site with no water or electricity. The electrified sites were I think at least $50.
Also visited Ouimet Canyon, billed as "the grand canyon of canada". It's impressive but that's really quite an overstatement. With vertical 100 meter granite walls, the canyon is about half again that wide. You'll be glad to know that Wikepedia says the canyon was formed when a diabase (a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to plutonic gabbo) sill was split open. Try using some of those words in your conversation today...
Got lost going through Thunder Bay, but luckily the route took me by Starbucks
I remember thinking a while back that I wouldn't take this driving trip if gas was $5 per gallon. Well, I'm sure I haven't spent less than $4.20 since I've been in Canada, and yesterday it was $5.10.
Onward...
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| Thunder Lake, like a mirror |
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| Ouimet Canyon |
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| Ouimet Canyon |
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| Rainbow Falls |
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| See the Sleeping Giant |
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| Wowser Sunset |
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