On our last day in Pukaskwa, we decided to walk the Coastal Trail an hour out and an hour back. We passed a couple of young men finishing up the entire walk. They were smiling proudly. The entire trail is 65 km. but it is rated difficult. To stay along the coast, it has to go up and down on all kinds of surfaces with roots, rocks, boulders and sand to keep you occupied.
We just walked the section around Hattie Cove, across the marsh at the top of the cove, then some up and down through the woods. We weren’t too far from the from the start of the loop out to the coast that I’m sure is gorgeous. At the other end of the loop is a swinging bridge over the White River below a waterfall. A couple of young ladies passed us to do this overnight hike with a fishing rod in the backpack. A couple of guys passed with fishing rods too, but they hadn’t caught anything. They thought it had turned too cold.
The highlight of the walk was seeing three grouse. Obviously accustomed to people, they weren’t too shy. That makes five grouse we have seen here.
Martha has caught the cold now, and took a power nap after lunch. We are a sight to see, sniffling, coughing and bundled up while our neighbor across the street is in shorts and a t-shirt.
We were pretty efficient getting ready, and were soon out on the Trans Canada Highway. It was cloudy with some fog, but few were on the road this morning. I was happy to get behind a good tractor-trailer driver. He was maintaining a sensible speed, so I stayed well-behind, and kept looking for moose crossing the road.
The fog got a little worse, and it started raining hard. the truck put his emergency lights on, so I did the same. I could barely see him while he slowed down. Then it stopped raining for a bit, then started again. My truck driver pulled over in an unlikely spot. I couldn’t do much, but pass and go on in those conditions, but I wondered what had happened.
The skies cleared, and Martha found Robin’s Donuts, so we stopped for egg sandwiches and coffee. With two people working behind the counter, they were busy. We wondered what all these people were doing. Obviously some were working, but Martha asked 6 guys at the table next to us if they were here for work or fun. “Fishing,” one said with a smile. It was a fly-in to a lake with Walleye and Pike.
We only had an hour left to go, and we pulled in at 10:30. “Drive around and choose an empty site,” she said. We loaded a bag of firewood and headed off. Passing up one spot, we thought we should take the next, and it turned out to be a good one. With some practice, we have gotten better at backing into a site.
We set up and had lunch. I finished the excellent chicken and rice soup from the Witches Brew in Sault Ste. Marie, while Martha finished up the chili she had made. Then I took a 1-hour nap – out like a light.
I got up with a spark of energy and built a fire. I spoke to Mike across the way in an Airstream. We exchanged greetings and I asked how long he had been here. “Since May’” he said. He said he moves every 15 days. He said this is the jewel of Canadian parks!
Sitting by the fire in the sun felt good. It’s an iron fireplace unlike any I have seen, small with a flat cover about 2/3rds the way toward the back. A grill hinges down from that to cover the front. There are slots on the sides to draw air to the fire, and a cutout on the front side so you can see; It also serves to send the heat out the front. It resembles a wood stove and works great.
Does this chair belong to David Gordon Sutton??
We enjoyed it until rain drove us in. We must have had 20 changes in weather. It rained, then blue sky everywhere, then the clouds returned, some rain, blue sky, wind blowing, calm.
We walked down to the Visitor’s Center to get WIFI. There is no cell service here, so many were gathered . Our neighbors across the street came up to say hi. Luis and Anna are from Puerta Vallarta. They are very nice, and have been on the road for two years. They are heading to Vancouver next.
It is a beautiful spot behind the Visitor’s Center. It sits on a long, narrow bay, called Hattie Cove. There were warnings about an algae bloom where they usually launch canoes, but it is restricted now.
It was a beautiful sunny morning. Still sore from previous hikes, it was just too nice a day to sit around. We opted for Noisy Bay, not too far from us. It is a 3-mile out-and-back hike rated moderate that takes from 1.5-3 hours. There is a 500’ elevation change.
Like our other hikes, you need to watch every step. Look up and you are likely to trip, and one stretch goes over a boulder field. The forest is pretty, and soon the trail met up with a rushing stream. After the boulder field, we came out on Noisy Bay. It is a round-rock beach with the rushing river emptying into the bay, thus the name.
Like all of our views of Lake Superior, the water was crystal clear. It is a beautiful spot with no boats in sight. We sat for a bit before heading back. For us, it was an hour in and an hour back out. I was soaked in sweat when we got to the car. It was about 75 degrees with a lot of humidity.
Back at camp we had to move sites for the second time here, but we were pretty efficient with it, and we like our new site. We had lunch and Martha took the kayak out for a spin. I was going after her, but we had started a wash, so I went up to move them to the dryer. We had talked to nice fellow when we loaded the wash. On my way back up, I passed him, and he said he had moved ours to the dryer since there was a little time left on the dryer. Nice!
I set up the Cobb Cooker and started the charcoal while Martha fixed a cube steak with cut up potatoes and peas wrapped in foil. It was very good and made for easy cleanup.
In keeping with signs on the trails, our chipmunk left footprints and droppings on our picnic table..
A couple of campsites up, I talked to a nice gentleman with a cool bike. Some people think I am crazy to camp and travel with an Airstream. Maybe, but it’s a whole different level when one travels on a motorcycle, carrying a tent, sleeping bag, rain gear, food and more. Wearing a Dalhousie University shirt, he said he used to ride dirt bikes, and this bike is in between a dirt bike and a road bike.
It has five different modes; tour, urban, gravel, off-road, user-1, user-2. It has cruise control and even CarPlay. He had a bracket for his phone, but there is also a computer screen showing his route. He said bikes like this are developed for a race in Europe. Very cool indeed!
We got the kayak down and I went fishing on Rabbit Blanket Lake for a couple of hours. No luck after trying 5 trout spinning lures and a beetle spin. It is a shallow lake with cool water, but it has a lot of grass in it. In Virginia I consider grass as a sign of too much fertilizer in a stream, but that is not likely here. Martha had bought a rod holder for me, which fit into a slot on either side of the boat. I even tried trolling with the rod in the holder.
I turned it over to Martha, who took it for a spin around the lake, After all this walking, it felt good to do something different, and it is a pretty lake in a province that has 250,000 lakes, accounting for 20% of the world’s fresh water supply!
I went outside at 4am to see the stars and took 4 iPhone pictures while lying on the picnic table. I have no idea what this is.
We were sore and tired from hiking, but it was going to be a sunny day in the 60’s – perfect for a hike. Martha made a hearty breakfast scramble with eggs, bacon, onions, peppers and left over french fries and toast.
I glanced up and saw a beautiful red fox trotting past the trailer, up a little bank and stopped to poop. I quickly grabbed my phone, but he was gone. What’s with the pooping on our site?
We set off to the Nakomis Trail at Old Woman Bay. Some of you with great memories may recall that Nakomis was Hiawatha’s grandmother, who raised him.
According to the poem, From the full moon fell Nokomis/Fell the beautiful Nokomis. She bears a daughter, Wenonah. Despite Nokomis’ warnings, Wenonah allows herself to be seduced by the West-Wind, Mudjekeewis, Till she bore a son in sorrow/Bore a son of love and sorrow/Thus was born my Hiawatha.
Abandoned by the heartless Mudjekeewis, Wenonah dies in childbirth, leaving Hiawatha to be raised by Nokomis. The wrinkled old Nokomis/Nursed the little Hiawatha and educates him.
The Nokomis Trail is a 3 mile loop rated moderate taking 1.5 – 3 hours. We figured we could walk 3 miles. The clue was the 3 hours. It is a loop trail taking you up a mountain to beautiful views of Old Woman Bay. We walked it counter-clockwise, which proved to be a good guess. Starting the hike was a round-rock trail through a pretty forest, but you had to stop to look around. There was a lot of reindeer lichen, which woodland caribou love to eat. Unfortunately, they are no longer here, as the wolves and humans have taken their toll.
The path changed to dirt for a steady climb, then to rocks until we climbed to the top for an outlook on a huge boulder. We could see Old Woman Bay, the river and the Trans-Canada highway. On the way down there were two more overlooks and places that looked like filming of “The Last of the Mohicans.” The trail turned very steep going down, so we had to turn around like climbing down a ladder. We were coming down a long, steep stretch and I took a fall. I guess it is part of getting older, but all along I thought about all those hard, sharp rocks and the damage they could do if you slipped or fell. I was coming down, almost to the bottom when Martha reversed her direction. Trying not to run into her, I took a bad step and tumbled to land on my back. Very fortunately, there was no damage. My backpack saved me as there was a sharp rock underneath it. Whew!
I must say I admire the Canadian way of “swim at your own risk.” Hike at your own risk, look over a waterfall at your own risk, or just no sign at all, but you go at your own risk. I like that.
Old Woman Bey
Trans-Canada Highway
We took 2.5 hours to do the hike, including stops at all the overlook and 10 minutes for Martha to retrieve my hat after I fell. Martha rated the hike a 3.5/5.0 because of all the rocks, but all the young people just frolicked up and down the mountain, and the views are spectacular. A couple of young guys greeted us at the first overlook and Martha said, “I’ll trade you my legs for yours,” and one replied, “I’ll trade for your wisdom.” That brought a smile to her face. We saw our first snake on the trail, but it was going too fast to identify it.
I could have fished the lake in Rabbit Blanket, but the wind was blowing pretty good and I had no legs to hike down the river. Maybe tomorrow.
After four days of driving, we wanted to get out and walk. #2 on the things to do in Sault Ste Marie is the Boardwalk along St. Mary’s River that connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron. It is a busy area for Great Lakes shipping both with loading and unloading as well as locks to move ships between these lakes.
The boardwalk is planted with beautiful flowers. Bikers, walkers and runners passed us on our walk. Passing a hydro-electric plant, we came to the locks where Kelly and I had observed people steelhead fishing. Whitefish Island has been a productive fishing area for many generations. Indian tribes came here every summer for the whitefish, netting and trapping them.
Following the trail down to the river, chipmunks came out to greet us. A rabbit hardly looked up as we walked by. Birds flitted between bushes. A creek runs through the middle of the island, but locks and hydro-electric facilities have all but drained the flow. That didn’t stop beavers from making four dams.
Surprisingly, the river was flowing strong, much more than our last visit. There are so many fires in Canada in very dry conditions, I thought water levels would be low. I love this spot!
Not far from the KOA is a unique lunch and takeout place called The Soup Witch with fresh-squeezed lemonade, espresso, sandwiches, chili, pies and more.
We set out to explore Lake Superior, some parts of which Kelly and I saw on our “Fish Across Canada” trip in 2013. It was so foggy on that trip, we couldn’t see 20 yards in front of us. The old days of traveling without reservations are gone, so I have booked campgrounds all along the route for a 7-week trip. Hundreds of fires are burning in Canada, including Newfoundland. We thought about cancelling, but decided to go. We could always turn around at any point.
We set out on I64 to 35N to Columbus, Ohio, parking next to Ed and Debbie McGlumphy’s home. Ed gave us a tour of his Clear Choice office, which is an amazing business utilizing the latest technology and teamwork to provide teeth for those who are losing their own. With two prosthodontists, a surgeon, two laboratory technicians and an excellent staff, they are able to remove diseased teeth, place implants and restorations all in the same day.
We had a nice visit and dinner at the McGlumphy home. Kellye and Nick, Nancy and Medic came over to join us. We walked down the street to see Kellye and Nick’s new home. Of course they were very excited and have lots of projects they are working on. Upper Arlington is a great neighborhood with a nice park and good schools. It’s hard to beat.
Debbie got up at 4:30 to go workout before a day of teaching at the dental school. Ed was off to work before 7. By 7:30, we were off to Michigan. I didn’t want to drive I75 and 23 around Detroit, but next time I will. It was only an hour longer to go 35 to Fort Wayne, over to 131 to Grand Rapids and Cadillac. I think we pushed some setting on the GPS that led us to the most convoluted route possible, zig-zagging around construction sites, backroads, 1,000 turns, which at one time led to a low hanging bridge of 9’10”. Fortunately I didn’t make that mistake again, but it took a lot of work to get back on track. What should have been a fairly easy drive turned into a grueling day.
We stayed at Camp Cadillac Campground, which was pretty full. We didn’t want to cook, so we went to Lakeside Charlie’s for dinner. Cadillac is an interesting town that is built around lovely Cadillac Lake.
After a good night’s sleep, we went to the Farmer’s Market, which is pretty unusual for a Friday. We walked through a pretty, little park and out to a pier into the lake with black ducks swimming all around. It is a very pretty lake with clear water. We walked back to the park, crossing railroad tracks that appeared to still be in use. The train station, however, has been converted to a restaurant called After 26 Depot. We peeked inside to see a nice, busy restaurant, especially for a Friday morning. Outside, two vendors engaged us with easy conversation. The nice lady told us about the restaurant, saying it was very good. It was started “by our organization” to employ learning disability adults (after 26 years old).
Across the street the farmer’s market is in a covered, open air pavilion. It was just the right size really. There were great-looking fruits and vegetables, and lots of corn, but we weren’t sure of the restrictions for crossing into Canada. As it turns out, there are fewer restrictions now. Martha loves a farmer’s market and made the circuit once before making her final choices.
Returning to camp, we hooked up and headed north to Leland, Michigan to visit David and Beth Sutton. We checked into Wild Cherry Resort Campground. Resort usually translates to a more upscale campground with amenities like swimming pool or golf course or on the water. This one has generous sites with pretty surroundings and a lake in the middle. There are no showers or bathroom facilities. The owner greeted us, and when asked, he said, “I didn’t want to clean bathrooms.” Can’t blame him for that.
Camp Cadillac
Fishing pond
Martha took a nice nap before we drove over to the Sutton’s. The whole family enjoys Leland, so it makes a great family gathering with three grown children and 7 very cute grandchildren. We toured the work they are doing on the big house and “Granny house”, then walked over the beach on Lake Michigan. On a very hot day, they were all enjoying the water. Max, their handsome yellow lab, swam around splashing water with his paws, then catching it in the air. Later he followed a lady throwing a ball for her labradoodle. David had to go retrieve him.
We walked over to Gordon’s house and waited for him to return with his new pontoon boat. He told us about their success fishing for smallmouth yesterday with a few pictures to prove it. Gordon got off at a restaurant to meet the family and David took over for a tour of Lake Leelanau. Beth and her family have been coming here since she was a kid, so hearing her stories, along with the history of the town were very interesting. As she said, people came here for the fishing, and for cooler summer temperatures.
Slowly, we went through “The Narrows” and a marsh where swans were nesting. The lake is shaped like an hourglass with a bridge crossing at the narrowest part. Our campground was just east across the bridge. After a bit of searching on a busy Friday evening, we found a place to park, and walked up the hill to a restaurant called Dick’s Pour House. With Max joining us, we were fortunate to find a table outside. Two entertaining ladies waited our table. While she told us stories of her dogs and their troubles, I examined her tattoos and teeth.
Beth ordered Walleye and Martha and I follow her lead. David also ordered a plate of smelt, which you don’t often find. A sardine-sized fish, they were good. The Walleye was very good and a generous portion. A beautiful, full moon rose as we started back up the lake. How David found his way back home, I don’t know. There are no headlights on the boat, so we traveled slowly, looking for channel markers. After docking, we tried to scare Lucy through the window as she read a book, but she just waved us off. We thanked David and Beth for their hospitality and found our way back to camp.
If I could catch as many fish as I took flower pictures, I would be in paradise. Similar to Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park, you could take pictures in all seasons and they would be different. We didn’t see any bears or signs of bears, but surely they are here. There are lots of deer and rabbits, but they are both wary of people. In Big Meadows, you can walk right up to them, and bear are plentiful.
Expert photographer, Mark Zablotsky, recommended an app to identify flowers – Picture This, and it is great. You have to have internet, of which there is none in Hidden Valley, but when you get home, I just took a picture of a picture and it quickly identifies a plant, tells you the origin, uses, how it might be used in your home garden and much more.
With a macro lens or a phone, you can get good pictures of flowers. The difficulty is getting pictures of a bunch of flowers and to get them in focus. Looking into photostacking.
The Jackson River Trail is approximately 16 miles long following the Jackson River flowing south from Cedar Creek To downtown Covington, Virginia. We wanted to ride from Cedar Creek down, but that section isn’t finished yet, so we went down to Natural Well, first riding north as far as we could, then riding south for about an hour before turning around. It is a beautiful trail with great scenery of farmland and the Jackson River. We talked to a few people, but mostly we had it to ourselves.
After loading the bikes in the truck we drove up the mountain to explore Lake Moomaw from the east side. There is a very nice campground with shower houses at the top of the mountain with very few people there. Driving down the mountain, we found a beautiful sandy beach with only two people there on a hot July day. At the bottom of the mountain the road ended at the bottom of the Gathright Dam, which should be a great tailwater fishery, but I think there is only a short section that you can fish. Not far down is a beautiful private property.
Lake Moomaw is 2,530-acre cold water lake fed and drained by the Jackson River. It boasts 40 miles of undeveloped shoreline. There is a nice campground on the other side as well.
We chilled back at camp for a couple of hours before exploring the bird trail in Hidden Valley. I was surprised by the numbers of birds in trees surrounding a marshy-looking low area. Like the day before, we were amazed at the variety of wildflowers that were worked by bees and butterflies. An ebird list of Hidden Valley birds identified 127 species! Sadly, in a perfect setting, not one quail was noted. Maybe next time I will take the big lens, a tripod, water and some snacks and sit on a bench.
I have been to Hidden Valley several times to fish the Jackson River, but I wanted to return to explore more of the area. A beautiful B&B, Warwickton built in 1848, sits in the heart of the property, but I love staying in the campground with our Airstream. The campsite fee is $15, and is only half of that with a Senior National Park Pass. Originally I was going by myself, since Martha was going to Africa with her girl friends. However, the flight was cancelled, so they returned home from Atlanta. Well, it isn’t Africa, but she decided to come along and discover Hidden Valley.
After loading groceries and clothes, we got an early start for a pretty two-hour drive to Warm Springs. We drove around the campground a couple of times to select a site, which is difficult because they are all nice. We got setup, fixed some lunch and went for a walk. there are about 200 acres of “hay fields” that are just loaded with wildflowers. Well-maintained paths are cut around and through the fields. Butterflies and bees are busy gathering nectar from all the flowers. It was hot in the sun, even though it was about 8 degrees cooler than at home. The elevation is about 1,500′ with mountains surrounding it in 8,000 acres of George Washington National Forest. The Jackson River runs through the valley with 6.5 miles of river. Connecting to the north is Poor Farm, offering more river frontage and dispersed camping. My goal for tomorrow was to hike to Poor Farm along the river, crossing the swinging bridge. On Wednesday I wanted to bike the Jackson Trail, a rails-to-trails, well-developed trail along the Jackson River.
Trying to keep things simple, we just brought the Cobb Stove, a small grill that uses 6-10 lumps of charcoal. Martha is a great camp cook, cooking chicken for me, a pork chop for her and a riot of peppers, onions and squash. It was wonderful. There is no cell phone service in the valley and no radio or TV reception. It is interesting to spend four days without things we feel are “essential”. I had a new book by Kelly Sutton, A River Runs Through It Outdoor Reflections. I finished that the first day, and found it quite entertaining. We have been hunting and fishing together for a very long time. You can find his book on Amazon.
I get up early every day, but I slept till 5:00, which is quite good for me. With all the windows open, it had cooled to about 69 degrees, which was perfect with a sheet. Birds were waking and talking to each other, so I crept out to the field to look for a deer or perhaps a bear, but no such luck. We knew it was going to be a hot day for an 8-mile round trip hike, so we filled the water bottles and packed some granola bars and sandwiches. We were off by 7:15.
We drove up to the trail head in front of the elegant Warwickton. Our phones would have to do for cameras today. We had already seen four deer and several rabbits. The grass was wet with dew, and it was a beautiful morning for a hike. Deer, rabbits, butterflies and bees were everywhere. After two hay fields, we were in the forest, nice and cool. It took about 45 minutes to get to the first bridge, where I went straight toward Muddy Run. The trail followed it along until it crossed the now small stream. We saw a blaze on a tree on the other side, so we crossed, but were unable to follow the trail. Disappointed, we headed back down.
When we got to the bridge, we decided to cross and see where that went. It led back to the Jackson River and the famous swinging bridge. We paused in the middle to admire the beautiful river, then crossed to the other side. A sign pointed to the right to Poor Farm in 2.5 miles, but we had spent our energy going up Muddy Run. I turned around to cross back over the bridge when I was attacked by yellow jackets, quickly running back to the side. those little things just stick to you and keep stinging until you smack them off.
Well, fortunately the path went in both directions, so we headed downstream, hoping to end up at Warwickton. With no phone service and no map, we weren’t really sure where we were going, but hopefully not up and over the mountain to Back Creek. As long as it followed the river, we should be good, but we were on the mountain side, so it went up and down on a narrow trail.
After a lot of trekking, we indeed found ourselves in front of Warwickton. Crossing a bridge we saw a man leading people on a horse ride. Now THAT’S the way to do it! We talked to him for a bit, getting his information before they jogged on. We were tired, hungry and thirsty by the time we got back to camp, but it was all good, except for a bunch of itching bee stings.
