We both have the cold now, and it’s one of those that stay with your for a while. After six days here, we are about out of fresh water, although you can refill in front of the shower house.
The 3.5 hour drive from Pukaskwa and Nipigon is one of the prettiest in America. Winding through small mountains of green forest with lakes on one side and spectacular views of Lake Superior on the other. Islands break up the expanse of the great lake with mountains bordering it. The Trans-Canada Highway crosses many beautiful creeks, streams and rivers.
In Terrace Bay, we stopped in what I thought was Costa’s Grocery, but it was around the corner. Asking about Tony Costa, who was so nice to us 12 years ago, the young cashier said he had passed away, and the family has moved to Thunder Bay.
Looking for a nice spot to eat lunch, we cautiously drove down a winding road to the beach. You never know when pulling the Airstream if you will be stuck, not able to turn around. Luckily it was a large parking lot. We made sandwiches and walked out to Adirondack chairs along a boardwalk overlooking a lovely beach.
A retired policeman struck up a conversation telling us about the history of Terrace Bay and how the main industry has suffered. Then on to telling us about the shooting in Minneapolis, which we hadn’t heard about. A lady stopped behind us as she heard the conversation. That is her home town, so she added to the news.
We walked out to the beach and heard someone calling, “Is that your Airstream?” Four people at a picnic table waved, so we walked over. Glancing at the parking lot, there were now three 25’ Airstreams. We exchanged travel stories, and they highly recommended seeing Fort William in Thunder Bay. We said we had best get on the road and said our goodbyes.
At Nipigon, we stopped at an overlook just past the iconic Nipigon Bridge. There was a tall tower to see the river. A bench commemorated the largest Brook Trout caught in the river. I didn’t measure, but it was well over 30″
After Nipigon, the road became more busy. It is four lanes in some places, and there is serious construction to extend it. It’s Labor Day Weekend, so many are on the road.
We turned at the top of Thunder Bay on 587south for 30 minutes on a bumpy road to the campground. It is a huge campground as there are lots of things to do here, but at first we missed our site in Pukaskwa.
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.
I love sleeping in a pine forest beside the big lake they call Gitchigoomi. I woke at 7 and didn’t want to get up, but peeking through one eye, I could see it was daylight.
I like this camp at Pukaskwa National Park. . It’s quiet. There is electric, which is unusual for a national park. We have no cellular, but you can get WIFI at the Visitor’s Center, so it makes it a gathering place in a beautiful setting with Hattie Cove right behind it. 80% of the people have at least one boat on their truck or car.
If you really want to see this park, it is by backpacking or by expedition canoe or kayak and camping on an island or along the coast, looking up at the stars from your down sleeping bag.
The facilities are excellent – great, heated bathrooms, good showers, a laundry or one washer and one dryer. There’s a camaraderie feeling. We are all here to enjoy the incredible scenery in our own way.
Some are here just for the great beaches. While we are not yet acclimated, Canadians pull their wagons to the beach for a swim or a day in the sun, even if there is no sun.
We gathered all our dirty laundry and drove 20 minutes to Marathon. The GPS took us to a nice, blue building. As Martha headed up the steps, a lady said the laundry was next door. They got a good chuckle out of that.
Next door, we loaded four washers and got change from the lady in charge. Actually it might be her cute, little dog that was in charge. She checked on us regularly.
I noticed a bike outside leaning against the wall. It had two serious bags on the back, one carrying a guitar case. Inside I asked a rather unkept, but pretty girl if it was hers. She is traveling across Canada, playing on corners or an occasional gig to pay her way. She writes and sings her own music.
We had lunch in the building Martha first walked into, thinking it was the laundry, then went to the grocery store. In front sat the girl I met in the laundry, playing her guitar. She was quite good. I smiled and told her so and put a 20 in her open guitar case. As I walked past, she quickly got up and removed the 20.
Oar House
Back at camp we put the laundry away and made the beds. Then I took a good 1-hour nap. After dinner we watched an episode of Jack Ryan Martha had downloaded.
After a rainy day yesterday, Monday was beautiful, sunny day. I was groggy, but felt like I was on the mend. The cold is still in my chest, so my breathing isn’t so good, so we opted for a 2-hour hike around Halfway Lake, known as Bimose Kinoomagewnan.
It is a beautiful hike with lots of ups and downs, and along granite ridge-lines overlooking the lake. Someone went to great effort building steps with handrails, little bridges over creeks and across gaps between the rocks. Sometimes we couldn’t pick up the trail until we saw a wooden walk. We remarked that it could have been marked better, but looking back, it made it more interesting.
Signs along the way told us many of the beliefs of the Biigtigong and Netmizaaggamig people who have lived here for centuries, and play a big role in the park. I was taking a picture when I heard Martha scream. I hurried to the edge of the woods where she stood with her hands over her mouth. She said two birds flew out of a tree, making lots of noise. Grouse. It’s part of their defense mechanism. Now she has seen a bobcat and two grouse, although the view of the grouse was brief before they were gone.
We liked this hike around a pretty lake surrounded by unique walls of granite. The trail is well-maintained, and all the wooden steps and bridges adding to the allure.
After lunch, I had another nap while Martha went to the Visitor’s Center to get emails and messages. With a slight burst of energy, I showered and built a fire, sitting in the sun and staring into the flames. The high was about 66 degrees and breezy. Young families and groups made a steady trip to the beaches. there are actually four coves with sandy beaches. Dressed in bathing suits, they pulled their wagons with their beach gear, laughing and chatting along the way. And there I was sitting by a roaring fire, dressed in blue jeans, sweatshirt and a hat.
Martha made a foil wrap with ham, potatoes and vegetables and cooked it over the fire.
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!
It was an errands day. We needed propane, groceries, wine, DEF and a sweatshirt for Greg, who foolishly did not bring a long-sleeve fleece. I always carry my phone when walking through a campground. I love to see how setup, especially with tents and tarps.
It is such a beautiful drive to Wawa, we didn’t mind the 30-minute ride. The first stop was propane. Martha went in the office to pay $38 for a 30 gallon tank. A nice man came to meet me and took the tank to an open, rectangular building to fill it. A bunch of heavy-duty tanks lined the walls. The tank they stored the propane in was very big. It looked like a gas pump on the other side of a circle around the storage tank. A man was talking to the driver of semi delivering gas.
The Wawa goose (MBW)
The man helping me said the valve needs to be replaced, but he hadn’t read the date before he filled it. No doubt both tanks need that. This is a busy place with all kinds of stuff I couldn’t identify. Wawa, the outpost supplier to a vast region of lakes, rivers and gravel roads. The longest gravel road in Ontario is the NORT or Northern Ontario Resource Trail from Pickle Lake to Windigo Lake. It is 281km long and is maintained year-round! Martha might not want to live here, but Wawa is a vital resource town.
Next to Canadian Tire for DEF, fire starters and a jacket. I could have spent a couple of hours in that store. It has everything! Hunting and fishing gear, lures, waders, DEF, oils, tools, camping stuff, everything! I asked a man where the DEF was and he got off his ladder, led me to it and put it in my cart.
On to the liquor store, the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario). After collecting a few things, including a bottle of Polish beer, we talked to the check-out lady. Somehow we got to fishing. She and her husband just returned from a fly-in fishing trip up north where they caught northern pike, walleye and Lake Trout. I asked if the steelhead were running yet, and she said not yet, but the salmon were gathering outside Old Woman Bay. “What king of salmon?”, I asked. “Chinook, big chinook,” she said spreading her arms to 3’.
Chinook and coho salmon were introduced to the Great Lakes and have done well. They don’t run to the ocean any more, as they are blocked by the narrow, shallow St. Mary’s River. I asked about brook trout, and she said, “Some people catch specs (speckled trout) on the Old Woman.”
With no suitable sweatshirt found, I stopped at Young’s General Store. Martha was getting tired, and we had groceries that needed to be put in the freezer, so I made a quick trip. I found a suitable hooded sweatshirt with WAWA on the front and went up front to pay. With a quick look around, it is one of those old stores where it is fun to look around. Martha had said she need new Minitonka shoes, and they had a whole wall of them.
We grabbed a quick sandwich, cleaned up and hooked up to move to a different site. We will have to move once more before we leave, as this is a busy campground right next to the Trans-Canada Highway. It’s a pull-through right next to the campground road. It is hard to beat our last site where bears and foxes poop.
At 2:30 Martha suggested we go to Old Woman Bay where she could sit on the beach and read a book while I fish up the river. Always good to get in a couple hours fishing, so I agreed. By the time I put my waders and boots on, sorted out some flies in my vest, put my rod and reel together, it was 3:15. I knew I didn’t have long, so I hurried to the river. It was too shallow for steelhead to run. I remembered from our last trip that they will gather in the bay waiting for the rains to fill the river.
The Old Woman’s face at the end of the mountain
I tried a coachman for two pools and switched to hopper for two pools, then to a nymph for two pools, then back to the coachman. I had gotten two little bumps with the coachman earlier, and there were two beautiful runs around the corner from the bridge. I cast three times into one pool before looking ahead for my next spot when I got a decant strike, but I missed. It was 5:00, and I knew I should get back. The water was cold enough and perfectly clear. It’s a beautiful place to spend a day fishing. If I get the chance, I will bring water, some snacks and a different reel with floating line.
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.
Opting for an easy hike this morning, we chose the South Old Woman River Trail, rated 4.4 and easy. My hip was sore from the last few days hiking, so easy for an hour and a half sounded good. The hike starts across 17 from the campground, so we walked from the campsite.
Reproducing Kelly’s picture of the Trans-Canada Highway
The South Old Woman River flows out of Rabbit Blanket Lake, under 17, the Trans-Canada Highway. I was anxious to see it. Darkness took over as we entered the forest. Trees sent roots everywhere, across the path, over rocks and into pools of water. Frogs and chipmunks greeted us at every turn. When we didn’t see them, we saw where Squirrels or chipmunks had eaten, leaving shells from seeds covering the path or tree stumps.
There were holes all over the place, leading to where I don’t know, but I was cautious stepping between roots where my foot might go through to God knows where. Who lived in all those holes? Chipmunks? Squirrels? Some were big, and stepping around them made a hollow sound. Were there underground tunnels? Several were huge, where bears might sleep. I decided this was a forest where gnomes might live.
The river is gorgeous, whether you are a fisherman or not. It is tea-stained so I couldn’t see any fish, but it is cold water, and I know they are there, because the sign said this was great brook trout fishing. It was so hard to step between all these roots and still get a look at the stream. Make a bad step into a gnome’s hole and you might sink to your hip.
We crossed the stream several times, but one was rather threatening. Huge boulders with flat tops led across the rushing river, but first we had to sit on our buts and slide our foot to a sharp-angled rock and then climb up the the first flat boulder. A mistake there and it’s trouble, especially for people in their late 70’s.
The trail makes a lollipop loop at the top so we can see a beautiful waterfall plunging into a big pool below. I was picking my spots to fish….if I could get to them. It was tough conditions to fish, but that might mean there were lots of wily Brook Trout.
At the end of the lollipop loop, we stepped cautiously back toward our origin. I took pictures of plants and flowers on “PictureThis” app, to determine what they were, but I had no cell service – another reason to think there were gnomes here. I love the app, because it identifies the plant and tells you if it is edible or medicinal or just pretty, or you want to plant in your yard. Some were poisonous to people and pets, but then I have never seen a Labrador retriever eat red berries or mushrooms.
Mountain holly or Swamp Holly
Yellow Birch or Swamp Birch
Creeping Snowberry
Bunchberry dogwood or creeping dogwood, non-toxic, deer resistant
Trichaptum
Northern sea oats surrounding a mushroom
Bracket polypores
I was soaked in sweat when we got back from this easy hike rated 4.4, but right off the bat, I would rate it a 5.0, moderate. It is so unique and travels next to a gorgeous trout stream that is difficult or impossible to fish, which just piques the imagination. And then there are the gnomes living in those holes, a rushing stream underground that you can’t see, but only hear, and trees growing right on top of giant boulders.
Probably someone’s dog, but they don’t allow dogs on the trails and there are no claws on the printsMoose poop, like chocolate-covered almonds
After a shower and lunch, we drove 33 miles to Wawa, one, to see this beautiful country of one gorgeous lake after another, and beautiful, rushing rivers feeding into Lake Superior. The other was we needed propane, and to fill up with gas.
We stopped at the mouth of the Old Woman River where Kelly caught two beautiful steelhead 12 years ago. People were sitting on the beach eating lunch and enjoying the scenery. I remember walking upstream past Kelly, across a little peninsula and seeing tracks and scat that made me realize we were not in Kansas any more. I made a quick retreat back, where Kelly was trying to protect his two fish from ravens trying to steal them.
I peered around the corner to see the rivers. It wasn’t rushing so hard, but giant trees were strewn across sandbars just to let you know how powerful this river can be.
We came to Wawa, which is more like an outpost on the edge of a frontier. Businesses had come and gone, yet the town of 2,000 pushes on. Carvings of giant Canada Geese are the trademark of the town. This is a place to stock up and fuel up before heading out into the wild to fish, hunt, photograph or explore. It is nice to know there still are such places, making me wish I was younger.
The only propane refill place in town is not open on weekends. With all these campers and cabins, I can’t believe we couldn’t find propane on a Saturday. We have another tank, so it isn’t urgent, so we’ll come back next week. We drove through town to find Silver Falls on the Michipicoten River. We continued up a wide, well-maintained gravel road to find Long Beach. We didn’t go down, but we could see people swimming and having a big time on a cool 68 degree day.
Silver FallsOverlook of Long Beach, Lake Superior
Back at camp we opened a bottle of wine, built a fire and cooked hamburgers over it. Maybe tomorrow maybe we’ll go see the pictographs.
Checkout wasn’t until 2:00, so we took an “easy” hike from the campground through a forest, then across a fen. Martha explained to me the difference between a bog and a fen. Water doesn’t move in a bog, but does in a fen. I wore my bug shirt this time, and the mosquitoes were sure trying to get in. The problem is you get hotter. It would be much more comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt, but that is not an option.
Back at camp we fixed lunch. I watched two guys across from us pull their big all-one-unit camper out of their site and run into a tree and the post marking the site. It was hard to watch. Then they backed up and did it again! I moved my truck so they could pull across, back up and have a straight shot out. They knocked off a tool box on the side, and I’m sure scratched up the shell. The site was at a 45 degree angle the wrong direction for a one-way road, but still…! It made me very nervous to hook up and get out safely, but thankfully, we made it.
The drive from Pancake Bay to Rabbit Blanket in Lake Superior Provincial Park is only an hour and 15 minutes, but there are beautiful views of the biggest fresh water lake in the world. We stopped at two overlooks to see such clear water, we could see all the different colored rocks on the bottom.
I talked to a man in a big, old Class A camper – the kind you drive. It looked like it had been around the block a few times. He said it was a 1991, and they were just coming back from a trip into the Yukon. When he started the big diesel, it sounded great! I gave him the thumbs up as he pulled out.
At the next overlook we met a man who was riding a bike across Canada all dressed in pink. It has taken him 10 years, but this trip will take him to Toronto, which is a bit less than 900 miles from here! He had his campsite reserved, and was ready to get to it on his new Trek bike. To do this and carry clothes for all kinds of conditions and camping gear and food and water adds up to a lot of weight. You might guess this is flat land, but it is very hilly with small mountains.
We passed so many beautiful rivers and lakes beckoning us to come float and explore. We stopped at the Lake Superior Provincial Park Visitor’s center, taking in all the exhibits. Then on to Rabbit Blanket, a very nice campground on a very pretty lake. We walked around to explore before returning to our site, which by the way had fresh bear poop and black fur right behind where we parked the trailer.
Gear: Candle lighter. I love this thing. It is a rechargeable candle lighter. I love sitting by candle light, writing in the early hours. I also light the stove with it so I don’t wake Martha with the loud stove clicker. Disclaimer: I make no money from this blog.
