Legend has it that the Indians were sworn to secrecy about the location of silver, but one told a white man where it was. As punishment, the Gods turned him into a mountain, forever sleeping beside the Silver Islet.
It rained all night. In the morning the winds were blowing hard, but the rains had stopped. We set our chairs out to dry in the wind, and decided to do two more things on the “Must See List.”
There is a great view of the Giant at the top of Marie Louise Lake. Oddly, we have passed that spot 15 times and not noticed the iconic mountain.
Head to right, Adam’s apple, chest, legs
Turning south, we hiked to “The never-ending views on Lake Superior from Middlebrun Bay,” a 3-mile round trip hike. It’s a pretty forest to a long, curved beach. There are so many beautiful coves and beaches. It was 48 degrees and windy as we admired the view. I hadn’t layered properly, wearing my heavy Filson, waxed raincoat. I was hot from the hike, but couldn’t take that off. Then it started raining lightly as we headed back up the trail.
Martha pointed to some bushes, motioning me to go first. It was a beautiful, fat grouse, or what they call a partridge. Are they different birds? Further up the trail was another, just walking up the trail.
A man with a backpack, with a dog on a leash, passed us. He had yelled at his dog earlier and apologized if he had scared us. A deer had run out in front of them, and the dog took off after it. We told him about the grouse. He said sometimes you could reach out and catch them with a net.
A hot bowl of chile hit the spot back at camp as it started raining hard. A couple (maybe French) set up a tent next to us, plugging in their hybrid car. They sat under an awning in the cold rain all afternoon. We had the heat on in the trailer as temperatures hovered around 41 degrees. I went out to plug the trailer in, telling them to let us know if they needed anything. It was a miserable day to be camping.
We went down to the beach about 7:30 for the views, sounds and 1-2 bars. I wanted to see if I could get in one or two blogs posted, but one bar isn’t enough. It’s enough to get messages and emails, but not to upload pictures. I got one posted and then got stuck.
It was another beautiful day, sunny and 70 degrees. We felt we should do a hike, and we at least ought to experience the Kabeyun Trail. We packed a lunch, filled the water bottles and set out for the trailhead parking lot. On Labor Day Monday it was overflowing with people parking on the street for a mile. Today it was a quarter filled.
We set out for Tee Harbor, about 7km one way or 14 round trip, or about 7.35 miles. That’s the most we have hiked the whole trip. I know, Karen would have run the whole 75km trail, which at least on this part is a dirt and gravel road. People use trail bikes to ride it, or take them to side trails, of which there are many.
Having been sick for a while, we were proud to have made it. Tee Harbor is a pretty spot with 7 campsites, each with a fire pit. the harbor was calm with a nice beach. We passed a young man with three daughters walking slowly while talking to them. He was carrying a huge pack. It is quite enough to carry your own stuff – tent, sleeping bag, food, pots, plates, but he had to carry their bags too. A bit behind was his wife and another girl. It was quite an outing, but it is only an hour and a half to two-hour walk to a great campsite with a beach. How can you beat that?
We sat on a big boulder and ate our lunch, looking at the harbor. There were five moorings for boats. I can imagine having a nice boat and tying up in this pretty cove for the night. How many more coves are like this?
Walking back, we passed several other hikers, some serious, some day-hikers like us. We stopped at the Sea Lion trailhead, sitting on a bench to rest before tackling the last mile uphill. A lady paused to say hi before going up the Sea Lion trail. She was from Saskatchewan, headed for Nova Scotia.
Back at the parking lot, we noticed a StarLink antenna and a sign saying there was WIFI here! I’ll be back in the morning! To reward ourselves, we drove 1km down the road to Silver Islet to get another piece of blueberry pie. It looked pretty quiet, but it was open. The lunchtime ordering was over, so we got a soda and a pumpkin muffin and went out on the back deck for a great view of the harbor. I sat there trying to decide which boat I would rather have.
Walking back into the store, a lady sat in a comfortable chair working on her computer. Assuming she was the owner, I asked her where she finds such nice young people to work the store. She said they were all local, and wanted part-time jobs. She felt very fortunate to have such great kids. Martha asked about the blueberry pie and where she got the blueberries. She said she has a variety of sources who pick wild blueberries, and then they freeze them.
She asked where we were going, and we said Thunder Bay. She gave us a suggestion of a place to go for blueberries and also candied salmon. “Have you ever been here before?” I said 12 years ago on a fish across Canada trip for four months. She said, “You have to talk to my husband, Jeff. He loves to fish, and he would love to do something like that.”
Jeff and Sandy were their names, and they own the store. Once Jeff was finished helping a customer, he comes over asking where we fished. “Did you go to Terrace, BC?” Yes, we did. “Did you fish the Skeena?” “I think we watched,” I said. “We didn’t have the right gear.” Then he starts showing me pictures of Steelhead he catches on the Skeena with his old roommate, who runs a lodge out there. He goes every other year. Sandy showed a picture of a huge steelhead she caught a few years ago.
Misty Mountain Fly Shop/ Bubba’s Seafood
He asked if I liked Brook Trout. “My dream is to catch so many Brook Trout that I have to quit. I don’t care what size they are.”
I went down to the beach at sunrise to see if I could post. I think I got in one before the phone went from two bars to one. Frustrating, but what a gorgeous spot in the early morning with loons calling, sea gulls crying, ducks on the cove and a fox trotting up the side, pausing to take a look at me.
We were late getting going this morning. The puck lights and table light would not come on in the dinette. The other two lights run off my puck light, and they are our main reading lights. Something had apparently jarred loose, maybe on the 200 bumps coming into the campground.
Could be a fuse, I thought, so I checked. Lew Farber put in a nice panel for such 12V circuits. He put an LED light next to each fuse, so you can quickly see which is the bad one. I keep a bunch of those, so I changed it out and the light worked.
Problem was it hummed, and wasn’t strong, so there had to be a short or a loose wire. There are a whole bunch of wires above that light that I am very familiar with. About 2 years ago I put in a new stereo and new speakers, and all those wires are in a small space above the speaker. I pulled down the puck light and found a stink bug in there!! How the hell does a stink bug get in there?
The soldered connection to the on/off switch also looked a little dicey. I pulled on all the other connections I could see, and didn’t find anything loose.
If we were going to hike, we had best get going. The majority of trails branch off the main trail, South Kabeyun Trail, which is 37km long, or 74km round trip. Sea Lion is the first trail off Kabeyun, so we figured we could do that, and get some idea about Kabeyun.
There is a parking lot at Kabeyun Trail Head, but it is not big enough. By the time we got there it was packed. I parked in front of a picnic table, which was probably not allowed, but there was no sign. People were streaming in, parking on the road outside. It is Labor Day, the last big camping weekend of the summer season.
We started off on the “trail,” which is really a pretty good gravel road. I don’t think it stays this way, but people passed us on trail bicycles. That’s the way to do it! Makes it a lot easier and faster to get to your next trail. There were lots of people from other countries.
It’s a short, easy walk out Seal Lion to see a unique, rather thin rock formation that looks like a lion. I guess it used to look more like a lion 100 years ago, but still it is a cool thing to see. More than that, it is a gorgeous cove with crystal-clear water, pine forest all around and a mountain in the background that I think is the sleeping giant.
Several boats were out, which is unusual. We have seen very few boats so far. One was fishing, while another came about 50 yards from the lion. There must have been some incentive, as a boy jumped in and swam to the lion and back. I’m sure that water is cool, but it was a perfect day, sunny and clear.
We hiked/walked back to the truck and drove to Silver Islet, the only “town” on the peninsula. It is a remnant of the silver mine that was worked for 18 years in the late 1800’s. The store was busy, but they had a great, young staff. We ordered a pizza, which was very good, and sat on the back porch overlooking the docks as a fog rolled in. A couple next to us were sharing a piece of blueberry pie, giving it a thorough evaluation with every bite. They loved it, so we got a piece to take home.
We came back, changed into bathing suits and went to the beach. I was able to make one post before my computer battery ran out of power. The cell service was also dicey, but hey, it worked for a while.
Back at camp, Martha laid down for a nap while I confronted the buzzing light. I decided to work my way up from the light. I removed the on/off switched, cut a couple of narrow strips of electrical tape and wrapped the two connections. Happily, it worked. Just in case, I may order a new light, or at least a new switch.
The big, thick piece of blueberry pie was wonderful.
We went to the Visitor’s Center to get the big picture of the park. It is a very large park with lots of hiking trails and lakes. The campground is Marie Louise on the big lake of the same name.
Visitor’s Center
Map or Sleeping Giant
We drove to the north end of the park to hike Joe’s Creek Trail, an easy hike following pretty Joe’s Creek. Then we drove across the peninsula to Pounsford Lake for lunch. It’s a lovely lake where a couple sat at a picnic table behind some bushes. We enjoyed sitting in the sun on a beautiful day. Two girls drove up, very talkative, unloading their inflatable kayaks for an hour paddle around the lake.
Driving north on a very bumpy, gravel road we came to an iconic overlook of Thunder Bay. A family was taking pictures on an overhanging platform, using a drone to do the job. I waved.
