from Manitoba to Ontario

 

Tuesday, June 19

This morning dawned still overcast but with the promise of improving weather. Ha! The drive from Falcon Lake into Ontario was pleasant enough. But by Kenora the rains had begun again. It showered on and off for the rest of the day.

Gasoline is way more expensive in Ontario (so far). But the roads are certainly in better shape … at least the Trans Canada. Down south of Kenora through Sioux Narrows and Nestor Falls and then a bit east to Fort Frances. I was finally able to post the previous post by using the Wi-Fi at the Fort Frances Public Library. The library is a beautiful, new building with lots of windows letting in light with a high ceiling and plenty of natural wood finishing.

The next big ‘hop’ was from F.F. to Thunder Bay … about 400km. It was already late afternoon so I decided to head out for Quetico Provincial Park about halfway in between. We didn’t make it quite that far and were ready to stop when we reached Atikokan. I had actually been in Atikokan, Fort Frances and Kenora in my earlier life working for Indian and Northern Affairs. To be honest, my visit to Atikokan was only a landing at the airport to change planes to a DC-3 if I remember correctly. I was the only passenger plus a bit of cargo including a new stove which I remember was well tied down and secured.

Totem at Sioux Narrows

Fort Frances marina (with pulp mill in background)

 

Wednesday, June 20

We’d pulled into the A.&K. Bunnell Campground in Atikokan with few expectations. It’s one of many civic campgrounds that towns on the prairies and western Ontario. I guess they assume that if they can get folks to stay in town then they’ll also spend some money there.

Most of the sites were grassy with lots of room between them. There were only three other sites occupied so we had lots of choice. The sign at the entrance had said that an attendant would be around in the evening or next morning to collect a fee. (No amount was mentioned.) It had begun to rain again in earnest so it was no surprise that no attendant made an appearance. Perhaps he was afraid of the mosquitos which took no mind of the pouring rain and invaded the van within minutes.

When I took a quick trip to the washroom, I was surprised to see a sign saying “Free Wi-Fi”. It seemed a bit too good to be true but I fired up the laptop and sure enough there was a Wi-Fi signal available. Turns out all of Atikoken offers Wi-Fi. When you sign in your browser goes to the town main tourism page. But after that you’re free to roam wherever you like. I did some banking and checked a couple of blogs I’d gotten behind on and even sent some email.

This morning we were slow to get going and by 10am when we pulled out no attendant had showed up. Clearly the best camping deal I’ve come across so far. Oh, I forgot to mention that there were also free hot showers in the restrooms!

Since the good folks of Atikokan had been so hospitable camp site wise, I decided to take a look around town. Atikokan bills itself as the “Canoeing Capital of Canada”. I thought that was a claim that lots of other Ontario towns might take exception to. But Atikokan takes its canoeing seriously.

There’s an outfitter called Canoe Canada that has about two dozen kevlar tripping canoes for rent with all the other gear you might need. Quetico Provincial Park is nearby and is a paddlers paradise. It borders on the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

And around town there are canoes used in interesting ways.

And this is my favourite bike stand ever.

By late morning we were on the road to Thunder Bay amidst showers of varying intensity.

Just before Thunder Bay we came to Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park. The river is really swollen with all the rain they’ve been having. Earlier this month there’d been serious flooding. I was informed of this by a local woman who said she’d never seen so much water going over the falls in all her years living nearby. It was certainly a mighty torrent.

We’d had a brief break from the rain which allowed a relatively dry visit to the falls. However, when we reached Thunder Bay the heavens really opened up. I know that Thunder Bay is a port on Lake Superior but I didn’t catch so much as a glimpse of water it was so foggy and the rain came down so heavily.

The rain let up a bit but did continue until Nipigon, Ontario where we stopped briefly to give Eliot and me and chance to stretch our legs. The tourist bureau had this canoe carving on their steps.

We pushed on to Pukaskwa National Park just east of Marathon, Ontario. The landscape of this north shore of Lake Superior is much rougher than the area of lakes and rocks between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay. There are mini-mountain passes that the road climbs over to traverse the huge headlands along the coast.

It’s still raining quite heavily so I’ve put off exploring the nearby trails. A weather forecast today suggests that there may actually be some sun tomorrow. I’m taking a wait and see attitude.

Thursday, June 21

This morning dawned grey and foggy. We were up plenty early as the skylight leak returned around 5am at the end of some heavy rain.

However, by noon, the fog had burned off and we were able to get out and explore some of the hiking trails at Pukaskwa National Park. This park really is quite magnificent. Lake Superior is so big that it produces huge swells and breakers just like the ocean. And the park has some beautiful beaches with dunes behind them.