Rob-n-Hild, oot and aboot eh? Sorry - 2022

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Wawa - Thunder Bay (516 km. 6.25 hours. Elevation maximum 459 metres)

This was when the adventure started because this part of Ontario was uncharted territory for us.

Wawa is from the Ojibwe word for "wild goose", wewe. We stayed overnight at Hwy 17 Motel outside Wawa, and because we can't change who we are, we went for an early morning walk to see Magpie Falls. As it turned out that meant a 2-hour walk (8 km) partly trudging through snow and fog in UK-style drizzle. It brought to mind hobbits, Gandalf and company going through the Pass of Caradhras. Why oh why was it that Rob looked like Gimli slogging through the snow and Hild was able to emulate Legolas gliding on top of the snow?

We are happy we made it to the falls and learnt about the old logging industry and how they managed to get all their logs over the dam and down the falls. No occupational health and safety regulations appeared to be in place as it involved people jumping from log to log and applying dynamite when necessary to break up giant log-jams. Apparently Glenn Gould used to come here to be inspired to write music - so that worked. On this day, there were no logs, no people, and almost no water. Some inspiration was found - to go look for the Wawa Goose.

We stopped to see the famous Wawa Goose. It is so big and scary - as all Canada geese are - so we did not make a silly photo opportunity out of it. Just imagining the giant taking off and flying out across Lake Superior. Eeek!

As it turns out, the goose marks the halfway point along the over 7,800 km Trans-Canada Highway. As the plaque said the Trans-Canada Highway has inspired may road-trips - including ours!

On this day, we drove what people have told us is "the most boring stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway". We were prepared for anything and found there was much to see. Dense forests and soggy marshes interspersed with ice covered lakes and rushing rivers. The bright white birch trees, still with no leaves this season, made great and mesmerizing contrast against the dark evergreens.

In many north-facing places the snow was still lining the road and lakes - determined not to melt this year. Most importantly Rob spotted our first moose of the trip - standing majestically in a clearing in the dense forests of Northern Ontario. Very appropriate. The animal was beautiful, but presented as a big blur in photo taken at 90 km/hr!

After a bit of driving we got hungry and tired so we stopped in Marathon to have lunch. Guidebooks and signs lead us to Pebble Beach, whose name is not very accurate unless you think pebbles are fist-sized and bigger. Water was so cold we feared our toes would freeze if we tried dipping them in during this first up-close meeting with Lake Superior. This is not a walking/running beach, more like a wobbling-along-carefully-beach to avoid falling in like Hild nearly did. Still, the beach is beautiful and well-worth the detour and stop.

Since we had delayed our departure from Wawa quite a bit, the early morning fog had lifted and clouds dissipated as the hours passed. Ah - the sun came out! The drive along the north shore of Lake Superior let us dip in and out of dense forest areas to catch a glimpse of the lake and various tributory rivers. The Nipigon River Bridge was a nice bit of human-made construction to admire after hours and hours of admiring forests and lakes.

On our approach in to Thunder Bay we stopped to visit the Terry Fox Monument. It is beautifully placed on a cliff overlooking Lake Superior near the location where he had to end his planned run for cancer awareness. He started in St. John's Newfoundland in April 1980 and arrived in Thunder Bay in September. A huge achievement and a sad story to ponder.

From the Terry Fox Monument site we also got our first good glimpse of the Sleeping Giant mountain formation. It can be seen from many places in Thunder Bay - and we have soooo many photos of him now.

Luckily we weren't going very fast when these deer skipped across the road. Nice view to catch.

And then we realised we have a nice view of Mount McKay from our hotel room.

By evening the weather was really beautiful and we opted for a nice walk along Neebing River before sunset. It is amazing to have sunset at 9:15 - an hour later than in Ottawa. We saw many geese, doggies, and people enjoying their walks.

May/June 2022

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