Back on the road... this time making the scenic journey from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie. It's a long, slow, windy drive, but well worth it for the stunning views along the Lake Superior shoreline. My favourite views were coming up and over a hill to an expansive view of a rocky bay - it never failed to take my breath away.
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| Highway 17 from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie, 2017 |
A quick note for anyone else thinking of completing this leg of the trip - there are very few services along this stretch of highway as towns are few and far between, and many of the former gas stations and restaurants have long since been abandoned. Ensure you leave with a full tank of gas, and fill up when you can - do not assume there will be a stop ahead. We also had a cooler and food to make our own lunch, which was useful given there were very few choices along the way.
Just past Wawa, Ontario, we entered
Lake Superior Provincial Park and continued to drive through it for the next 83 km. This provided further opportunity to explore even though like Sleeping Giant the park is largely set up for outdoor pursuits. Our first stop was Old Woman Bay, which had a large beach and allowed the kids some time to play in the water and burn off some penned up energy.
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| Old Woman Bay, 2017 |
Further down the park, we stopped at Agawa Rocks to view ancient Ojibwe pictographs. The pictographs are located on a rock face at the water's edge, and are accessed via a short trail. There are numerous warnings along the trail, and these should be taken seriously. The trail is really more of a scramble than a hike with several tricky spots. The ledge from which you can view the rock art is steep, slippery, and falls into a deep, rough area of water. Fortunately, it was a calm day when we visited, so we were able to see the most accessible pictographs, but we didn't attempt to shimmy across the rocks to see the rest of the art. Despite the difficulty, we enjoyed the hike, but it is certainly not for the feint at heart.
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| Shoreline near Agawa Rocks, 2017 |
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| Pictographs at Agawa Rocks, 2017 |
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| Pictographs at Agawa Rocks, 2017 |
The day ended in Sault Ste. Marie, which was surprisingly charming. We had a great dinner at Low & Slow Barbeque under the bridge to the US, and then had a lovely sunset walk around
Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site. Even though the park offices were closed, the site remains open and there were many displays to describe the site, so its easy to visit after hours. It was also a beautiful place to view the sunset.
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| Sault Ste. Marie Canal NHS, 2017 |
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| Sault Ste. Marie Canal NHS, 2017 |
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| Sault Ste. Marie Canal NHS, 2017 |
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