Wawa, Ontario

Saturday, August 22, 2015

It was a leisurely jaunt north to Wawa today, only about 60 miles.  We stopped here to see a couple of falls, which we were planning for tomorrow, however the forecast isn’t too promising for tomorrow, so we went today.

The first one was the Magpie River High Falls.  Not real big, but pretty.

 

The interesting thing is that the falls are actually the outfall from a power plant.  A trail leads up to near the top of the falls, but it is all surrounded by 10 ft chain-link fence with barbed wire on top,  Above the dam, not visible in this picture, is a big lake formed by damming the Magpie.The land was given to Wawa and the Rotary Club built the park.

The second falls were the Silver Falls.  These falls are small and there are three of them.

These are the lower falls. 

This was the second falls..

The trail was very bad the higher we climbed, so we did not get to the upper falls.  Overall the Silver Falls were no more exciting than Sand River falls.

We continued to White Sand Beach, a few miles up the road. The beach is on Michipicoten Bay of Lake Superior.  This was a surprise. Another white sand beach on Lake Superior?  And a beautiful one at that.  The water wasn’t bone chilling cold either, as you might expect.  We cannot recall any sandy beaches on the south shore, and here we have seen two.

 

One last cool picture.  Lynn shot this butterfly on some wild flowers

Not sure what we’ll be during tomorrow, probably visit the Big Goose!

Lake Gichi-Gami

Friday, August 21, 2015

Awoke to a gorgeous day; sunny, cool, and very few clouds.  Our agenda included three more hikes, the first was to the Agawa Pictographs.  These are paintings, not carvings as we saw in New Mexico.  Those are petroglyphs, carved into the black coating of some rocks.  Pictographs were painted by Objiwe using a paint consisting of finely ground hematite and fish oil.  They estimate they were painted in the 1600s.

It is remarkable they are still visible considering the exposure in this climate. They get rained on, awash by waves, and harsh winters.  Many are very faded and will likely be gone in 50 years.  Petroglyphs are in arid climates with little snow.

We only saw two.  The rocks and waves today made it too dangerous to venture along the cliff.  A ranger on station kept dummies from trying to kill themselves.  The rock they are painted on is called Inscription Rock.  This is scared Objibwe ground, with spirits they felt helped them win battles with the Iroquois and gave them protection.

These are two we saw showing a fish and a mythical creature.

  Well as they say getting’ there is half the fun.  Geez, the trail to these things was short but a real stinker!

Aside from the pictographs, the view was spectacular.

Our next stop was Kathleen Cove.  This is along the coastal trail that travels along the coast through the park.  Big surprise here was the white sand beach.  Actually the water was pretty warm, maybe 70-ish.

The scenery was jaw dropping.

Our last stop was Crescent Lake trail, a 1 mile loop between several small lakes.  The four lakes abutted the trail and the area is used as a canoe/kayak portage between the lakes.  This is Crescent Lake.

The surrounding woodland contains yellow birch, which we had never seen before.  It was also home to some really unique mushrooms.

We have no clue what kind they were, but really different.

We asked a Ranger about the absence of wildlife, of which we did see a few birds and squirrels today.  Some bird species have begun migration south.  As for the critters, they are not acclimated to humans and remain at a big, safe distance.

For those of you wondering about this post title, it is Objibwe for Great Lake, or as we know it, Lake Superior and it is that! 

Tomorrow we move to Wawa, about 60 miles up the road. There are a couple of waterfalls we want to check out.  Our impressions of this area are positive.  We think it compares well with coastal Oregon.

Hiking In The Rain

Thursday, August 20, 2015

This park has revealed a couple of unpleasant surprises.  Yesterday and today they were working on the electricity in the park.  So they shut it off between 9AM until 6PM.  Yesterday wasn’t a big deal because we didn’t get here until after 2PM, but today the longer period ran down battery #1.  We switched to battery #2 and it promptly ran down because it had not been recharged since leaving Wilson SP.  We had to tough it out for about a half hour then the power was restored.  Guess we should have replaced those batteries earlier this year.

The second surprise, all the “Washrooms” are pit toilets.  The “Comfort Station” has showers and real toilets.  Unfortunately, the Comfort Station is about a 10 minute walk, so you need to plan ahead.

Today we laced up our hiking shoes for 3 hikes.  Our first stop was Awausee.  This is a 5 mile loop with overlooks of the Agawa River and Canyon and Lake Superior.  It was a very tough up hill trail.  We made it one mile in to the first overlook, then back tracked out.  Whew, but it was quite scenic, even in the misty conditions.

The trail

Lake Superior from Overlook

The conditions give it a mystic look.  Along the trail, as we often do, we find and are fascinated by the small world stuff.

Indian Pipe

Our next stop was Pinguisibi.  Huh?  That is Ojibwe for White Sand River.  Why they name it that, we have no idea.  We didn’t find enough sand (of any color) to fill a beach pail.  What we did find were awesome rapids and waterfalls.

And of course, more small stuff:

Our last stop for the day was Trappers, a 1 mile loop around Trappers Lake.  We have never seen a lake with so many Lily Pads.  All the time Dan is thinkin’, I bet a frog or popper would work well in here for bass.  Unfortunately, there are no bass in these lakes, too cold.  Only trout, and we were also told there were no fish in this lake.

One thing we found strange on all these walks was an absence of birds, squirrels, and other critters.  In fact, not a sound to be heard.  Granted it was chilly and light rain most of the time.  A question for the rangers.

Total walked, about 5 miles; a pretty good workout for us.  Sunny forecast for tomorrow, hope so!

Agawa Country

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

It was raining pretty good when we arose this morning, delaying our departure, no big deal as our travel to Lake Superior Provincial Park was only 90 miles.  It cleared enough by 10:00 for us to break camp and leave.

Highway 17 is mostly 2 lane with many steep hills, speed limit about 55 mph, but the curves and bumps kept us to about 50 and lower on the really steep ones.  We made an intermediate stop at the Agawa Carvings Rest Stop about 45 miles into our journey for a needed potty stop and to browse some interesting hand carved items.  Made locally, not in China.  Gas is running $1.20/liter, about $3.60 USD/gal, cheaper than we anticipated.

Lake Superior Provincial Park is the largest in Ontario.  The campsite was the most challenging to enter and setup of any that we have experienced.  The park roads are very narrow with many turns.  The site was also narrow with trees to dodge.  Slow and careful was key.

The cool part is that we are maybe 50 yards from at least 3 miles of nice Lake Superior beach.  So, we took a beach walk, took some pictures and collected stones.  As you know from our previous adventures, give us a beach to walk and we are entertained for hours!  Some pictures follow.

Lots of Freighters

August 16, 2015

First, we would like to say thanks to those wishing us a fun and safe trip and to our friends watching out for the home front while we are gone.  It means a great deal to us.

We departed yesterday to make an intermediate stop at Wilson State Park located on Budd Lake in Clare County.  This was a “scouting” trip to see if the park would be a good destination for a future visit over July 4th.  It’s a small park but access to the lake is poor from the park as it sits on a bluff.  It also has a big fireworks across the street on the 4th; so it’s a scratch.

Today we are in Sault St. Marie at  Aune-Osborn campground on the St. Mary’s River.  We have a riverside site and the freighters travel right by us.  For a freighter watcher like Dan, it’s a candy store!

Went up to the Locks for a while and saw the Capt. Henry Johnson lock through up bound. We have piloted ourselves through more locks than we can count, so the process wasn’t anything new for us.  We spoke to a knowledgeable volunteer at the lock and he told us most Lakers have  captains who are qualified to pilot their own ships through.  International ships require local pilots to get them through.  Most Lakers run a route between Duluth, MN and Detroit.  Round trip is slightly over a week.  So these guys lock through a couple times a week.

There are 4 locks at the Soo, The McArthur at 800 ft, the Poe at 1000 ft, and the Davis and Sabin locks both now nonfunctional.  The McArthur is currently undergoing a repair on its gates.  Earlier this year they became misaligned; reason unknown.  So as you can imagine, there is a bit of a traffic jam around here.  Good for us, we are seeing lots of freighters.  They plan to test it tomorrow so we may go back for a while to check it out.

August 17, 2015

The test of the McArthur Lock was a success and it is again in operation.  This is a smaller (shorter) lock than the Poe so it is used for pleasure craft, the Soo Locks Tour boat and smaller ships.  The Soo Locks Tour boat is shown entering today.

 

The freighters designed for, and operated exclusively in the Great Lakes, are unique compared to ocean freighters.  They are longer, many exceed 1000 feet in length, and carry more cargo weight, nearly 80,000 tons.  Their cargo is in bulk form, consisting of taconite, grain, cement, fertilizer, or coal.  There are also tankers equipped with double bottom hulls.  Lakers have unique on-loading and off-loading equipment that is fast, highly efficient, and thoroughly automated.  Watching one off-load is quite a site.

The life of Lakers is 40 to 50 years compared to “Salties”.  The reason is two-fold; fresh water and winter.  Maintenance is conducted during the winter off-season and of course, fresh water doesn’t corrode like saltwater.

Today we visited an old freighter in service from 1917 to 1966, the Valley Camp.  Now a museum and still afloat.  The focus is on Great Lakes shipping with many artifacts and stories.  The Valley Camp was powered by an 1800 hp triple expansion, coal fired steam engine.  State of the art in the early 1900s.  It was 550 ft long, the maximum to fit through the locks back then.  In fact, Lakers are still built to just fit through the Soo Locks.  The Tregurtha at 1013 ft is at that maximum.

The Valley Camp was owned by Republic Steel Company.  When originally christened in 1917 it was named Louis W. Hill and owned by National Steel Corp.

Controls in the engine room

Pilot House

Looking Astern Dock Cable Winch

  Fresnel Lighthouse Lens 4th Order

In the rain!

Wow, as I’m writing this here comes the Paul H. Tregurtha, the biggest of the freighters.  A picture follows.

Note that the pilothouse is in the stern.  The captain is looking across 3 football fields to the bow.  That’s like another zip code!

Here comes another one!  More tomorrow!

August 17, 2015

Today is our last day at the Soo.  After some freighter watching this morning and a few casts for some fish, we visited the River of History Museum.  We think this is pretty new as we did not see it on previous visits.  It’s theme is to explain the history of the area, but it included all of Michigan.

We did not learn much new, but a recurrent theme here as well as other museums we have visited, the US commercial interests were threatened, a fort was built, battles were fought, and and we took the land.

In this case, initially, it was fur and it involved the French, British and Indians.  French had a huge influence in this area.  In the U.S. version, Britain (Canada) were the bad guys.  At the Welland Canal, during our winter visit to Niagara, The Treaty of Ghent depicted the U.S. as the bad guys.

The museum was OK, but displays had poor lighting and lots of fine print, which was difficult to read.  Probably would not go back.

Not much to share today photographically, except for  freighters.  Well OK, you talked us into it, here are a couple.

Getting the mail

Up close view!

Tomorrow we enter Canada.  If all goes well we will be at Lake Superior Provincial Park for the next 4 days.  No WiFi for miles there, so this will be our last post for a few days.