So, while I am still coming to grips with not being able to say that I am in my 30's anymore, I thought I would post up my trip report from my 40th birthday trip up to the shores of Lake Superior.
The last time I was up in this part of Ontario I was a teenager and was on the way home from a high school trip to the states where we came back via the north shore of Lake Superior. We stayed in Agawa Bay and I fell in love with the area and vowed to get back.
Being about a 10 hour drive I decided if there was anytime to go, that time was now, my 40th. I booked 2 days off of work to get 6 days off and headed up on Mon May 30 and came home on June 3 the day before my birthday. When my kid got wind of my trip (he's 4, 5 in Sept) he started asking questions about the area and what I was going to do.
My son takes after me already with a love of rocks and minerals and has already started his own little collection so after doing a little bit of research I found out that you can go to some Amethyst mines about 30km east of Thunder Bay. He asked for a piece of Amethyst with Hematite inclusions in it.
After finishing work on Sunday at midnight I headed home to shower and load the rest of my gear in to the wagon along with my pooch and got on the road about 1 a.m. Without any traffic and the darkness, the kilometres seemed to fly by and before I knew it the sun was slowly coming up and I was past Sudbury.
Deciding I was still doing ok I carried on and made stops as I drove when I saw interesting spots along the side of the road, like Chippewa Falls. As I reached the limits of Lake Superior Provincial Park I rounded a bend and a cow Moose was grazing at the side of the road. But by the time I pulled over a truck had rumbled by and she had taken off in to the forest.
In Wawa I stopped to grab some food for the road and all my groceries before getting back on the Trans-Canada Highway to head even further west. Arriving at the Amethyst mines around 5:30 p.m. I was amazed to find one open. However, after a short visit with some very unfriendly guys I decided to leave and try a different mine on day 2. On the way out I met two gentlemen who ran a different mine and they invited me back, took me in to the actual mine and let me sort through and pick some very nice pieces all for $30. Def a repeat trip next time I am up that way.
After a great experience I decided to cancel my overnight at Sleeping Giant in favour of driving back to Lake Superior. Now, I can drive, I love to drive and as I headed out at 8:00 p.m. I was a little tired. As the kilometres back to Wawa rolled on I could tell I was getting very tired and that I needed to stop soon for the night. With high beams blazing away, I rounded a bend doing about 105km/h in a 90 zone. Standing smack dab in the middle of the road was another Moose, almost impossible to see in the dark, but I was able to stop in time to see it look at me and walk off. Arriving in Wawa I stopped at the local tourist info spot and grabbed a few hours of much needed sleep.
Awaking surprisingly still comfy in the drivers seat I got out to stretch, fed and walked the pooch and got on the road to Agawa Bay. Upon arrival I found the prime beach spot, checked in, got some wood and set up camp. The weather was half decent so after a quick meal of hot dogs over the fire I headed of to check out the visitor centre and the park.
Lake Superior is a beautiful park. Set along the rugged coast of Lake Superior, it is filled with amazing landscapes, rivers, waterfalls, beaches and wildlife. The Agawa Bay area where I was based gets a lot of fog and rain in May as the land warms up faster than the lake. I didn't get any star shots as planned because of the weather, but did get the awesome experience of watching a storm come in across the lake and slept through it as it hit.
I spent a lot of time hiking and seeing as much as I could so I will just throw in a bunch of pics here and add a link to the album over on Flickr at the end.
All in all an amazing trip, I highly recommend the park and the Amethyst mines, in particular, the Blue Point Amethyst mine, if you get up that way.
Cheers,
Zen
Chippewa Falls
Chippewa by
Zen, on Flickr
High Falls
High Falls by
Zen, on Flickr
Along the coast
Alone on the coast by
Zen, on Flickr
Sand River
Sand River by
Zen, on Flickr
Old Woman Bay
Old Woman Bay by
Zen, on Flickr
Amethyst
Amethyst by
Zen, on Flickr
Hematite inclusions
Amethyst by
Zen, on Flickr
Toronto to Thunder Bay to Wawa
It's a long drive by
Zen, on Flickr
Waking up to the Goose
Wawa by
Zen, on Flickr
Stay tuned for part two of the pics.
Zen.
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