"225 Kilometers of NOTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!"

Hello, Lake Superior!

As we left Sault Ste. Marie and headed north along the shores of Lake Superior the hitchhikers cry echoed in our ears.

"It's a long stretch 'dat way!" He yelled at us in his French-Canadian accent from the where he sat on the roadside with his backpack and German Shepard. "TWO-HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-FIVE KILOMETRES OF NOTHIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!"

Petroglyphs at Agawa Bay

His last word trailed off as he called after us and we broke out into laughter. Actually, it's been a running joke for us for the entirety of Northern Ontario because for many people there is undeniable truth in his statement.  But it depends on your definition of ‘nothing’. 

We didn't see one...

Its reputation of being 'the middle of nowhere' is not entirely undeserved. There really isn't much to your average city dweller. Every couple hours or so the forest is punctuated with a diner/gas station/motel/hunting lodge, but otherwise the only signs of 'civilization' are the highway itself, and constant stream of semis. However, if you appreciate stunning scenery, abundant wildlife, wild blueberries, and the fresh smell of the expansive northern Boreal forest, well, then there is an awful lot in Northern Ontario! For us it was a refreshing break from the heavily populated, or heavily farmed, Southern Ontario, and a chance to reconnect with what got us started on this trip in the first place: Nature.

(On that note, our apologies for the recent large gaps between postings to our blog.  Part of the ‘nothing’ that is Northern Ontario, made being on the Internet for any length of time tricky.)

"From here all streams flow
North into the Arctic Ocean"

We were amazed by Lake Superior. When you compare it to some of its southern counterparts with their questionable coloured water and accompanying odours, it's clear blue waters and large sections of unspoiled shoreline are, well, superior.  We enjoyed a swim at a secluded beach we found on a tip-off from a local.  It was very cold, but gorgeous. We found it especially so as we hadn’t bathed for a couple days prior, and one gets smelly doing these things. 

We stayed with an amazing woman in Thunder Bay who was kind enough not only to feed us and let us invade her house, but also set us up with her birdwatching friends, and arranged for us to put on a small house concert.  It was late notice as it is always hard to pinpoint exactly where we’ll be and when, and despite a short plug on the local CBC, our audience was small.  But it was a good and attentive audience of very friendly folk and together they donated $105 to our cause!

The Terry Fox memorial
at Thunder Bay

There is a monument dedicated to Terry Fox on the TCH just outside Thunder Bay, the city where his inspiring run came sadly to an end.  Actually, the entire highway between Nipigon and Thunder Bay was renamed the Terry Fox Courage Highway in his honour, and it was interesting and inspiring to reflect on his legacy, as he began his run at the very same place we began our ride (Cape Spear).  The monument itself is beautifully done, and incorporates the epic landscapes of Lake Superior and Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, which stretch out behind it on a clear day. It was unfortunately foggy while we were there, but it was still good to see.   

Gartersnake

From Thunder Bay we made our way, over the course of 5 days, to Kenora, and finally over the border and into Manitoba.  Make no mistake: Ontario is huge.  We were there for a grand total of 43 days, and are glad to finally be able to change the ‘Province’ section on our current location status! 

Thanks Ontario! We had an amazing time.