An ongoing thing with me is that I never seem to keep track of long weekends, so it came as no surprise when somebody asked me what my plans were for the Canada Day long weekend I came up with ...
"I'm going to go for a ride to... Thun...der Bay!"
And so it began and it was good.
I pulled out of here Saturday morning at 7:30am to meet my buddy Ed. He wasn't going to do the whole trip but instead was going to join me as far as Wawa (about 1000km there and back) for the day.
I won't bore you to much with story accept where necessary.
First, the players, me, and Ed. Who, looks like he wants to shove the camera somewhere. But it's a kickass pic with Chippewa Falls as the backdrop.
A few miles later we entered Lake Superior Provincial Park.
Our next stop was at Sand River Falls. This is the view looking out toward Lake Superior.
In Wawa we bumped into a couple riding to Alaska on their GS. ADV guy for sure. He's ridden Australia, Africa, Europe and is now exploring North America. Great guy and their making their way across Canada after hitting most of the US. I'd bump into these guys several times on the trip. Safe travels!
Funny thing, later in the trip I bumped into a another couple, he was riding a brand spanking new GS1200, and she, a brand new GS650. Bikes, Panniers, riding gear, camping equipment.. EVERYTHING was brand new. They had ridden in from Sault Saint Marie that day and, after unpacking proceeded to polish the spokes on his bike. Noobs. But I like their spirit and I hope they memories they're making together last a lifetime as they head out to BC for a new life.
The noobs and the hardened veteran.
At Wawa, Ed did a 180 and headed back home leaving me to venture into the wilds of Northern Ontario by my lonesome. Next thing I know, I'm pulling into Rainbow Falls Provincial Park near Rossport Ontario and setting up camp.
I almost got a campsite right on the beach except the computer wouldn't let her book it. I should've just paid for my spot and set up there anyway.
The beach at Rossport. It was *PACKED* this long weekend
I spent the night laughing my ass off at couple of drunk HD riders from Dryden. Good guys. No pics though, they wouldn't let me. 1%'rs don'tcha know.
I didn't sleep well. Happens the first time every year in the tent. But their was a full moon and the tent was lit up. So the next morning, I brewed myself some stout coffee and filled my belly with a double portion of instant oatmeal and continued heading west toward Thunder Bay.
A couple of pics within 5 miles of my campground.
A little closer to Nipigon thinks got relatively mountainous.
Weird though, even a baffed out old picnic table had to be chained down. Bears are hooligans.
Before long I rolled into Thunder Bay. My first stop was the Terry Fox Memorial. I don't suppose you guys know who Terry Fox is, but, in a nutshell. He was a young man who lost his leg to cancer. He started running (more like skipping) across Canada on his prosthetic leg to raise money for cancer research. In Thunder Bay, he was admitted to hospital and found that his cancer had spread to his lungs. He passed away shortly after. His story touched the heart of ALL Canadians and to this day, in every community across Canada, his legacy is remembered by holding yearly 'Terry Fox runs' to raise money for my cancer research. Terry's efforts have raised many millions of dollars.
A true Canadian hero.
And the view from the lookout over Thunder Bay, and, the Sleeping Giant.
Then, the real reason, ostensibly, for the ride, Kakabeka Falls which are something like the 2nd largest falls next to Niagara in Canada.
With that, it was time to head back home. I ended up riding back to Terrace Bay and getting a hotel room. It was f'n hot and I was f'n tired. I ended up drinking some beer with a couple of old bikers from Winnepeg. They were SNAPPED when I pulled into the lot. We ended up watching the Canada Day Fireworks being fired off on the beach just a few hundred yards from the hotel. Superior was calm and the moon full and the Fireworks were fantastic. I think the entire town was down at the beach doing that Canada! FUCK YA! thing.
The ride back was pretty uneventful except for seeing a mutant black bear (1 of 2 I saw on the trip). Honest, I didn't know a bear could mate with a Buick. By far, the largest black bear I've ever seen.
After stopping in White River at an A&W for the breakfast combo I noticed the sign, apparently, White River claims to have the coldest temperature ever recorded in Ontario. -72!
Fuck that mess. I've been in -52 before. My eyelids froze shut. White River is also the home of Winnie the Pooh and they had a big tourist monument to it. I think that's ghey so I didn't take any pics of that.
Next stop was Wawa for gas and break. It was Freakin' HOT again.
Wawa is home to the famous Canada goose. I didn't take any pics of it, but I did take a pic of another goose in Wawa. But not THE Wawa goose.
Their was also this cool old Harley.
Just a few clicks south of Wawa is Old Woman Bay. Don't worry Turk, I said Howdy for ya.
What a great way to spend Canada Day. Exploring and seeing sights that make Canada what it is.
