Marathon to Dryden Ont

Lake Superior view

Today started off quite foggy at the campsite. It quickly cleared up though, and the morning was lovely and sunny. It was cool when we started off, about 8C (46F), and it fluctuated quite a bit all day long, finally up to about 21C in Dryden.

At a view stop yesterday we were discussing the drive with a young couple. They asked us if we had done the drive before. When we told them our first trip was 1974, the fellow's jaw dropped a bit. He wasn't born until 17 years after that! He wondered (sincerely I think) whether there was more asphalt paving now than then. I think he visualized gravel roads at best for any roads that old.

 

Some beautiful lookout views as usual along Superior. The views seemed better today since our earlier trips. We theorized that the lake views are better heading west than east along Hwy 17 from Wawa to Marathon. ?

This trip we're stopping at places we've never stopped at before. Aguasabon River Gorge at Terrace Bay was one of these stops today. It's part of a major hydro-electric power generation project finished in about 1948, providing enough power for about 45,000 homes.

A long accessible walkway down to the lookout

On our most recent trip west in 2018, a new bridge was being built near Nipigon, and it's finished now. Not a real good bridge picture, it's quite striking in person (better pictures from our return trip, later in this blog):

Even though we've visited it before, we had to stop at the Terry Fox Memorial park. Even on the foggy rainy day it was by then, this is very well done.

Memorial building, new since we were last here 

Some ways after leaving Thunder Bay, we stopped at the site marking the change between Eastern and Central time in Canada:

Remember, you can click on pictures to see a larger version.

Sault Ste Marie to Marathon Ont

Lake Superior view

We took things slower today. After a quiet comfortable night at Walmart we got the van filled with diesel ($2.19 at a PetroCan) and one of our 10 lb propane tanks refilled. Our little heater ran out of propane just before we got up, good timing as it got pretty cool overnight. 

Here's a shopping cart gatherer having fun in the water:

He had just taken the whole train through the puddle in front of the van. Could have been shocking, with the electric cart pusher!

Then leaving the somewhat hectic morning traffic of Sault Ste Marie behind, we headed north towards Wawa. It's a beautiful drive from SSM to Wawa on the Trans-Canada Highway. There was some fog early on, but things cleared up nicely later. 

We took our time, dropping in to several viewing areas and picnic spots. Water levels are high, so lots of little (and not so little) waterfalls around.

Cathie braved the sometimes slippery rocks

And of course lots of Lake views. The views of the coast from SSM to Wawa can be as nice as the views across the top of Superior. There are fewer trees here and many stopping places, especially through the large Lake Superior Provincial Park. 

One of the special stops on past Wawa is Old Woman Bay, with its beautiful beach:

Along the way we had a quick look at 2 Cranes (Sandhill?) along the road. They got quite skittish when we stopped, and quickly faded back into the forest:

We also came across a reminder of the hazards of the road. No tractor remains were visible, so we think only the trailer part of the truck rig burned, and hope the driver was ok.

And here we are, with an early camp in a nice park run by the town of Marathon, Penn Lake Park:

A few ducks are dabbling around in the little lake:

*START* of 2022 Yukon trip: Bayfield to Sault Ste Marie Ont

A nice waterfront site

 

A kind of dreary driving day today got us well started. We got away right about 8am, and parked here at 7pm. 

A view behind our nice waterfront site:

Yes, the waterfront is a large puddle in the Walmart lot. The gulls liked it too:

 

Catching up, and getting ready for a trip

 

Pat, Nancy and Cathie with a Pioneer Park Lake Huron sunset

Back on Apr 12 it was just too nice to stay home, so we decided to get the van out for the first time this year and take the bikes to Rondeau Provincial Park for the day. Our annual day pass is still good, so no admission fee. We didn't see much migratory bird life yet, but spring was well along.

Taking some sun - Rondeau IS south of us :))

  

A few harmless snakes were enjoying the sun too

Loading the bikes to head home

Hard to tell, but it's a nesting swan

A cruising swan guarding the nearby nest

May has been pretty nice, but it became clear this month that the Bald Eagles we have been watching will not have a successful nesting this year. After seeing brooding activity in March, there has been no activity around the nest at all for several weeks. Nestlings heads should be getting visible by now, but no sign of that or of the parents.

On a happier note, Cathie's sister Nancy and her hubby Pat came to Ontario last week, for some family visits. Three sisters and two daughters/nieces got together for a traditional pedicure session, getting ready for sandal season:

All ready to go now!

Pat and Nancy got to our Bayfield place to stay for a couple of days, the first time in the 2 1/2 years we've lived here. They flew from Charlottetown PEI to Hamilton Ont via Swoop Air, for a price that was cheaper than driving their car. Great to see and visit with them as usual!

This past Saturday was a bit of adventure. We used our van to carry a couch from our place to our daughter's in Cambridge Ont. A nice countryside drive on a pleasant morning got us there in less than 2 hours, and unloaded. 

On the way in to their place we noticed a mobile vaccination bus parked in the nearby City Hall lot. We've been trying to get our 4th antivirus shot and we had a booking for June 2. When we checked at the bus, they had the Pfizer shots we wanted, and no line at all. So we took advantage of that, and cancelled the June 2 appointments.

Then the wind came up incredibly fast and severe. A large limb came off a tree behind our daughter's porch, crashed on some steps, and missed our van in the driveway by about 6 feet. Whew, that would have put a kink in our plans! An even larger tree/branch came down in their back yard too, crunching a patio fence, along with a couple of broken windows. We were all very lucky, especially compared to some other areas of Southern Ontario. Ottawa is still dealing with the after-effects of the severe windstorm.

The combination of the good luck with vaccinations, and the good luck of that branch missing our  van, let us move up our departure date a week or more, so we're getting ready to head west to BC Thursday morning! 

It's taken a while to decide to do a trip like this now. There are more than the usual reasons to not do it now but "wait til later". Well, our "laters" are shrinking, so we're going to head across Canada once again, in spite of the reasons not to. 

We're not sure exactly where we're going or how long we'll be gone, there's a lot of "it depends" involved. We have a couple of visits sort-of planned. The main plan is to stay flexible and enjoy the trip, and see where we get. That's kind of what we usually do, so hopefully things will work out once again.

 

Swans, eagles and construction again

Swans and geese at the Aylmer Museum viewing area

Tis the season for viewing migrating swans. The above picture was taken at the Aylmer Museum viewing area (Aylmer Museum link). There aren't usually the same number of swans there as along Greenway Drive, but because they are fed shelled corn at Aylmer, the birds tend to stay around longer.  

Speaking of Greenway Drive (Lambton Museum link), we paid it another visit on March 16, and were rewarded by the largest body of swans we've ever seen:

Here's a link to a 2-minute video with some slides and movie clips brought together. The video is a beginner effort for me, but does capture some of the noise and activity of the day. Watch the background in a couple of the video clips, you'll see masses of swans arriving to the area.  <Swan Viewing link>

We're also dropping in on the Bald Eagle nest periodically. The female appears to be brooding eggs still, so not visible very often. Today though while I was waiting, the female took off from the nest for a short break. I missed getting a picture of her takeoff, but got a couple of her return just a few minutes later:

As mentioned in an earlier blog, the campground near to us is working to protect their eroding shoreline. We had seen a vehicle carrying smaller rocks down that way:

There are also some larger rocks being placed individually. That's a large loader, and it only took one rock at a time:

And down at the shore, some careful placement:

Here at the Mews, the Activity Center roof is sheathed now. Construction has been a bit slow lately for various reasons, but there are bursts of activity, making progress: