ONTARIO: A WEEK BY THE LARGEST LAKE IN THE WORLD
- coupkovasvatava
- Aug 7, 2018
- 4 min read
Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the whole world. No wonder we spent almost a week by it: it takes a lot of driving to leave it behind. And once you do another lake comes into sight. And another one. And one more. When you manage to escape the water for a bit, you find yourself hiking in a deep forest with trees, trees and some more trees with no end. Provided that you are lucky enough you get to a clearing with a nice view... on a lake or two!
Oh well, Ontario just seems to be about lakes and it actually is good with me. Because I like water. I like it a lot. Place me by the lake, do your own thing for an hour or a day… and as long as there are rocks to throw you will find me where you left me.
When we crossed the border with Manitoba, we were driving a lot for a few days. Neither mum nor I are big fans of it but it had to be done so we did it. It took a lot of paper, colouring books, sticks and pine cones though… and snacks of course. Kakabeka Falls, one of the highest in Ontario, were nice, but the splash pad we found in Thunder Bay was just awesome! I was running around and got all wet, made a lot of new little friends and it was so much fun!
In Terrace Bay and Marathon we got to sleep (wake up, have dinner and breakfast) on beautiful beaches: one was sandy, the other one was pebble, the first one was ideal for driving my sand truck around, the other one was great for watching a nice sunset.
And then finally we got off the car and for two days settled in Pukaskwa, a beautiful national park… on a lake! The track to the suspension bridge over White River was long but not hard and I walked a big part of it myself. At our first snack stop I met three little girls and their parents… and since then I never let them go. We walked the rest of the way to and from the bridge together and I had a lot of fun with them. I suspect mum didn´t have a bad time with the grown-ups either so we ended up spending the evening with them on the beach in our campground. Which I didn´t mind at all. Next day we woke up to a rainy morning and 10 instead of 22 degrees from the previous day. It was freezing but cozy and warm in the car. I didn´t mind the drive so much this time.
Lake Superior Provincial Park is quite similar to Pukaskwa. I liked the walk to Orphan Lake since there were many opportunities to throw rocks into the water. We couldn´t go kayaking though because it was very windy and the lake is so big that it acts like sea – with all its waves, currents and even tides. The next day we went for a hike to a viewpoint overlooking the lake (again) and a short walk to see some old rock carvings that were pretty fainted and quite invisible and then for the rest of the day we were just being lazy, lying on the beach.
Lake Huron is another huge lake in Canada (and the US since it lies on and across the border) and it is now connected with Lake Superior with a canal. The problem is that the water level of Lake Huron is a few metres lower than that of Lake Superior. Someone very smart came with a solution in the end of the 19th century and that solution is called locks. They are in Sault Ste Marie and they are a technical wonder. I got to see how they work when the fishing boat was coming through. There even was a duck coming up with the water and swimming through the gate like it was doing it twice an hour.
What I was doing twice an hour by then was saying “hopi hopi” and it paid off because mum took me to a playground and we spent two hours there before it was time to go. I have to say I don´t care much about slides these days, swings rule!
Sudbury is a big city (on a lake) and I wouldn´t care about it much if there was not Science North, an amazing science centre. It cost us fortune to get in but I had never seen so many awesome things at one place before. And unlike other museum I could touch and play with most of them – including the flying squirrels!
It is very hot and stormy where I am now and this morning when we were driving to Killarney Provincial Park, it was all grey and foggy. Mum said it was smoke because there are trees on fire not far from us. We are lucky that there are also people who are fighting with the fire so we can stay safe and still go hiking. Up to The Crack for example. The Crack is a big hole is the rock and it takes some scrambling and climbing to get there but the views (on lakes) are nice and there were huge frogs in the pond so it was well worth it.
When we were kayaking in the afternoon it was drizzling and once we set off for making dinner later on it started pouring rain. I decided to wait for when it´s ready in the car. In the meantime I discovered where we hide breakfast cereal and before mum caught me I managed to wolf half of the box. They are square but I call them “kuli” (balls) anyway and they are yummy.
Three more days of (lake) adventure and we are settling down for a bit again.
Your Annie
Some facts: When: 26. 7. – 6. 8. 2018 Where: Manitoba/Ontario Border – Kenora – Thunder Bay – Pukaskwa National Park – Lake Superior Provincial Park – Sault Ste Marie – Sudbury – Killarney Provincial Park How long: 12 days How far: 51 + 489 + 323 + 219 + 195 + 317 + 109 = 1 703 km
