Sleeping Giant Provincial Park - hiking

Unhealthy air quality

After our morning bike to the beach to check messages, we head out to do some mild hiking. Unfortunately the smoke isn't great again today so we have to be a bit cautious what we take on. Thunder Bay is the closest for the Air Quality report but we are very close so it's a good indication. 

Vertical slab of magma

We do the short hike out to what's called The Sea Lion, a rock formation formed by the erosion of softer shale surrounding a harder base. It's a vertical sheet of solidified magma that once resembled a sea lion. On the hike, we come to this cool rock formation jutting out and don't realize yet what it is. We sit for a few minutes and enjoy the partial views through the smoke. It comes and goes. Still not seeing the brilliant blues we think are out there. 

Lake Superior

The Sea Lion

Once we continue on the trail, we see the arch and what is called The Sea Lion. Apparently the head has fallen off from erosion but they keep the fondly remembered name. 

The Sleeping Giant in behind the Sea Lion Arch

This picture of the Sea Lion has a glimpse of The Sleeping Giant in behind. It is not clear enough to make out exactly what the giant looks like. 

From the Sea Lion trail head we continue down the Kabeyun Trail, which is part of the /Top of the Giant' trail. It's a 22km challenging hike to the top of The Sleeping Giant. We hike a few kilometers down the trail for the experience but have no intention of hiking it on a day where smoke would not only make it more difficult, it would take the spectacular views of Lake Superior away. 

Our names scribed with a stone pencil :)

We opt for lunch on a pebble beach. There is a little stone shrine where people write their names on a rock using another piece of stone that actually resembles a pencil. We decide to join in the fun and our names now adorn a rock on the wall.  

Stones on a wall shrine

Silver Islet General Store

We head farther down the peninsula to Silver Islet and stop at the little general store. The area was once home to one of the world's richest silver mines located on a tiny island just offshore from the general store. Discovered in 1868, the mine operated very successfully for 16 years but failed over various engineering difficulties and eventually flooded. Today it's a lovely destination with remnants of the mining past. 

Lovely old general store

The general store is filled with all sorts of paraphernalia. It's old and original.

Picture for sale of the old general store :)

Toward the back they are serving Northern Ontario Blueberry pie. Yes please with a scoop of ice cream. Delicious little treat we share on the beautiful deck out back. 

Sheila enjoying her tea on the deck with pie :)

Traditional style canoes

We head out and walk about the grounds. There is a little marina with a couple gigantic canoes on the dock. 

The smoke has dissipated somewhat so a touch of blue sky can be seen. 

Back road to our campground

We take a back road around the islet and back to our campground. The day has flown by and it's getting late. We have a G&T before supper and call it a day as we are moving on tomorrow. 

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park - aka Sibley Peninsula

Terry Fox Monument up on the left

Knowing we will have little to no cell at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, we work until almost 1:00 before heading out. We travel the Terry Fox Courage Highway again but this time we pass his monument up on the ridge as we head east. 

We head south down the Sibley Peninsula and get set up in the Marie Louise campground within The Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. There is no cell at our campsite so we bike a few minutes down to a beach we have heard may have a bar of cell. There is a bench at the far end of the beach that if you stand on your left leg and hold your phone just right above your head you can send a quick text message. At least we can let family know we are OK :)\

Concert in the bug dome :)

By the time we have supper we decide to just hang around and Chris brings out his guitar. He unknowingly puts on a great concert for our neighboring campers. After a few songs they actually clap and shout out song requests....lol  One set of neighbors, Graham and Sharon, actually come over with tasty homemade cookies and sit in our bug dome with us until after midnight. Turns out they love travel as much as we do so we have many stories swap. It's a fun evening. 

Terry Fox Marathon of Hope Monument + Thunder Bay, Ontario

Terry Fox Courage Highway

We decide to do the short drive east of Thunder Bay to the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope Monument today without the trailer in tow. The 'Terry Fox Courage Highway' is an 83 kilometer section of the Trans-Canada Highway between Thunder Bay and Nipigon, ON renamed to honor Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run he undertook to raise money for cancer research. 

Terry Fox Marathon of Hope Monument

Terry Fox was just 18 years old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer in his right leg, which led to the amputation of his leg above the knee. This diagnosis combined with a reservoir of compassion and determination to bring an end to the suffering cancer causes, Terry set on a path that changed the world. He began his Marathon of Hope run on April 12th, 1980 in St John's Newfoundland at Mile Zero. He dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean and started running towards the Pacific Ocean. 

Terrance Stanley Fox 

A true Canadian Hero

Anything is possible if you try :)

Terry endured immense pain as he ran nearly a marathon a day for 143 days, covering 5,373 kilometers across Canada. He was sadly forced to end his Marathon of Hope just outside of Thunder Bay on September 1st, 1980 as his cancer had returned but this time in the form of lung cancer. 

I remember having just graduated from high school when this was happening. Such an amazing young man. We are very happy to have the honor of stopping here and remembering him. Brought goose bumps to my arms and tears to my eyes. The world needs more people like Terry Fox. 

Hillcrest Park war memorial

Next we head to Hillcrest Park in Thunder Bay for views of Lake Superior and The Sleeping Giant peninsula. The park itself is dedicated to honor the Lake Superior Regiment and their service in World War 2. 

The flowers throughout it are beautiful and in full bloom. Even a Pollinators Garden, specifically planted to attract and support pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds by providing them with food and shelter.

Good thing for the flowers as the smoke is quite thick today and there are no views of Lake Superior or The Sleeping Giant, a rock formation called the Sibley Peninsula, which juts out into Lake Superior and is shaped like a giant lying on his back. Hopefully another day we'll see him :)

Waterfront marina

Then it's off to Prince Arthur's Landing and the Thunder Bay Waterfront Marina. The City of Port Arthur was amalgamated with Fort William and became Thunder Bay in 1970. The waterfront is lovely to stroll and chat with a few locals. It turns out to be what we will remember as the redeeming quality of Thunder Bay. 

Ketch rig sailing vessel on Lake Superior

Pier 3

There are 3 piers on the waterfront that were refurbished as part of the transformation of this area. It is definitely something to be proud of for the local residents. 

Marina Park

Taiji Park Arch

There is still a good share of tall, old abandoned manufacturing buildings coming out of the pulp and paper mill era. To us they seem to be a developers nightmare as who knows what lurks below. 

Trail totally blocked by numerous downed trees

We head back to Chippewa campground for supper and then a bike ride. We try to ride a trail but it is totally blocked with down trees...did these come down the other night in the huge storm we were caught it? 

Sun setting in a smoky sky

On the way back to our trailer the sun is setting in the smoky evening. We spend the rest of the evening packing away for our departure tomorrow. 

Kakabeka Falls and on to Thunder Bay, Ontario

Old church who's seen better days

On the road by 7:30 am as we know we have another time zone change to deal with 1.5 hours down the road so it will be 8:30 before we know it. This old church along the highway has seen better days.

They are repaving the Trans-Canada along the way so we are down to alternating one way traffic. 

Narrow lane for alternating traffic while they repave

90 degrees longitude west

We stop for breakfast at the 90 Degrees Longitude West rest stop. It coincides with the Eastern Standard Time Zone change for us ....another hour ahead of home so 2 hours in total now ahead.  Kind of a cool location. 

Kakabeka Falls 

Just before Thunder Bay is Kakabeka Falls, which is considered the Niagara of the North. They are the second highest falls in Ontario, after Niagara Falls and drop a whopping 40 meters (130 feet). We learn from AI the Kaministikwin River, which feeds the falls, often appears red or brown due to the presence of sediment and organic matter carried by the water, particularly after rain. That makes sense as to why it is so red/brown today after yesterday's storm.

 

Impressive Falls

Downstream of the falls

Chippewa Park campground entrance

We are staying at a municipal campground in Thunder Bay called Chippewa Park Campground. I had read a warning about the James Street bridge being too narrow to cross when pulling an RV but Google still routes us that way. Thankfully we see the bridge in time and there is a diversion road and we take the back road into the campground. Chris later reads about someone ripping their trailer apart when they tried to cross...who would do that??

Beautiful chairs at office entrance

The road in was long and super rough. We are beginning to wonder where the heck we are and are we even near Thunder Bay. We get checked in and head down to our site. 

Shores of Lake Superior? haha

Back in February when I was booking this campsite, the website talked about being on the shores of Lake Superior. It is a far cry from that as we appear to be on a lagoon off Lake Superior and we have yet to get a glimpse of the lake. All the rain that hit us yesterday afternoon clearly dumped here too and our booked site is very soggy. Thankfully we are able to move to higher ground. 

James Street Swing Bridge circa 1909

Chris ends up working for the afternoon and I do some much needed laundry as it's been over 2 weeks. 4 loads later we decide it's time to relax and head into Thunder Bay. 

This picture and next video is the CN James Street Swing Bridge that we were warned to avoid on our way into the campground if hauling the RV, which we did!! Later, without the RV, we have to pull the mirrors in on the truck and we literally have about a foot on each side. Takes focus to get us over safely and we find Thunder Bay. 

Colorful cans of craft beer from Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. 

This city looks like it has seen better days. Where we dive, the homes are very old and fairly run down. We head to Sleeping Giant Brewery for a pint and a pizza. The beer is good so we buy a six pack to go. 

CBS Thunder Bay :)

Not being used to another hour ahead, the day has gotten away on us and we are tired. We stop for a new BBQ cover for our bikes...sadly ours was gone when we arrived at Chippewa campground :(

I spy Canadian Blood Services across the street from where we stop and feel nostalgic about my past employer. What a wonderful organization that saves lives everyday. Missing my past donors :)

Wondering a bit if this is all Thunder Bay (TBay nickname) has to offer we head home as it's late. Hopefully we discover its gems tomorrow. 

Kayak on Dogtooth Lake in Rushing River Provincial Park + Travel east towards Thunder Bay, Ontario

Kayaking Dogtooth Lake - Rushing River Provincial Park

We are really liking the campground check out times in Ontario being 2 pm. It's like we get an extra day before moving on. This morning we go for a walk to see the campsites on the water (fantastic spots for tents and rigs smaller than ours), kayak the Dogtooth Lake for about an hour and then have a swim before we pull out at 2pm. Almost a full day in itself before we leave the campground :)

Some people even have their own islands. We read in the Kenora museum you could buy an island for $200-$400 back in the day. Rather a nice real estate investment I am sure.

Our Point of View cabin on their own island

Final swim in one of the lovely natural pools here. 

This afternoon is spent driving east and we plan to stop in a few hours for the night. This nicely breaks the drive up for our arrival in Thunder Bay tomorrow. 

The cuts through the granite rock Canadian Shield continue to be numerous. 

Drive the speed limit :)

Ontario doesn't mess around with speeding. These sorts of signs are very frequently posted. We just try to do the speed limit and stay out of trouble. 

Dryden, ON Pulp and Paper Mill

As we drive through areas we use AI (artificial intelligence) to quickly learn history or local facts etc. Well, we learn the City of Dryden has some sad history with respect to its pulp mill. During the 1960's and 70's mercury poisoning from the mill caused one of Canada's worst environmental disasters. Dryden Chemicals Ltd was dumping mercury into the English Wabigoon River, just upstream of the Grassy Narrows First Nations, poisoning the fish, which were their staple food. Ugh...first nations peoples suffered severe mercury poisoning. Plus the mill was subject to a W5 investigation, published in 2021, into claims of workers being exposed to toxic fumes. Is it cleaned up today?? It was acquired by First Quality Enterprises in 2023 so we sure hope so. 

Nasty little storm

Farther down the road just outside of Ignace we stop at a local beach. Chris has news about a severe storm warning going to hit us very soon so we want to be off the road. It goes from beautiful, hot sunny weather to all hell breaking loose and alerts on our phone as to Tornado warnings and take cover. Where the heck are we to go...pretty scary. 

Our view from Ignace Lookout - starting to clear

Happy our rig didn't lift off the ground, we head to the Ignace Viewpoint for the night. A designated boon-docking spot meaning it's free for the night. Good night :)