Dear Friends,
It's been eight days since I left Thunder Bay and have enjoyed a stay at the home of John Myles and Krista Ryall in Sault Ste. Marie. I met John and Krista while riding in Lake Superior Provincial Park and they graciously offered to host me for a night. After over two days of strong southerly headwinds, off of Lake Superior, combined with seemingly endless hills, I was ready for a rest. This stretch of Highway 17 has been by far the most challenging part of my ride to date with long stretches of wilderness and no settlements in between. One has to plan food and water very carefully and I almost ran out by the time I got to Pancake Bay Provincial Park, about 156 kilometres from Wawa, Ontario. There was good drinking water at this campsite and food down the road and I've never felt so relieved to replenish these resources. "Clean water for anyone" had renewed significance for me as I chugged down my replenished bottle of water on that hot, windy day on the road. I got a bit of a reprieve in the wind for the next 40 km or so until I stopped at the Blueberry Motel, past the Goulais River about 27 km from Sault Ste. Marie. What a relief! I think this was the hardest ride I can remember doing...character building for sure!
The vistas of Lake Superior are unforgettable with the effects of sun and cloud on the changing blues in the lake, sometimes Mediterranean-like azure to a brooding steel grey more akin to the west coast of B.C. on a stormy day. I must admit, I had mixed feelings of isolation and exposure, blended with gratitude for being able to experience this profound natural beauty. I experienced a thunder storm just as I arrived at Agawa Bay where I camped one night and made it to cover just before the skies unleashed a deluge of hail and rain. Blessed again, the skies cleared up within half an hour and I was busy setting up my camp on the north shore of Lake Superior in the sunshine.
So much time was spent solo riding through through landscapes of rocks, trees, marshes and lakes so there is nothing to report that is notable except for the vastness of the wilds of Ontario. I did meet some interesting people on this leg which did enrich this part of the journey. At White River, I met Peter and Mary from Salt Spring Island, B.C. who were riding a tandem bicycle and Anne, a cyclist from Vancouver. We had dinner together on Canada Day and swapped tales of the road which was most intriguing. There were others as well...Houston and Jurgen near Nipigon who were riding west to Vancouver. Houston was returning to Vancouver after seven months in South America and Jurgen was planning on being in Vacouver for his birthday near the end of July. There was also a brother/sister team who were incredibly fit and were covering tremendous distances, heading east. The scuttle-butt on the road was that they rode 300 km on the prairies one day without much of a tailwind and they confirmed this fact when I met them at one point. On the road south of White River I met a Dutch gentleman who was walking across Canada. Bram had walked from Halifax to Ottawa last year and now he is walking from Ottawa to Thunder Bay. Quite a feat!
I've only found the energy to update this blog this morning but need to get going on the next leg to Sudbury before it gets too late, so I'll sign off for now but hope to fill in a few more blanks on this last leg when I recall experiences or information I'd like to share.
Until then,
Bye for now,
Doug
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