SUMMER '06: Day 3-Part 2-Lake Superior!!
It was Day 3, and we had seen and had done so much already. There was tons more to go, but our first visit after Manitoulin was Roberta Bondar Park in downtown Sault Ste. Marie.
The park is located on the shore of St. Marys River, which connects Lake Huron to Lake Superior.
The park's pavillion is a huge tent, situated right at the harbourfront. The structure provides 14,000 square feet of covered open space that can seat up to 1,750 people. It is equipped with a stage, dressing rooms, storage space, warming kitchen, public address system, tables and chairs and an outdoor amphitheatre.
I spent a bit of time wandering around the inside of the tent, admiring the structural engineering behind it.
The park also pays host to the M.S Norgoma, which was a dedicated vessel that travelled the "Turkey Trail", which was from Owen Sound to the North Channel, up St. Marys River, and to Lake Superior. The ship played an essential role in the economic development and settlement of this area of the Great Lakes coast. The Norgoma is now permanently docked at Sault Ste. Marie and has been converted into a museum. We opted to go to the museum another year, as our anticipation for Lake Superior was rising fast. We stopped for a short while however to grab a few pics of the old ship.
And so, after a brief stop-over at the park to freshen up for the day, we continued on, found our way back to the highway and headed off for Lake Superior.
The drive from Sault Ste. Marie to where we needed to go-Agawa Bay-Lake Superior Provincial Park was nearly two hours, however we did stop three times for some lovely views along Highway 17. The views were breathtaking as soon as we saw Lake Superior. Tiny islands, dotted with northern pines seemed like they were floating on the strong waters of the lake. There were hardly any houses or any other buildings for that matter. The highway winded its way through the Canadian Shield and the forests bordering the lake. The cliff edges jutting out to form the shoreline of the lake were simply breathtaking. Words or even the photos we did take still do not do the area any justice.
We made a stop at Agawa Indian Crafts, located just outside of Pancake Bay Provincial Park. (We would be stopping back at Pancake Bay in 8 more days)
The store provided us a gas stop, a food stop, and a great place to pick up souvenirs. We aren't really the souvenir-type of people, however I remember stopping at this place when I travelled up here as a child, and thought out of tradition that we should. The keychains we purchased are a great keepsake!
Well worth the stop, as the Indian crafts inside were marvellous! Two huge stores..Agawa Indian Crafts and The Canadian Carver. The Carver contained lovely woodworking figurines from local and world-wide artists. An excellent store for those wood-working enthusiasts out there. We made a short visit and marvelled at the artwork displayed and then continued on to our first night along Lake Superior.
We arrived at Lake Superior Provincial Park, and made a quick stop at our first Provincial Park Sign to capture the moment. This would be the first of twelve on the trip.
The skies were really starting to turn for the worst for us this afternoon, as we pulled into Agawa Bay Campground. The weather report was correct in saying that it would be overcast, however the air temperature seemed cooler than predicted. Were we going to get a Lake Superior Storm?
We checked in at the main gate, and drove the nearly 2km drive all the way down through the campground to campsite 326. We were situated directly on the beach, with very few trees to block out any possible wind that might befall upon us. A very pretty spot, with beach access right in front of us. The washrooms were nice and close as well, and the campsites were divided well which gave decent privacy. After setting up camp, driving back up to the main station for firewood, we took a walk along the beach to capture some of our surrounding views. Beautiful. Absolutely and phenomenally beautiful.
After our walk down the beach, we found that we were getting quite hungry from the day's long drive, however we had a problem. We should have purchased food back at the Agawa Indian Crafts store, and that was about 1.5hrs down the road. The town of Wawa was about an hour away from where we were as well. We quickly researched through our pamphlets for the nearest store to where we could purchase our meals for the next two nights stay at Agawa Bay.
We found a place to go to for groceries! Northgate Breakfast and Lunch Cafe is located just 19km south of Lake Superior Provincial Park, and is near Montreal River and Batchawana Bay. We drove 20 minutes to the place, with much anticipation over what our meals would be like for the next two evenings. Unfortunately, the store was closed! The hours of operation in our pamphlet from the campground didn't match what the store hours were! The host of the store was extremely kind in opening back up for us, in order for us to purchase what we needed.
We bought Kraft Dinner, eggs, and bacon..as well as more beef jerky of course.
We then drove back to the campground, started preparing our evening fire, and cooked our eggs and bacon over it. A classic camping meal!
Luckily the bad weather held off enough for us to make our meal for the evening. It continued to hold off as we took an evening walk down the beach to the nearby rocky shoreline where we were treated to a grand view of the beach we were going to be staying at for the next two nights.
The weather started to really turn while we were out for our walk. The wind started to pick up and the clouds really started to roll in. "Mackerel" or higher-level cumulus clouds were moving in very well from the lake.
We headed back to camp, and enjoyed the fire for a short while, until the rain started to come down on us. As we didn't have much tree cover on our beach campsite, we retired to the tent, with the guitar that we planned to use by the fire and had a good old sing-a-long in the tent while the rain came down on us outside.
Our first evening at Lake Superior Provincial Park was certainly an eventful one as the rain poured down on us. Was this was our Lake Superior Storm? The lake is notorious for freak storms, that entail powerful winds and rains. Was this the start of a big one?
We went to sleep hoping for the best for the next day. We had plans to see quite a few sights in the area, as the park offers many hiking trails, waterfalls, and other really neat things to do and see. The weather hopefully would hold off so we could enjoy our visit to the park. Despite the weather, we were enjoying every moment of our stay so far..we just were keeping our fingers crossed for the next day!...
The park is located on the shore of St. Marys River, which connects Lake Huron to Lake Superior.
The park's pavillion is a huge tent, situated right at the harbourfront. The structure provides 14,000 square feet of covered open space that can seat up to 1,750 people. It is equipped with a stage, dressing rooms, storage space, warming kitchen, public address system, tables and chairs and an outdoor amphitheatre.I spent a bit of time wandering around the inside of the tent, admiring the structural engineering behind it.
The park also pays host to the M.S Norgoma, which was a dedicated vessel that travelled the "Turkey Trail", which was from Owen Sound to the North Channel, up St. Marys River, and to Lake Superior. The ship played an essential role in the economic development and settlement of this area of the Great Lakes coast. The Norgoma is now permanently docked at Sault Ste. Marie and has been converted into a museum. We opted to go to the museum another year, as our anticipation for Lake Superior was rising fast. We stopped for a short while however to grab a few pics of the old ship.
And so, after a brief stop-over at the park to freshen up for the day, we continued on, found our way back to the highway and headed off for Lake Superior.
The drive from Sault Ste. Marie to where we needed to go-Agawa Bay-Lake Superior Provincial Park was nearly two hours, however we did stop three times for some lovely views along Highway 17. The views were breathtaking as soon as we saw Lake Superior. Tiny islands, dotted with northern pines seemed like they were floating on the strong waters of the lake. There were hardly any houses or any other buildings for that matter. The highway winded its way through the Canadian Shield and the forests bordering the lake. The cliff edges jutting out to form the shoreline of the lake were simply breathtaking. Words or even the photos we did take still do not do the area any justice.
We made a stop at Agawa Indian Crafts, located just outside of Pancake Bay Provincial Park. (We would be stopping back at Pancake Bay in 8 more days)
The store provided us a gas stop, a food stop, and a great place to pick up souvenirs. We aren't really the souvenir-type of people, however I remember stopping at this place when I travelled up here as a child, and thought out of tradition that we should. The keychains we purchased are a great keepsake!
Well worth the stop, as the Indian crafts inside were marvellous! Two huge stores..Agawa Indian Crafts and The Canadian Carver. The Carver contained lovely woodworking figurines from local and world-wide artists. An excellent store for those wood-working enthusiasts out there. We made a short visit and marvelled at the artwork displayed and then continued on to our first night along Lake Superior.
We arrived at Lake Superior Provincial Park, and made a quick stop at our first Provincial Park Sign to capture the moment. This would be the first of twelve on the trip.
The skies were really starting to turn for the worst for us this afternoon, as we pulled into Agawa Bay Campground. The weather report was correct in saying that it would be overcast, however the air temperature seemed cooler than predicted. Were we going to get a Lake Superior Storm?
We checked in at the main gate, and drove the nearly 2km drive all the way down through the campground to campsite 326. We were situated directly on the beach, with very few trees to block out any possible wind that might befall upon us. A very pretty spot, with beach access right in front of us. The washrooms were nice and close as well, and the campsites were divided well which gave decent privacy. After setting up camp, driving back up to the main station for firewood, we took a walk along the beach to capture some of our surrounding views. Beautiful. Absolutely and phenomenally beautiful.
After our walk down the beach, we found that we were getting quite hungry from the day's long drive, however we had a problem. We should have purchased food back at the Agawa Indian Crafts store, and that was about 1.5hrs down the road. The town of Wawa was about an hour away from where we were as well. We quickly researched through our pamphlets for the nearest store to where we could purchase our meals for the next two nights stay at Agawa Bay.
We found a place to go to for groceries! Northgate Breakfast and Lunch Cafe is located just 19km south of Lake Superior Provincial Park, and is near Montreal River and Batchawana Bay. We drove 20 minutes to the place, with much anticipation over what our meals would be like for the next two evenings. Unfortunately, the store was closed! The hours of operation in our pamphlet from the campground didn't match what the store hours were! The host of the store was extremely kind in opening back up for us, in order for us to purchase what we needed.
We bought Kraft Dinner, eggs, and bacon..as well as more beef jerky of course.
We then drove back to the campground, started preparing our evening fire, and cooked our eggs and bacon over it. A classic camping meal!
Luckily the bad weather held off enough for us to make our meal for the evening. It continued to hold off as we took an evening walk down the beach to the nearby rocky shoreline where we were treated to a grand view of the beach we were going to be staying at for the next two nights.
The weather started to really turn while we were out for our walk. The wind started to pick up and the clouds really started to roll in. "Mackerel" or higher-level cumulus clouds were moving in very well from the lake.
We headed back to camp, and enjoyed the fire for a short while, until the rain started to come down on us. As we didn't have much tree cover on our beach campsite, we retired to the tent, with the guitar that we planned to use by the fire and had a good old sing-a-long in the tent while the rain came down on us outside.
Our first evening at Lake Superior Provincial Park was certainly an eventful one as the rain poured down on us. Was this was our Lake Superior Storm? The lake is notorious for freak storms, that entail powerful winds and rains. Was this the start of a big one?
We went to sleep hoping for the best for the next day. We had plans to see quite a few sights in the area, as the park offers many hiking trails, waterfalls, and other really neat things to do and see. The weather hopefully would hold off so we could enjoy our visit to the park. Despite the weather, we were enjoying every moment of our stay so far..we just were keeping our fingers crossed for the next day!...
Up Next!..Day 4..Agawa Pictographs, Wawa Goose, and Plenty o' Gale!
posted by Tom at 10:42 AM
<< Home