SUMMER '06: Day 4 - A Windy August Day - Part 2
Anyways..back to the vacation..(ah I miss vacation)..
Day 4 - A Windy August Day - Part 2
After spending the majority of the morning and into the afternoon at Wawa, with stops to the Wawa Goose, and Magpie Falls..we drove back to Lake Superior Provincial Park, with an intention to see the Agawa Bay Pictographs, despite the winds that were still continuing into the afternoon.
Our first stop was at Old Woman Bay beach. Finding a place to park, and ensured the pink overnight pass given to us from check in at the park, was in the front window of the car, we headed down to the scenic beach.
The winds were so strong blowing off of Lake Superior. The high cliffs surrounding the beach were vast and simply amazing. The long white sand beach with scattered bunches of people enjoying the amenities...sunbathing despite the sand being blown everywhere..we didn't stay long. The air was a bit chilly even though the sun was high and strong..the wind was just too strong for us to really enjoy the beach. We wanted to continue on to the pictographs, however we were sure at that point that it was just too windy to climb around on Agawa Rock!
We were right! We continued on to the Agawa Rock Indian Pictographs Trail, which is a 0.4km trail, that leads visitors through geological formations, 
The mythology of this area is set before the eye
with every turn of the corner! 
Past these sights is a wonderful hike over fallen boulders along the 
rocky shore of Lake Superior. 
The path leads you to the towering cliff face of Agawa Rock. 
Along the wall of this rock face are faint red ochre figures,
the Pictographs! 
Painted on most likely hundreds of years ago by Ojibwe Indians. The pictographs represent what the Ojibwe of the time experienced..war party canoes, moose, canoes, fish, and even mythical creatures. One of the famous being Misshepezhieu,
which unfortunately we could not reach on this visit, due to the high waves. 
In order to see the pictographs, one must follow a series of ropes and wires securely fastened to the sides of Agawa Rock. With a windy day, it is never advisable to see the pictographs due to the danger of the slippery sides of the rock.
We were only able to reach the first set of pictographs, which was comprised of a fish and a mythical creature that resembled a sea serpent of some sort.
Was there a sea serpent in Lake Superior many moons ago? hmmm..
And so, after being splashed a few times by chilly waves, and holding on tight to the ropes provided for visitors, we decided to head back up to the car. We were a little disappointed that we could not walk further along Agawa Rock, however this gave us a perfect reason to return!
We retired back to the campsite, and knowing that the winds had picked up for the evening, and that we wouldn't be able to have a fire due to being so out in the open, we decided to cook on the brand new Coleman stove that I purchased before leaving home. We settled with some good old Kraft Dinner and Hot Dogs. Yummy. We took a small walk along the beach 
and watched these amazing clouds that were hovering over Montreal Island on the Lake horizon. One cloud looked terribly like a funnel cloud, and it very well may have been with the high winds we were receiving!
The sunset was simply fantastic. Covered with large clouds, with some of the most perfect "fissures" between, allowing the reds and oranges of the evening sun to pour through. 
Heavenly...hmm..somewhat..the winds that I have been mentioning all along were starting to become a little much..they never did let up all day!
We went to bed early, praying that the tent wouldn't blow away on us in the middle of the night. The winds were picking up quite well at this point, and that tarp wall we had made was quite loud blowing in the wind. Bit of a scary thought, going to sleep on a beach in an extreme wind storm. We would find out later in the evening just how scary it would be..
~Tom
* Up Next!...Day 5...Escape to the POW camp!
posted by Tom at 9:23 PM
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