Week 2
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3
| Week 4 | Week 5
Act 2
Day 8:
Quite a bit of rain overnight (especially when it woke
me up at 2:15am). I packed up most of my gear, then went on a quick
tour of the Angel's Point Bike Trail. Not much in the way of variety, but
its a nice quiet walk or bike. After packing up the rest of my stuff, I drove
down to the walking trails. I went on a bit of the River trail (the rest
didn't look that interesting) and then
did
most of the Tower trail, going up to a nice lookout and an old ranger's tower
(again, the rest didn't look that interesting).
From there, I started the trek across to Killarney PP
on Georgian Bay. I stopped for gas in Amstein where the attendant had
just test driven an Outback with her husband. I gave a glowing report, of
course. I set up on site #91 at Killarney, way at the end of the
campground. Nice spot, with the entrance to one of the major trails across
from my site (so that I could see eager people enter and tired people exit).
Once I set up camp, I took a quick drive into Killarney, 10km away. On the
way back, I came across a doe and fawn deer, although I did manage to slow
down enough for them to get out of my way, which did seem to take forever.
Day 9:
Not sure if it got down to the forecast low of
2oC, but by the time I got up around 10am, it was up to 8. The
weather was bright and sunny, although quite windy and on the cool side.
After
breakfast, I headed over to two of the park's shorter trails,
Chikanishing (along the Georgian Bay coast) and Granite Ridges (nice walk
through a forest with a few nice lookouts). Wildlife was pretty average with
chipmunks, squirrels and snakes keeping me company. After dinner, I typed
in some of this web stuff, then sat on the hood of my car for some hot chocolate.
I heard something approaching me, so I scuffed my foot to scare it away.
I then turned on my flashlight to see that it wasn't a marauding 'coon, but
a fox, who promptly turned and walked down to the next campsite. If I hadn't
been so quick to make a move, he probably would have come up and taken a
sniff of my shoes. Oh well...
Day 10:
Today, I thought I'd attempt a small portion of the La
Cloche Silhouette, a 100km loop around the park. 10km along the trail,
from my campsite, is a ridge that has a rock formation called "The Crack",
but I figured 20km was a bit much, even for me, besides, half the trip would
be seeing the same forest from a different angle, not my cup of tea. Well,
one of the park staff told me about a short-cut that allowed me to drive
7km along the highway and park. From
there,
I hiked in about 2km to join the trail and then just 2km to
"The Crack". I then hiked all the way back, 10km, along the trail to my campsite
(right at the trail entrance) and rode my trusty bike through the park and
back along the highway to my car. I figured the total distance to be about
22km, which took me exactly 5 hours.
Needless to say, my legs were wasted, so I took a quick
nap and sat by the shore of George Lake. Another marten showed himself,
as he walked along the shore below me. I then drove into Killarney,
had dinner at the Killarney Mountain Lodge and finished the evening with
a campfire.
Day 11:
Another moving day - this time packing up everything
to move to Halfway Lake PP. Drove through downtown Sudbury - saw Science
North, in the distance. The park was pretty deserted when I got there
with just a few trailers, some on leased sites. I set up on site #132
and proceeded to track down a park employee. Found the superintendent and
registered. He told me that my site is one of the most sought after during
peak season - no wonder, since it has a nice lake view and trees in all the
right spots for a tarp. I went on the smallest loop of a series of
trails, in the mist/light rain. Back at the site, I almost convinced a squirrel
to pose for a picture, but he got wise. A blue jay also flew in for a look,
but also left quickly. Later in the evening, I heard the first call of the
loon so far this trip.
Day 12:
Interview day! I made myself look as presentable as I
could, under the circumstances, and started on the long drive up to Timmins.
The interview with Timmins and District Hospital went well, I even
got a chance to go online and check my email (Thanks!). Stopped and saw the
movie Ronin, with Robert DeNiro, and went to dinner at East Side Mario's
(on the west side of town, of course) before I started the 200km or so back
to the campsite. Saw a few more bodies around the park this time round.
Day 13:
Got up and prepared for a few trails. Started with the
Osprey Heights trail (no ospreys, though), then the rain started. It didn't
last long, so I went on the second longest loop of the nearby trail, with
a little side trip along the longest loop. I then drove down to Cartier to
tank up and then drove back to the park, through the thickening fog. Just
after dinner, the thunder and lightning started. It wasn't that great, since
the fog obscured my view and ruined any chance of seeing nice, clear streaks.
I drove down to one of the small clearings to see things a bit better.
The sky cleared up a bit, so I did get to see a few bolts, before heading
off to bed.
Day 14:
Once more, a moving day. Before I left, I sat and
ate breakfast at the edge of Raven Lake
and
was rewarded by seeing a cow moose and, 2 minutes later, a young bull moose
(small antlers) come down for a drink. Packed up my wet tarp and headed for
greener, and hopefully drier, pastures at Lake Superior PP. Travelled
over the Sultan Industrial Road - nice and twisty, but a little too wide
- and then up to Chapleau for lunch. The sky started to clear as I
approached Wawa, with a couple of nice cliffs and lakes to lighten things
up. Set up on site #14 of the Rabbit Blanket Lake campground at the
park (again, with a nice bit of lakefront) and was able to get dinner in
before the rain came back at 7:30pm. It didn't last long, so I was able to
see a few stars before I retired.
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| Week 4 | Week 5
Act 2