Road Trip Lake Superior

The weather has been angry but the skies were beautiful. Waves crash into the big rock in Lake Superior Provincial Park - Agwa Bay. This land is the opposite of the prairies, it is made of brutal rock, mini mountains and a giant boreal forest that stretches across the continent.

Walking along the beach you can find many thousands of beautiful rocks, tumbled to smooth finish, and full of beautiful colours. It's hard not to take a few souvenir rocks home with you.

The giant goose in Wawa

Youngs General Store, Wawa

See more of the Lake Superior North Shore after the jump.

It was nice when the sun peaked out occasionally 

Old Woman Bay

The view from the lookout at the Aguasabon Falls and Gorge

Sault Ste. Marie, the Canadian locks

Pooh Bear statue at White River. The real Winnie was picked up in the small town before heading overseas for World War I

Pebble Beach in Marathon. Rocks are closer to boulders than pebbles

The lighthouse in Terrace Bay. We are staying at the Drifters Hotel and hopefully we will see the Northern Lights and the Perseid Meteor Shower tonight. Update: we saw the Aurora but no meteor shower.

Our journey was taking us towards Sleeping Giant Provincial Park near Thunder Bay and on a peninsula that juts into Lake Superior. The park is famous for the figure of a giant made of rock and forest laying on it's side, high above the surrounding area and of the rock formation that juts out into Lake Superior, cracked and with a big hole, the formation is called the Sea Lion. On the way we also stopped to mine our own Amethysts and climbed the lookout in Nipigon. We went to Blue Points Amethyst Mine where you are given a hammer and a bucket and told to go out to the pile of excavated material from the quarry. If you fill the pail it costs around $30 bucks so it is a great deal, but it is also hard work - bring closed toe shoes, pants and if possible a pair of safety glasses.

We kayaked from Silver Islet out to the Sea Lion

Side view of the Sea Lion

Ann kayaks through the waters of the Sea Lion hole

Ann and I at the top of the Giant, standing beside the deep gorge that cuts down to the lake

It is a very difficult hike up the giant, taking us about 7 and a half hours return and that was with a bike part way! Young, fit people can probably do it in half the time

Sleeping Giant's profile from Marie Louise Lake in the center of the park. The head is to the left (north) and the legs are to the right (south). The Provincial Park's camping sites are around Marie Louise Lake and not along the Lake Superior edges.

A map showing the routes to the Sleeping Giant lookout at the gorge

Surprisingly there were two outhouses on the Giant's trails. One at the southern terminus of the Talus Lake Trail and one on the Top of the Giant Trail. Both have a washroom symbol and a small path leading into the forest. If you were hoping for a nice bathroom, maybe even a shower or possibly even a door, you were wrong.

The bathroom is a small box on the forest floor

The best way to travel would be in someone's backpack - like this dog on the hike down

The cliff walls near the Tea Harbour Lookout

During a rainy day at the park we headed to nearby Ouimet Canyon, another provincial park without camping that runs along the top of a large canyon that is so deep it has sub-arctic plants at the bottom. Entrance cost is $5 per vehicle and they have bathrooms and a store (it was closed at the time and they sent you to Sleeping Giant if you wanted souvenirs).

The trail map

The Rock Pinnacle from lookout #1

It's not a long hike to the two lookouts and part of it is a wooden boardwalk and a large pedestrian bridge

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