The Drive South Along the East Side of Superior

Wednesday, June 27th – Pukaskwa National Park to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario - Day 166 

We woke at Pukaskwa National Park, another in our series of National Parks, to eat cereal and oatmeal. We showered and washed the dishes while Jo-Ce took the kids to the visitor centre to work on their explorer booklets. Once packed and ready to go, Gen and I joined them. 

The trail they recommended was the Southern Headland Trail. It was fantastic. We climbed over hills of granite and through moss covered forests. I learned that the rocks in the park were pink granite, but they looked grey because black and grey lichen grows onto the rock. The walk reminded me of my time spent near Port Severn, similar rocks, lichen and plants. The trail led to a beach covered in driftwood before we took a boardwalk back to the campground. The boardwalk went through dunes and cedars which reminded me of my time spent near Sauble Beach. I took a minute to appreciate the landscapes I have lived in. 

We hopped into the car and started to move. Our first stop was the Winnie the Pooh statue in White River. On the way to war, a soldier purchased a black bear cub at the train station for $20 (what a random thing to do). He brought the bear with him to training and Winnie, named Winnipeg for the soldier’s home town, became the mascot for the regiment. To have a bear at training is acceptable but bringing the bear to war was too much so the soldier lent the bear to the London Zoo. Winnie quickly became extremely popular and was loved by a boy named Christopher Robin, son of A.A. Milne - author. Add in a few of Christopher Robin’s stuffed animals, a pig, tiger, donkey and owl, and the rest is history. 

 We were driving through walls of fog; occasionally the fog would clear up but a minute later you’d drive into another wall. When the fog parted, we were greeted by the giant goose statue of Wawa. The giant goose statue could only be improved if they had white and black squishy circles on the pavement around it. 

We moved on to High Falls on the Magpie River, which is secret code for dam spillway, but was very scenic regardless. We drove down a dirt and gravel hill to get to the falls and there was some panic about not being able to get the trailer up the hill; we succeeded without anyone having to push. A quick drive through the town of Wawa with a yearnful eye towards seeing Chapleau, where I spent the summer of my 16th year as a junior ranger. No time to visit. 

We had read that the drive along Lake Superior rivals Big Sur in California (where we were a month before) and the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton. All we could see was fog. We had a swim and homemade sushi at Old Woman Bay; we needed to get in our swim in the greatest of great lakes. 

The drive continued past viewpoints where you couldn’t see past the viewpoint pull-off. At one point, we were so excited that the fog cleared, we were three minutes from a viewpoint, but the reprieve only lasted for two minutes. We stopped at a viewpoint where we could see the rocks along the water front that was nineteen kilometres away from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (any Gordon Lightfoot fans?). 

 Our final stop was Chippewa Falls, by this time it was completely dark out. We walked onto the walkway beside the highway but could only hear the falls in the distance. Another 45 minutes and we were in Sault Ste. Marie. We debated between camping at the parking lots of a national historic site, the Algoma Conservatory of Music, the Agawa Canyon Tour Train, and a casino. We decided on the casino and hung out contemplating our last campsite on the trip.