Don't Look Down!

At the risk of OD-ing on waterfalls, I stopped at Aguasabon Falls on my way to Thunder Bay. They were nice, but this didn't seem like the best view.


Ahah! Maybe if I crawl down this blocked off set of stairs and bushwack my way through the woods.


Sure enough! I found the tripod holes!

Also on the way was the largest suspension bridge in Canada. It's 600 feet across and 152 feet above the canyon floor. Once again, the best view was from the illegal zone.


I wanted to get my money's worth, so I went across it several times.


Aaaaaaaaa!!!! Don't look down!



Wheeee!!! This is fun!



They also had an older, shorter bridge that was actually a lot more wiggly. If you look closely you can see the older bridge in the distance at the end of the video. It's "only" 300 feet across.


I also went across the older bridge several times.

Paper and Gold

The town of Marathon, Ontario, the next stop on our "Around Lake Superior" tour, is known for two things. It was a small pulp town until 1981, when gold was discovered nearby. The pulp mill is located down by the water.


I loved this area for photography -- beautiful orange lichen, with flowers growing out of the cracks.


This shot is for my father -- his two girls taking exactly the same shot with their identical cameras.


And here's the shot -- Pebble Beach.


But look at the size of these pebbles! Everything seems bigger here in Canada.


This is Middle Beach, but we thought it should be called "Log Beach."


Mink Falls, on an unmarked trail not too far from our campground. Yes, believe it or not, the WINs are staying in a campground, albeit in the boondocking area.


Bugs are so abundant here that there is even a book about them, so you know what critter bit you.


Wonder what species of fly this is?


On the way to Marathon, we went through White River, the birthplace of Winnie the Pooh, who later ended up in the London Zoo, where author A.A. Milne and son Christopher lived.


I tried to steal his "hunny" to no avail.

Wawa Fun

Canada is definitely a different country. Even the stop signs are in a different language!


And there is definitely more wildlife. This bear was on the road leading to the dam. I have yet to see a moose, though.


Wawa has a lot of water. Lots of lakes like this one.


And lots of huge waterfalls. This is Scenic High Falls.


And Silver Falls. As you can see, we haven't had the greatest weather.


So one day we decided to go bowling. But this is 5-pin bowling. Different pins, balls, scoring, and rules.


I couldn't figure out the rules, so I just threw the ball and hoped for the best.


Marvin looks like an expert.


But surprise! Skill did not seem to enter into the equation in the scoring!


Saturday night we had a "burn-your-own" dinner overlooking the river.


Mark and Max entertained us with the harmonicas they won for being the high scorers in bowling.

Looking for Wawa

Before we left Sault Ste Marie, 11 WINs went on a kayak trip through the Canadian locks. I thought these shots were great and decided to put them on the blog even though I didn't go on the trip. Here they are approaching the lock.


And in the lock, waiting to rise.


And after the 21-foot rise.


Leaving Sault Ste Marie, we entered moose country. What is this? A moose on skis?


We stopped at Agawa Rock north of SSM to see the pictographs there along the lake. We were met by scary signs!


But that just makes it a challenge. The rocks really were slippery, but chains and ropes were provided. (Actually, I think the ropes were for assisting those who fall in...)


This is the most famous of the pictographs, the Great Lynx named Misshepezhieu, who could bring wind and storms to Lake Superior by the mere swish of his tale.

The pictographs are thought to be 150 to 400 years old, and were painted with red ochre mixed with fish oil.


Even better than the pictographs was the trail down to the water. It went through a deep cut in the rock.


Finally made it to the town of Wawa. Why the funny name?


Contrary to what I thought, Wawa does not mean water, but "wild goose." There are several gigantic ones in town.


Our camping spot was quite a surprise. I haven't seen too much great boondocking in this area of the country. But wow! We are parked at Steephill Dam north of town, at a gorgeous spot overlooking a huge waterfall that comes off the dam.

O Canada!

More drive-by shooting, this time of me entering Canada. I have to admit it makes me a little nervous to be in a foreign country, even Canada. We're staying for 5 days at the Sault Ste. Marie Moose Lodge on the Canadian side.


But WOW, the gas is really reasonable! I would have come here sooner had I known. WHAT?? This is the price for a liter, not a gallon!


The weather has been cold and rainy, as this sign in a restaurant attests to.


The WINs went on a tour of the Canadian locks.


They used to be quite busy, but now are used for tour boats and recreational boats only.


There's a 21-foot drop from Lake Superior to Lake Heron.


I had a nice chat with the Harbor Master.


An aerial shot of the Canadian locks, on the near side, and the US locks, on the far side.


The next day, I headed back to the US to see their locks. This is where the big freighters go through. The Edwin H. Gott is over 1000 feet long! This is actually 3 pictures put together. The curve is just a result of the software.


Safely out of the lock and on its way up Lake Superior.


This is the John J. Boland, a scant 680 feet long, demonstrating the 21-foot rise. Here's the before picture...


And after.