Superiority at its finest

As you all will know, my summer has serendipitously become a wonderful exploration of the wonders of Canada!

I live on Lake Ontario and have kayaked there, swam in Lake Huron, hiked and swam in the Georgian Bay (see Northern Bruce Peninsula post) and this past week, I've added Lake Superior.
The largest fresh water lake in the world is a mere 900 km from Toronto (!!!), which translates to an 11hour drive!! No no, I didn't do this trip alone. Actually Lake Superior wasn't on my list of must see's but my partner in exploration had it on his bucket list so we rented a Dodge ( add smirk) and headed on up on a Friday afternoon.
The bump and grind of Toronto traffic enhanced the desire for the serenity that "up North" would offer and boy it didn't disappoint.

Scenery on Hwy 400

The mist and the beauty

Just a mere 2 hours outside of Toronto on the 400 N, though beautiful, the scenery was a mere segue into what we would see and we were already enchanted.  What wasn't lost on us was the immense amount of labour it took to carve out a roadway up through the rocky terrain though the countryside was still unspoilt.  So much so, I could still visualize the Native Indian tribes that explored, hunted and lived on these lands.

It was a wonderful feeling of solitude but without feeling disconnected.  The further North we drove, the less cars and people we saw, the smaller the towns and interestingly the more connected we felt to humanity.   I guess living in a big city desensitizes this connectedness as strange as it may sound.  Along the way we saw more Provincial Parks to visit (...look out, the adventures might not be over).

That night we stopped in Sault Ste. Marie because it's a place my mother always wanted to see and the last big city before we hit the Provincial Park and hence last place to get a hot meal.  

After re-fueling we headed on the last 100km of our journey.  Just as we got accustomed to the meandering roads and the hilly terrain, there it was....

The first sight....

Another 20km and we entered the Lake Superior Provincial Park which is bisected by the Trans-Canada 

Highway.  I happily registering at the Office - which is something all hikers do- only to realise that the questions they asked weren't just to be overly intrusive.  "What's the colour of your backpack" and "What's the colour of your tent" really brought me back to the main purpose of our trip.  I was going to hike AND camp.  EEeeepp.... I forgot to mention that there were signs on our way up warning "Entering wolf country", "Moose warning at night" and the many deer that we saw along the way

So that panic attack aside, we headed down the bumpy, winding, dirt road to the Gargantua Trail. 

Small waterfall on the way

The trail ended on Warp Bay on Lake Superior which was to be our home for the night 

Warp Bay

Building the tent

Small islands in the Lake

After a quick dip in the Lake, we set off on another hike to Devil's Bay which matched the beauty of Warp Bay...

The silence, the solitude and peacefulness were unmatched.  We saw few people but didn't feel alone, which sounds somewhat of an oxymoron but it exists.  The rest of the time was spent enjoying the chirping of birds, or owl and the other nocturnal animals (yes there were wolves and bears - thank God no sightings)

Dawn...

Morning mist on the Superior

Summit

The beauty of the Lake

The beauty was unfounded, the peace was refreshing and the trip totally worth it! Until next adventure...