The man, the fox, the chipmunk and the moose

I was thinking this might be an idea for a book, do you think it’d catch on?! As we’ve moved on from Québec City we hit the Trans Canada to drive across the top of The Great Lakes. Hwy 17, it generally seems to be referred to, is the route West and in doing so, meanders past Lakes Ontario, Huron and Superior. Along the way there are lots of places to see, many, part of Canada’s trading history and European settlement and thus, the impact of that and relationships with the First Nation peoples. It’s all really interesting and the Canadians do a great job at bringing it to life in Living Museums/Historic Parks. Being out in more wilderness areas and staying in forested campgrounds, we’ve seen the nature first hand. We’ve seen wildlife, stunning beauty and thousands of lakes and bays, all densely tree lined to the edges, to the engineering skills of beavers and hole burrowing talents of chipmunks! We’d bore you senseless if we put all our pictures on here so we’ve picked our best, to give flavour. Gosh, there is so much more to Canada than the infamous Rockies!

Initially, a long drive past Montreal and Ottawa (they are for the return leg) we headed to Algonquin Provincial Park where we did a couple of hikes, one to Beaver Dam and yes, the beavers who’d scored an A in their civil engineering exam had built an incredible dam. A lovely wander through the tree’s lakeside, we had timbre of frogs twanging their home made guitars, the swish of leaves and tweets of the birds to carry us back and distract us from the mozzies. Spruce Bog, the clues in the name, was a haven for the pesky blighters.  A bit like golf, mozzies can ruin a good walk! It was stunning though, lily covered waters and alive with numerous types of dragonfly. Anyhow, this was the park where we saw our first Bull Moose and Chipmunk, Alvin.

Our first history lesson was at Discovery Harbour, near Penetanguishene (no, I can’t pronounce it either) It was a British Naval Base conceived in 1812 when the British were fighting the Americans but it was peace again before it was finished. They were at war because the British were preventing the US trade with France and Britain wanted to protect its naval interests in the Great Lakes, for the movement of goods etc. It’s in Simcoe County, we thought it fun that the townships were named after Governor Simcoe’s dogs, Tiny, Tay and Flosse!

Nearby is another historic site ‘Sainte-Marie among the Hurons’. Carefully restored site of a C17^th Jesuit Mission to The Huron in 1608, French explorer Champlain created an alliance with aboriginal hunters (also known as Wendat) in the area to trade furs. In later years however, as the Dutch traded firearms on The Hudson River with the Iroquis, they invaded their enemy, massacring many Huron. They too, burned at the stake, the two Jesuit priests of the mission.

Around the Great Lakes there are thousands of small lakes, making for fabulous drives. The Muskoka Lakes (>1500) fall into the wonderful category as we headed to Killbear Prov. Pk. on Georgian Bay. This whole area, and it is vast, is known as Cottage Country, where the vacationers from the cities head. Think of Londoners to Salcombe and Devon, same thing. Lots of smart lakeside properties among the tree’s that wouldn’t fall into our description of a ‘cottage’ at all! Killbear is a tiny park in ‘The Canadian Shield’, a vast area different to the South of Ontario as it’s rocky, rugged and forested. Much of the rock is Gneiss which is pink granite, makes for a wonderful hue. It’s hardness has meant c. 30k islands in the Georgia Bay area of Lake Huron where the softer rock has eroded. It’s really lovely and so vast it’s like the seaside but on a lake, with families out on small beaches enjoying life.

From a church with a BBQ at the eclectic Parry Sound we continued on with some long drives but we like to break up the beauty with the oddities along the way. The Worlds Biggest Nickel, is one of those stops, at Sudbury. The result of a 1949 Bank of Canada design compo for the 1951 bicentennial of the chemical isolation of nickel… well why not?!  The ‘creative’ winner had George VI on one side and a factory on the other! Talking of money, gas prices (diesel to you back home!) is half the price of UK but even cheaper in First Nation area as lower tax apparently.  We think the same system should be introduced for those of us over 55 with motorhomes maybe?!!

Anyhow, continuing west on Hwy17 past Lake Huron with countless other little small roadside lakes, covered in lilies and surrounded by bullrushes, interspersed with ‘resorts’ catering for the summer holiday makers the signs became fewer and we encountered small strip towns with very little to stop for. Derelict motels and gas stations, from the travelling salesman days, fading into the roadside dust.

Next quirky stop was Sault Ste. Marie, a stones throw across the St Mary’s river to the US and a border point. Ferries used to cross for trade before the bridge so the Welcome Arch became redundant. Lots of great buildings though as we walked to the canal, the highlight of the historic centre, yes a canal! It was the largest lock in the World once upon a time and the first to use electricity. The US and Canada nicely shared a lock until it was destroyed in the 1812 war so Michigan built a new one when they were friends again. 1895 after the US refused passage to a steamer, my waters are my waters and all that kerfuffle type stuff, Canada built its own and bigger, sticking it to the US!! Enough of the silliness, we headed away, noticing Amish ploughing the fields with horses and the landscape changing to being more hilly and denser trees folding in on the road like a narrow corridor. We approached Lake Superior as the sun was going down over the flat, calm waters and no ‘cottages’ in sight, staying at the fabulously named Rabbit Lake campground.

Lake Superior, for all it’s vastness, doesn’t have that many lakeside access points (relatively speaking!) A lovely one was Old Womans Bay with its driftwood trees. Bored with stunning scenery, we went to find the giant Goose at Wahwah. There’s no reason for it, other than to drag oddity seeking tourists off the hwy17 into the town for a photo and maybe buy something while there. We also, to be fair, got to understand the ‘Inukshuk’ we’d be seeing as we drove. They are stone monuments in the image of humans, designed as a tool for survival by Inuits in the desolate Arctic, as signposts. It’s seen as a symbol of human spirit, to be of something greater than ourselves and to direct a better tomorrow. White River has a massive thermometer because it was once the coldest place in Canada but also, it’s the home of Winnie the Pooh so we had an ice cream with him, roadside. I could tell you the story but this blog is long enough already.

From Jigsaw’s perspective she’s having a fine time as a lot of the places we are staying are parks campgrounds. Sadly she has now honed her chipmunk catching skills but thankfully they live to screech another day. She wants to play, they don’t!