Destination unknown...?

[SportsterDoc]

Day 25: Superior!

Waking up in Soo around 6:00, I peek through the window: the sky is cloudy, looks like rain. I turn around, and by 8:00 it looks better: sun and clouds, doesn't look like rain at all. However, by the time I brew a cup of make coffee, and pack and strap the dry bag, it is past 9:00. I am late to start this, the second day in a row of approximately 725 km.

Beginning is fine: all the way to Pancake bay, the weather holds. I am again reminded why I always just smile dryly when asked after some trip: "So, did you see any wildlife?" as if that is some particularly desirable occurrence. Wildlife? The less, the better, if you ask me:


Everybody knows there is this stretch of 160 kilometres without fulel on Trans Canada on the North shore of Superior. (At least everybody knows that the second and subsequent time they pass that stretch . While I fill up, I observe the skies on the northern quadrant, and decide to put the overalls on. It turned out to be a smart decision.

I press on to Wawa. Halfway there the road is first in light, and than in heavy fog, with drizzle to match. Progress is so slow... In Wawa, I do the unthinkable: fill the tank without even stopping to take the picture of the bike under the goose. It doesn't really matter: the original Big Goose was thorn down when the road was widened, and a number of smaller birds erected to replace it. What nonsense! Wawa without one (and one only!) Big Goose is simply not Wawa, and Northern Ontario without Wawa is just an endless expanse of mixed forests, granite and lakes.

I consider for a moment to warm up with a coffee, but decide against it. Thunder Bay is still almost 500 kilometres away.

This also turns to be a good decision: the fog dissipates just a few kilometres after I leave Wawa. The temperature dips, but with the overalls on, I can move faster. Besides, I am again enjoying the view of the lake:


It also gets gradually warmer. Ride becomes fast and enjoyable:


Finally, in the mid afternoon, I am by the western end of Superior:


Around 19:00 I am sitting on an outdoor patio in down-town Thunder Bay with the first meal of the day: a pint of "what's local and on tap?" and some other, secondary food groups.

Tomorrow: the last of the Canadian Shield.

Enjoying the ride report and pics...looking forward to tomorrow's.