Lake Superior Circle Tour Day 6 - Thunder Bay to Terrace Bay

Driving out of Thunder Bay I caught one final glimpse of the Sleeping Giant and this quick shot from the car with my phone turns out to be my favourite.  I also took a lot of shots of my favourite sight on this trip - birch forests, many from the car.

Sleeping Giant

Our first stop was going to be Ouimet Canyon, but when we got there, the park was closed.  They were scheduled to open the day before but somehow it was postponed because of snow still in some areas.  We hiked uphill for a bit and then decided to turn back.  This will have to wait for another trip. 

This marsh is just beside the parking lot at the bottom of the drive to Ouimet Canyon

We had better luck at our second destination, Eagle Canyon.  It is open and while it is privately run and we had to pay a hefty admission, it was a good hike with lots of photo ops.  Apart from the awesome rocks along the canyon walls, there are two suspension bridges, one purportedly the longest in Canada plus the longest zipline.  We walked across on one and came back on the other one then it was a multi-step descent into the floor of the canyon.  It's a good thing the walk back to the parking lot is not as steep and only half the elevation.  

Eagle Canyon

One of two suspension bridges

This is the view from the middle of one of the bridges

You can see the steps going down to the canyon floor on the right

Love the multi-coloured canyon walls and the trees growing out of rocks!

And here's a lone birch on the rocks

This is the view from the canyon floor

Another of my favourite views of the birches

I was thrilled to be able to actually walk in a birch forest on the Eagle Canyon grounds and be surrounded by birches

We proceeded south towards Terrace Bay and stopped at the Nipigon Visitor Centre to admire the new bridge and climb the observation tower to see the Nipigon River, a view made famous by paintings of A.Y. Jackson.

This is the view of the Nipigon River and the bridge from the top of the tower

Views that have been painted by the Group of Seven are marked by artist's easel and chair.  We came across three of these on our trip.

Our last stop of the day before overnighting in Terrace Bay is the impressive Aguasabon Falls and gorge which feeds into Lake Superior.  

Terrace Bay is very small and the lonely plaza is mostly empty.  The only restaurant open is Wah's Chinese Canadian Restaurant, takeout only because of Covid.  But the menu includes everything from Cantonese fried noodles to hamburgers and fries so it was quite busy.  My Chicken with mixed vegetables takeout turned out to be excellent - Chicken was tender and I had my first taste of Chinese veggies in a week, and lots of it!  

Lake Superior Circle Tour Day 5 - Grand Marais to Thunder Bay

Grand Marais where we spent the night was actually very close to the U.S. Canada border so we expected a short drive to see some of the highlights before hitting the border.  It was a foggy morning and while it would be nice to get some fog images, we were worried we may not see Hollow Rock which is just off the shore.  As luck would have it, Hollow Rock was clearly visible but the second stop Wayswaugoing Bay Overlook was fogged in.  

Hollow Rock

Didn't see the Wayswaugoing Bay Overlook but saw this tableau instead

The last stop before the border was High Falls at Grand Portage.  We were surprised by the power of the water flow and got drenched as the viewing area was very close to the falls. Luckily we all had waterproof wear so it was not too bad.  But our cameras took a beating and the phone had to do the brunt of the work.  

High Falls, Grand Portage, Minnesota

We got held up at the border as we didn't know that the ArriveCan app is required and wifi was very slow in the waiting area.  But it was an opportunity to capture the beautiful landscape in the border area and the first of many birch forests!

Our first stop in Canada was another waterfall, Kakabecka Falls, also very powerful but it didn't get us wet - I guess it depends on which way the wind was blowing.  There was a walkway right above the falls which made it very handy for photos.

Kakabecka Falls

We got to Thunder Bay by mid-afternoon but because we took an ill-advised detour to Mt. McKay with the hopes of getting a panoramic view of the Sleeping Giant, we were behind schedule.  As it turned out, the mountain access was closed and it was a disappointing visit.  We got back into town, had a quick stop to see Lakehead University before heading to Hillcrest Park to get a good view of the Sleeping Giant.  It was very impressive indeed.  Before seeing it, I had thought it was just another flat island but I do feel some sort of spiritual presence when I see it first hand.  

Our last stop was Prince Arthur's landing where we could also see the Sleeping Giant but the aspect was too low to have much impact.  It does have a nice amphitheatre and beautiful marsh which was glowing in the late afternoon sun.  

Amphitheatre at Prince Arthur's Landing

Marsh at Prince Arthur's Landing - we saw some red-breasted mergansers here

Our day ended with a nice dinner at Tomlin, thanks to a recommendation from a local friend.