Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie

Leaving Wawa before 7am we headed for the local Tim Hortons for breakfast.  We said goodbye to the Wawa Goose (town mascot) and headed south on Highway 17.

 

The weather forecast was for rain but it held and we only had the southerly headwind to deal with. The road was incredibly hilly and just went up and down and up and down and up.... Suffice to say that cycling around Lake Superior is just as challenging as cycling in the Rockies. 

By mid morning it began to rain.  We were lucky and managed to stop at a lakeside beauty spot and find shelter.  When it rains in Canada it can come down in torrents and so for an hour we didn't move. Then our luck changed, for the worse. The rain stopped and thick fog drifted in from Lake Superior - it was a real pea souper. 

We made our way back to the highway and debated whether it was safe to cycle.  This was a single carriageway road with no paved shoulder with cars and trucks passing every few minutes.  Of course there wasn't much of a debate because it actually wasn't safe to cycle. Regardless, we decided to push on as we were in the middle of nowhere. So with the bike lights on we listened for approaching vehicles and pulled over to the side each time. Our pace was tortuously slow. 

Thankfully, after an hour we cycled up a hill and on the other side found we had left the fog behind. Our spirits lifted.  As we took a quick break, and a chocolate biscuit or two, we looked behind.  It was like the scene out of a movie - the fog started rolling over the hill towards us. We quickly jumped on the bike and pedalled as we were chased by the fog.  Honestly, I think if we had been caught then we would never have been seen again.  However, we then crested another hill and that's the last we saw of it. I think even the fog got tired going up and down these bl**dy hills! 

Later, as we approached our destination at Montreal River we encountered some massively steep hills. At the top we let the bike go flying down. Susan has stopped shutting her eyes and has got used to the benefits of fast downhill to get a start on the next uphill. By this time the batteries on my Garmin GPS had failed so I don't know how quick it was.  However, twenty inlets later we arrived at the campsite to be greeted by a couple of motor cyclists. 'Man you were really truckin it down that hill' the guy said. 'I was doing a ton ten and not really making much headway on you'!

Susan didn't say anything though next morning as we went down other steep hills she gave me some advice back seat driver advice. I couldn't really hear her but I did pick up the words 'no gung ho' several times. 

That evening we camped and our dinner consisted of uncle bens rice, packet of knorr dried soup and tin of salmon all in the same pot.  Sound nice?  Well it is, kind of, but only in the world of cycle camping.  

After dinner we sat on a swing bench and chatted through the day - 108km and 3,300 feet of climbing. Susan, as always, looked beautiful as we sat in the sunset overlooking Lake Superior.
 

The following day we cycled to Sault Ste. Marie (Soo).  It was a tortuous day in the heat and humidity as we covered 116km and 2,800 feet ascent. Susan got the chance to paddle in Lake Superior to add to her list of places in the world she has paddled.  Some people collect stamps, coins, ornaments etc. Susan collects 'paddles'. 

Oh and Susan's leg is feeling slightly better after resting in Wawa. Still taking ibuprofens like they were sweeties but we are hopeful it's not getting worse. She is desperate to get the bandage off as it's playing havoc with her sun tan! 

From 'Soo' we now leave Lake Superior and head towards Lake Huron and Manitoulin Island. Our plan is to get to Toronto by July 12th and fly to Florida to join my sister and the kids for 10 days. This was always in our plan if we could get to Toronto on time and, as it stands just now, it looks achievable. Fingers crossed for the week ahead!