The Road Through Northern Ontario - Our Night in the Wild

Thursday, June 24, 2010

By the time we has visited the Terry Fox Memorial it was after 8pm. We knew that we were quite close to the campsite and since we hadn't stopped to get anything to prepare for meal, and given the time, we decided to pull into a truck stop gas station near the park turnoff for dinner. It was a step backward in time. I am sure that the decor and menu is the original - no lattes or fine dining. Ed had a hot dog and diet coke and I had a toasted clubhouse sandwich and a cup of joe. It was now just after 9pm. We thought that we had better start making tracks to the campsite. We checked with the waitress to make sure that we were at the right turnoff to the park. Heading down the road we thought that it was just a few kilometers to the campsite. Then we saw the sign, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park - 26km. When we finally reached the Park, we found the ranger's office closed, but there was a sign on the window confirming our Camp Site reservation and a booklet for the park with a map of the sites. We couldn't find our campsite listed due to the impending darkness but headed toward the general campsite direction. We saw the sign, Campsites - 12km. We had already driven over 700km that day, but the last 12 were definitely the longest of the trip. I am not the biggest fan of camping or wilderness for that matter. I am much more comfortable in a large urban jungle surrounded by shops and Starbucks. I like my comforts not my comfort stations. Ed looked as if he had finally found what he had been looking for. Who knew that he was actually Mr. Wilderness! There was still enough daylight to find our way along the secluded winding, steeply-graded in some sections, gravel road. I was on animal lookout. I stopped counting the deer after 17.
Luckily, #311 was the second site in. There was a small clearing for the car, then a path through the forest another 50 yards to where we would erect our tent. Luckily because we were further north, and on the western side of the time zone, we had enough light to see our way through the path and get the tent set up. There was a fire pit and firewood, so while Ed made several trips back and forth to the car to get our luggage, supplies, bedding, cots...... I made a fire. Sitting by the fire, listening to the loons, drinking a beer, deep in the Canadian wilderness there was only one thing I could think of - the cry of the wild from Bob and Doug McKenzie "coo coo coo coo coo coo coo chooo".
We woke up the next morning to find that our campsite was right on the shores of Lake Superior. It really was amazing. I was glad that Ed had selected this for our first true wilderness experience. As we were driving out of the park we saw foxes, deer, rabbits, squirrels and a partridge (not in a pear tree).