Day 4 Sleeping Giant

What I'm looking at a lot on this/every holiday!

While Day 4 was another travel day it certainly wasn’t without its pleasures. Leaving this morning to head north of Superior revealed an ever changing landscape. We left behind the pretty roadside gardens and what we thought were hills to replace them with significantly more rugged terrain. The trees became shorter, the rises became engine grinding hills and the Hawksweed was swapped for Lupines – great gardens of pink, purple and white blossoms. I’ve also heard that the weather changes on or near Superior are swift and sharp, certainly the case today, as we would have rain one minute and sunshine splitting the rocks the next.

The weather is almost as unpredictable as the cell phone coverage. I am writing a third blog entry that hasn’t a hope of being posted yet! I had one conversation with Andrew today through four calls! We realized just how remote the TCH is through northern Ontario as we have spent 2 days looking for a grocery store! It’s incredibly beautiful country but I am very aware of how spoiled I have become!

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is beautiful. Nestled on its own little peninsula, the lakeside sites are huge and the wildlife abundant. Although significantly more populated than Lake Superior PP, it often doesn’t appear to be as the sites are situated so one is not visible from another.

Wildlife is entirely another matter. On the way here today we thought it incredible that in the middle of the day we saw another bear and caught two deer sightings along the highway. I actually turned myself cat-out-of-skin to get a picture of the deer. While we were setting up camp I turned to come face to face with a deer. Despite my startled cry she appeared unbothered as she checked me out. Shortly she was joined by a few friends and they were quite happy to stand around and pose. They were even good enough to wait while we grabbed our cameras to capture proof of the encounter. Like a newbie I was quite proud of myself until a stroll around the park clearly established the abundance of wildlife just waiting to have their likeness etched!

Moma and the young'ns

Poppa standin' guard

Sleeping Giant

Night settles very slowly here. Even just this far north, it’s clear that the glorious day fades reluctantly. I took a solitary stroll by the lake this evening. David didn’t bother as the clouds lessened the impact of a picture worthy sunset. I’ve often heard it said that as one sense dims the remaining heighten. Maybe that was why the less spectacular sunset (although to be honest, it was still pretty fabulous!) amplified the sounds of the approaching night. The loons, in full voice, vied with a cacophony of feathered creatures. A Pileated Woodpecker was determined to mine the last of the day’s critters from a nearby tree. Dragonflies thrummed along the shore. Fish splashed as they jumped high for their share of the mosquitoes, and they were welcome to them! I sat alone beside the lake and listened to the day’s end symphony. Thankful that the sunset was just a little less spectacular, otherwise I might never have noticed the beautiful music!

With seven nature trails, over 80km of hiking, an interpretive centre and the historical village of Silver Islet just 4km away; tomorrow holds promise!

Sunset over Marie Louise Lake