8/25/2019
After a restful night at Rossport Campground, we moved to the Whitesand Lake Campground where they had facilities to dump our black and grey water tanks. Both campgrounds are part of Rainbow Falls Provincial Park. With that chore done we set-out to find the namesake waterfall.
A 1.1 km hike out, with the same return, is very worthwhile. Water cascades over multiple ledges as it descends from Whitesand Lake. Staircases make it easy to traverse the route without having to worry about wet and slippery granite.
We followed the flow to where the river met Lake Superior. The trail continues 52 km towards Terrace Bay or Rockport for those that want a longer hike. The walk back up was good for the heart and offered another pretty perspective on the cascading waterfalls.
Back in the van, we continued clockwise on our north shore tour.
We arrived at the Schreiber Rail Museum before noon, so it was too early to visit the indoor exhibits, but still enjoyed walking around outside. Signage explained that "Schreiber was first founded in the 1880’s as a railway construction camp. Originally named Isbester’s landing, the town later was named after a railway engineer, Sir Collingwood Schreiber. It became a terminal for the C.P.R."
On May 16, 1885, the last spike in this section along the north side of Lake Superior was driven into the railway, just east of Schreiber, connecting the area to Vancouver on the West coast.
This station was built in 1924 and still serves as an active division point on the CPR. Note the extra wheels on the white truck enabling it to drive on the railroad tracks.
A reminder of how far north we are hangs from the train station. These are plugs for employees to power heaters that keep their car engines from freezing in the winter time.
Only a little farther east, we stopped at Terrace Bay where the hundred foot tall Aguasabon Waterfall is very convenient to the road. Lake Superior can be seen in the distance.
Continuing east, we crossed the Pic River on this modern bridge. Just past the bridge, the guidebook mentioned a parking area with a view of the big lake.
The Pic River Overlook provided, not only a nice view of the lake, but a railroad bridge as well. It was disappointing that no train passed through while we were stopped. This would be a good spot for railfans to perch with cameras at the ready.
Next up was a stop at Neys Provincial Park. Like Red Rocks, where we stopped a few days ago, this area housed prisoners of war during World War II. A model in the visitor's centre showed the layout of the camp.
Most of the shoreline we've passed has been rocky, but Neys has a sandy beach.
Lawren Harris, part of the "Group of Seven" landscape artists visited here in the 1920's and painted the beauty of the area. An example of his work is displayed where it may have been created.
A very large stainless steel salmon sculpture eyed Beth outside the visitor centre.
From Neys we moved on to Marathon where we wanted to stock up on food. Google maps sent us to M&M Grocery which, to our surprise, only sells frozen foods. Fortunately Marathon also has Independent, a full service grocery store.
Hattie Cove has clear waters and is protected by a very narrow entrance between large granite boulders. Canoe rentals were available at reasonable prices.
Beth made friends with a Moose sculpture before we checked-in at the visitor's centre. After connecting to wi-fi and letting people know we were here, she headed back to the campsite while I explored the Firewalk Coastal Trail 20 minutes out, and the same back.
That section was mostly wooded with an occasional view of the bay.
Did see a heart shaped rock, a red squirrel with his mouth full,
and quite a few wild blueberries.
The most interesting find was this Ghost Plant. It lacks chlorophyll and does not need sunlight to produce food. Instead, it gets nourishment from a complex relationship with mushrooms, which in turn gets their food from trees.
Beth rested in the van as she has been feeling a little off. She felt better by the time I got back, so we walked the Southern Headland Trail together from the visitor’s center clockwise back to the campground.
Climbing up big boulders we found an amazing view of Lake Superior funneling waves into the bays. Once again we were reminded of the Maine coast.
Signs with info on the ecosystem were spaced out along the trail. At the high point we found two red chairs we used to relax and take in the view. It's fun to look for the red chairs in every Canadian National Park.
People were swimming in Horseshoe Bay as we looped back into the campground. I don't know what the water temperature was, but Lake Superior never gets warm enough for me!
The loop took about two hours with multiple stops for photos. We didn't harvest this pretty mushroom to go with our dinner of pasta and coleslaw.
Everyone is welcome here, some sites even host oTentiks for people who don’t have their own camping equipment.
Our site, #19, was 29.40 CAD including a 30 amp electric hook-up. Trees between sites provided plenty of privacy.
Hattie Cove has clear waters and is protected by a very narrow entrance between large granite boulders. Canoe rentals were available at reasonable prices.
Beth made friends with a Moose sculpture before we checked-in at the visitor's centre. After connecting to wi-fi and letting people know we were here, she headed back to the campsite while I explored the Firewalk Coastal Trail 20 minutes out, and the same back.
That section was mostly wooded with an occasional view of the bay.
Did see a heart shaped rock, a red squirrel with his mouth full,
and quite a few wild blueberries.
The most interesting find was this Ghost Plant. It lacks chlorophyll and does not need sunlight to produce food. Instead, it gets nourishment from a complex relationship with mushrooms, which in turn gets their food from trees.
Beth rested in the van as she has been feeling a little off. She felt better by the time I got back, so we walked the Southern Headland Trail together from the visitor’s center clockwise back to the campground.
Climbing up big boulders we found an amazing view of Lake Superior funneling waves into the bays. Once again we were reminded of the Maine coast.
Signs with info on the ecosystem were spaced out along the trail. At the high point we found two red chairs we used to relax and take in the view. It's fun to look for the red chairs in every Canadian National Park.
People were swimming in Horseshoe Bay as we looped back into the campground. I don't know what the water temperature was, but Lake Superior never gets warm enough for me!
The loop took about two hours with multiple stops for photos. We didn't harvest this pretty mushroom to go with our dinner of pasta and coleslaw.
Everyone is welcome here, some sites even host oTentiks for people who don’t have their own camping equipment.
As a day filled with falling water and beautiful hikes came to an end, it didn't take long before we were both sound asleep.
Map of today's road trip.
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