Listen to our 9/11/2006 Podcast!

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Tucked in a remote bay near Flour Island, we found a beautiful campsite. In addition to having a perfect rocky beach for landing, already chopped firewood, and a great spot for the tent, we found this rock arch. Dave couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of it right as the sun was setting.

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Click on the Image Above to Launch Movie

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During our time spent wind-bound in Neys Park, we encountered some very warm and kind individuals (particularly Larry and Barb). They treated us as if we were their own children, feeding us dinner and giving us a ride to the nearby town of Marathon, Ontario. It seems almost everyone we have met along our journey has offered a warm greeting and helping hands. We feel bad because we don’t have much to offer in return. What do you think is the best way for us to thank those who help us along the way?

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We’re now up in the northernmost part of Lake Superior, and fall is definitely here. While there will still be quite a few good paddling days before winter sets in, we realize that there will be some days that we can’t paddle due to strong winds or storms. In fact, we recently had our very first wind-bound day.

As we begin to turn head back in a southern direction, the next stretch of shoreline we’ll be paddling along is called Pukasaw National Park. In this park, there are remnants of ancient people who lived near Lake Superior. They left behind pits in various cobblestone beaches. Today, people refer to them as Pukasaw Pits and no one is quite sure what they were used for.

It occurred to us that one thing we can do on wind-bound days in the Pukasaw area is to hike in search of some of these pits. However, there are several other options for how we should use our time when the weather won’t permit us to paddle. So we’re leaving it up to you to decide what to do during wind-bound days while traveling through Pukasaw National Park.

The students have voiced their opinion. Students wanted Dave and Amy to spend time looking for animals in the forest. However, the weather was so perfect in Pukaskwa National Park, that Dave and Amy decided to paddle in the perfect conditions. They will look for animals of the boreal forest on their next lay-over day.

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Amy and I huddled around our VHF radio waiting for the most recent marine weather forecast from Environment Canada. The setting sun cast a warm glow on the Slate Islands and gentle wavelets lapped at the white sand beach a few feet from our tent. However we knew things were about to change. The recording gave us useless information about floating logs in Thunder Bay and low water levels in nearby rivers in both French and English before finally getting to the Lake Superior forecast.

At our camp near Flower Island, Amy is enjoying the rest of her dinner by the fire, as the sun is setting over the hills to our west.

The forecast called for 30-knot winds and two to three meter waves in the next 24 hours – scary conditions to paddle under. So we set our alarm for 5:30 AM in hopes of putting on some miles before the worst of the storm. With the boats loaded and our drysuits zipped, we headed out the next morning to tackle a menacing-looking finger of rock that juts three miles into the lake. This section would offer few places to land if the winds picked up.

The seas grew to four to five feet by midday. We spent several hours bobbing in the waves, losing sight of land and each other in the troughs of each big swell, only to rise up a few seconds later for another view of our surroundings. As the winds began to increase, we spotted a large strip of sand at the bottom of a large bay. With the impending storm on our minds, we headed for the beach.

Somewhere near Magnetic Point, we turned into a small, shallow bay to look for a campsite in our last couple hours of daylight. While conditions had been calm all day, this area showed us the true definition of calm. We were mesmerized by the still turquoise water.

Several curious people emerged from the tree line as we struggled to pull our boats out of reach from the crashing waves. We soon learned that had stumbled upon an Ontario Provincial campground that has 144 campsites.

Most of the campers left in the park were seasonal site holders that parked their RVs on one site for the whole summer. Everyone’s warm smiles and greetings were a bit of a shock after a week of solitude, but soon our muscles and our minds began to relax, and we felt at ease among our newly-made friends.

Larry and Barb, a retired couple from Terrace Bay, Ontario, quickly took us under their wing. Before we knew it, we had showered up and were sipping hot drinks and chatting about politics and life in northern Ontario.

After battling wind and waves near Mourn Point (just southwest of Rossport, Ontario) we sought out the shelter of a string of islands. We were glad to find this little, protected beach. Amy is unpacking her boat as the sun dips low in the sky.

Larry retired a few years ago from the pulp mill in Terrace Bay after working for 38 years. Now the mill is shutting down, and hundreds of people are out of work. Life is hard for people here, because the lumber and mining jobs are disappearing. No one is quite sure what to do to help the local economy. But Barb is spearheading a project in Terrace Bay called the Caribou Artisans. The Caribou Artisans is modeled after the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. She hopes to improve the local economy by creating activities for people that utilize the amazing natural beauty of Lake Superior and the Slate Islands, which are home to the southernmost Woodland Caribou in the world.

In the morning we will leave Neys Park and our new friends behind, but Barb and Larry will remain with us in spirit for the rest of our journey.

It was a close vote, but students decided they wanted to learn about shipwrecks. Unfortunately we haven’t encountered any shipwrecks yet. We will be doing some research we’ll report back about shipwrecks as soon as we can. We’re sorry that we don’t have any information about them this week.

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