Exploring the Ancient Beaches of Pukaskwa National Park
Many years ago, a friend described Pukaskwa (pronounced PUK-a-saw) National Park as the lake’s ultimate paddling destination. Ever since that day, I have been itching to explore Ontario’s largest national park. The park is on Lake Superior’s longest stretch of undeveloped coastline, meaning there aren’t any homes, towns, or roads nearby.
In Pukaskwa National Park, we hunted for Pukaskwa pits. Archeologists and other scientists do not really know what they were used for. We paddled by this cobblestone beach and couldn’t resist investigating. Here is the small pit that we found.
When Amy and I talked with people about our upcoming kayak journey around the big lake, Pukaskwa was often mentioned. One seasoned paddler told us that we would be wind-bound there for up to two weeks, while others were green with envy and wished they were heading out to explore the park.
Needless to say, Amy and I were both excited and a bit nervous as we left the Pukaskwa ranger station before heading into the park. Did we have enough food to last us until the next town, which is over a hundred miles away? Most paddlers make the trip in eight or nine days, but in the fall, the lake often gets too rough to paddle. Could we really be wind-bound for two weeks?
In a close-up of the Agaway Bay Pictographs, we could make out Michi Peshu.
We soon found that Pukaskwa’s shoreline offers everything a paddler could desire—long white sand beaches, island-studded coves, and towering cliffs that come straight out of the emerald-green water. The lake stayed calm and allowed us to pass through Pukaskwa with ease. We didn’t see another human being for six days, and it was easy to imagine we were the first humans to ever set foot here.
However, evidence of ancient people is still present in Pukaskwa. Cobblestone beaches above the present water level are common along the Canadian shore. Over thousands of years, the lake’s water level has dropped, and the lichens and trees are slowly taking back these ancient beaches. When these beaches were at the water’s edge, ancient people formed large round pits by digging stones out and piling them up. Archeologists are unsure why these pits were made. The largest number of them is found in Pukaskwa National Park, so these pits have come to be known as Pukaskwa Pits.
Many days have been clear, with mild wind and waves. Here, we thought we’d give you a glimpse of our watery world.
On several occasions we landed our kayaks below the beaches and scrambled over the cobblestones to reach the ancient beaches. The ancient beaches are now over 50 feet about the current water level. Some beaches were covered in Pukaskwa Pits, while others showed no signs of human presence. Perched so high above the lake, it was hard to believe that the water level had changed so much. What else had changed? What had driven people to build these structures? For now these questions remain unanswered. But the questions will provide us with food-for-thought during the millions of paddle strokes that lay ahead of us.
Amy paddled as close as she could get to the cliff to inspect the Agaway Bay Pictographs.
Note to students: We have been lucky, and we have had wonderful weather so far. We were not wind-bound in Pukaskwa, but the votes are in and we will look for animals the next time we are wind-bound and report back and let you know what we encounter. We are excited that you are interested in learning more about the animals. Make sure to check out our Great Lakes Animals of the Day to learn more about the animals that live here!
A bald eagle stayed perched up in its tree as we carefully paddled by.
|
Sorry
Poll Not Currently Available...
|
