My oh my, I don't think words can express my experience these last few days along Lake Superior. I've been riding along the northern length of the lake with Toby, our days long and stretched out from sun rise to sun set. Rising early, we munch on cold oats mushed up with banana and trail mix before packing up our temporary camp and heading out onto the road. On the road, our conversations are sometimes silly, sometimes serious, often peppered with Arnie quotes and "that's what she said" responses followed by belly aching laughter. The other day we successfully pulled off the great ipod switcheroo, creating playlists and trading music for the day. Amazing views, harder climbs, and views of sweeping sandy beach and blue, blue ocean...I mean, lake. It's just so big that it feels like the ocean, especially with the raging wind and the crashing waves. No salty sea smell though, or seaweed.
On the road, you hear bits and pieces of whats to come from other bikers and drivers. "Stock up on food and water in Wawa, because after that, there's NOTHING 'til you reach the Soo" "Free camping on the beach at mile post 1148" "You know about Montreal Hill, right? And Blueberry Hill? Real killers..." "Bike shop in Sault Ste. Marie where you can stay for free; they have showers and everything!" Stuff like that is all valuable info when traveling without a guidebook, using only a crummy free map of Ontario that I found at the Ontario visitors center.
The stretch from Wawa to Sault Ste Marie (lovingly know as "the Soo" by all who live there) was pretty devoid of settlement, but incredibly beautiful. Much of the lakeside is Provincial Park, dotted with outstanding sandy beaches and lush forests. We were slapped in the face by a ripping headwind on our way out of Wawa (where we camped on a snowmobile track that veered off the highway, guessing that no one would be using it this season), which didn't do too much for our spirits. As soon as we made it through the forest though, and had our first sweeping views of the great lake, all the pain and frustration of riding against the wind was forgotten. Soaring down a gigantic hill a stupendous view of Old Woman Bay came into view. Blown away, I tucked down and let out a gleeful whoop whoop!
One of my fav things about bike touring is the freedom to do whatever I like. And one of my greatest pleasures in the entire world is swimming in a lake, stream, or sea. The second we hit the bottom of the hill at Old Woman Bay we tore off out sweaty cycling clothes, pulled on our swimsuits, and ran screaming through the fine grained sand and into the crashing waves of the tropical blue water. Wow. I love being an adult and feeling like a kid. The waves tossed and tumbled our tanned limbs and pale bellies as we frolicked about in the surf. So loud, I could hardly hear myself thinks as the power of nature threw me about in the water. We lazed about on a picnic table, sunning ourselves and munching on PB and banana tortillas as we talked about our spirit animals. I thought that mine would be a seal, Toby figured his was a frog.
That night we made it just past Montreal River before we started searching for a place to camp for the night. Toby unexpectedly pulled off the hwy along a spooky looking dirt road with thick bush lining both sides. I followed, not knowing what we were in for. Thump thump thump, my saddlebags and water bottles shock as my bike absorbed the dips in the poorly used path. After 2-3 km of winding downhill, we began to hear the crashing waves of the lake again, and found ourselves on the precipice of a cliff overlooking the lake. There were a few old cottages overlooking the water, but no one was around (and judging by the dandelions and foot high grass, this place hadn't been visited in a while), so we set up camp on a mossy ledge. A breathtaking view of the red-pink sunset and breaking waves beneath us, 130km of pavement between us and the snowmobile path we camped on the night before, and a belly full of home made shepherds pie. Asking for more in life would just be greedy.
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