Day 45 - Wawa to Montreal River

111 km - Total so far 4,122.53 km - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5645769

We left the biker motel at about 8 a.m. and took a short detour to see downtown Wawa and its lake. Wawa has done a real good job keeping the memory of some of its most influential citizens in the forefront. They have life size paintings of the individuals accompanied by a short biography. These paintings can be found at the tourist information as you come into town as well as a small park right downtown. As history buffs, we had to have a closer look.

Downtown Wawa with the park at bottom right

Close to life size paintings one of many throughout Wawa

The Wawa Canadian Tire looks smaller that the one in Nipigon

Yesterday we forgot to mention that we had met a hiker from Trois-Rivieres who is walking to Vancouver. He has a small cart with handles that is attached to him with a harness. He is accompanied by a dog that carries its own little back pack. No we did not take a picture as we did not have a camera at the time.

It was pretty cold leaving Wawa and as usual we expected to have to climb a hill and warm up. Well, it got even colder for us as we had to ride downhill for almost 10 km. On the downhill, we came across an Estie-Westie who was going uphill and was probably not nearly as cold as we were. As all good things come to an end, the downhill was followed by a 4 km climb up a somewhat nasty little hill.

The first half of our ride was done mostly inland within Lake Superior Provincial Park, We got to see many more trees and for a nice change lots of lakes big and small. We came across a 'Dad Lake' and within less than 200 meter the 'Mom Lake'. We stopped for a quick bite to eat in a snow plow turning area and at the same time, a trucker did the same across the road. He offered us tea and when we turned him down he offered hot water. First time on the trip this happens.

Can't miss this huge sign!

One of the creatures we spotted from the road

We came across another Estie-Westie and could not believe how he was dressed. You want to be seen from a distance on the road and this young man was wearing nothing but black everything, clothing and panniers. We sure hope that nothing happens to him. 

Once we finally came close to shore at Old Woman Bay, we could not believe the scenery. These views continued pretty much until we got close to the big hill, near Montreal River. A little while later, we ran across two hitchhikers complete with ukulele. Riding the 83 km of the provincial park was nice in that we finally got to see other tourists and not

just trees.

Daniel heading towards Old Woman Bay

Hélène enjoying another fun descent towards the lake Superior

Finally other tourists enjoying the Sand River

Lots of rocks cut to get the highway through

We had been forewarned by two locals about the big hill at Montréal River and were expecting the worst. It was a longish climb but not the mighty hill we had expected. As the picture shows, we both had a smile right after the hill or was it right after the cookies after the hill!

After the big hill climb

Daniel heading down the other side of the last climb towards Montreal River

After yet another climb we finally got to our campsite. It was a cosy place right by the water. Hélène and I even made it down to the beach. Being by the lake shore, we spent a chilly night but being lulled to sleep by the waves was a small price to pay.

We also discovered that rain jacket and rain pants are an excellent protection against mosquitoes. There is one down side in that if it is warm, the protection gets very uncomfortable very quickly. We will continue to ponder effective mosquito protection for cyclists.

Lake Superior sand at our campground

Enjoying a well deserved beer and making myself more attractive to mosquitoes

Below is the video we promised.

68.97 miles - Total so far 2,561.62 miles