Leaving Lake Superior

I had heard of Chippewa Falls but had no idea where it was. Nor did I know that it held significance other than being a set of waterfalls.

But Chippewa Falls lies on the southeastern end of Lake Superior, flowing out into a bay just south of Batchewana Bay. It would be the last stop we'd make before reaching Sault Ste. Marie and leaving Lake Superior.

A rest stop along Hwy. 17, just below the base of Chippewa Falls, indicates that this is the halfway point of the Trans-Canada Highway. This information surprised me because geographically speaking, Lake Superior isn't the halfway point of Canada.

Apparently, in 1925, a man by the name of Perry Doolittle was the first person to drive a car across Canada. He fitted his car with railway wheels to complete 800 kilometres along sections where there were no roads. He also promoted the notion that a highway that spanned the country should be built.

And Chippewa Falls marks the halfway point.

DW and I stopped in Batchewana Bay for more apple fritters and were planning to continue on to the Soo, but when we learned of this roadside tribute, we decided we'd check out the falls, too. There's a parking lot with washrooms and a marker for the Trans-Canada Highway, and a short trail leads upstream to a rocky lookout point.

Good shoes are strongly recommended.

We took some photos and admired the falls before continuing en route to the Soo. We needed more groceries—not too many, as we only needed enough for three more breakfasts, and possibly a lunch or dinner.

From this point, onwards, we would be treating ourselves to restaurants for lunch and/or dinner. I was growing tired of washing dishes at campsites and we were planning to be closer to civilization.

Sault Ste. Marie was a bit of a blurr for me. We stopped at a Food Basics and a gas station, and continued east. I don't remember having lunch but we may have simply picked up ready-made sandwiches at the grocery store and eaten them as we drove.

I do remember driving through some heavy rain which probably washed our kayaks and definitely dirtied our car. We certainly looked like we had been on the road for a while.

While I drove, DW searched Manitoulin Island for campgrounds, and it appears that there are no provincial or national parks on the island. All of the campgrounds she found were privately run and weren't cheap: for what they were asking, we could have found a motel.

We decided that we would try Chutes Provincial Park again. We had stayed there the first night of our vacation and like it. It had a really clean comfort station and was quiet.

We stopped at a roadside snack shack, where we had some really good burgers before continuing to the provincial park. As we drove, DW checked online for possible sites, and the campground was busier than it had been on the night that we arrived, more than a week earlier.

There was one electrical site that was available and we decided to take it. We had an extension cord in the car and ran it into our tent, where we could charge all of our electronic devices. After setting up our tent, we went for a walk before turning in for the night.

Lake Superior was behind us but our memories will last a lifetime (I mean, I have this blog and YouTube videos to remind us). With the next day, it was going to be a whole new adventure.

Stay tuned.