One Day and Two Great Lakes

     Anxious to leave behind the bumpy detours of Canada's capital city, Ottawa, I headed west toward Lake Huron. Stopped to eat lunch at Arnprior and watched these seagulls sitting on a ledge on the Ottawa River.

     The Ottawa River more or less divides the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. It also seems to divide Canadians' primary language. English on the west and south sides of the river, French on the east and north sides. Now that I've been traveling in the Ontario province for a few days, I rarely see license plates from Quebec. I suspect lack of bi-lingual language skills separates this country's citizens the same way it separates United States' citizens.

     Seagulls have been plentiful during my travels in Canada, both fresh and salt water shorelines. I've never paid much attention to them, but they're quite congregational. Strangely, one bird in a group seems to be a "bully" intimidating the others with ruffled feathers and a hurried walk that says, "Get out of my way!" The flock doesn't fight back, they willingly step or fly aside. Since I'm always the rebellious one, I decided to chase the bully with the same tactics, neck outstretched, hurried determined walk . . . folks nearby thought I was crazy. Here they sit peacefully (without a bully's objections) on a Lake Huron shoreline at the tiny village of Thessalon where I spent the night.

     On my way to Lake Huron, I stopped for lunch near Barry's Bay and paddled a bit of the Madawaska River. Watched an osprey's nest on top of the utility line for awhile. Looked like two adults and only one chick, but it better hurry and learn to fly.

     North of Barry's Bay is Ontario's Algoquin Provincial Park. It's huge, a little under 2 million acres. While driving the scenic Route 60 through this park, I took notice its geology is very similar to our Acadia National Park. Many rounded stone hills and mountain tops smoothed by glaciers eons ago.

     See the Canadian flag on the boat in the photo above? It was breezy with strong gusts. It's been gusty and cool lately; autumn leaf colors are beginning to show. Winter is around the corner.

     Many cubist-looking rocks (similar to Acadia) in curved layers pressed by millions of years of climate change. These rocks were my constant view on Route 60; it was a very scenic drive.

     I'd like to say Route 60 was a pleasant drive, but like Canada's Gaspe Peninsula and Maine's Acadia, this area is touristy. Millions of travelers share precious few roads, half being repaired, with no alternative roads for backroad travelers like myself.

     The photo below shows a section of the French River located in the French River Provincial Park. I crossed a bridge and looked down at this river, and was immediately smitten. Pulled over as soon as I could (Canada's road shoulders are not conducive to pulling over). I walked back and took this photo. I desperately wanted to paddle that beautiful gorge-looking tributary. Spent over an hour driving around dirt roads, futilely looking for access. Someone down there is fishing (see center of photo). In another zoomed fuzzy photo I took, I see a boat or canoe near that person. Apparently access is mile(s) away by boat only. And in another photo I took, there are two people walking on that beautiful pedestrian bridge, the William Small Suspension Bridge. If you decide to visit this beautiful area, don't go without a plan like me.

     I stopped to eat lunch at this waterfall named Four Chute Falls on the Bonnechere River (this is the first of four separate falls) . . .

. . . and nearby (under the river) was the Bonnechere Caves. Joined a group tour of the cave.

     Can't remember if this photo is up, down or sideways, but the cave formations and fossils look cool. Cave was cold too, wore a jacket.

The fossils are from the Ordovician time period, somewhere between 400 and 500 million years ago.

     This two-month old baby won my heart. He or she was verbalizing and trying to imitate our tour guide. That's one baby in a big hurry to seize life!

     Inside the uni-sex outhouse (high water table in rural area required portable septic system) was a wall of posters. I spent quite a long time reading these posters. The poster about Cobden's 157th Annual Fair caught my eye because it was current.

     Took this dirt road to Cobden to check out their fair. But when I got there, it was mostly crafts, garden and small livestock, only two horse events (horse pulling and miniature-horse show) the following day, so decided to move on.

     Drove by many crops and farms, and surprisingly quite a few Amish horse and buggies on the road. Drove by lots of hay bales for the upcoming long winter.

     Crossed the international border at Sault Sainte Marie which put me in north Michigan. Took a scenic drive north to Paradise, Michigan which sits on the shoreline of the very blue Lake Superior. Saw two great lakes in one day, Superior and Huron.

     Happened upon a county-run non-touristy campground on North Manistique Lake in north Michigan. The lake is just a few steps away from my site.

     Nearby is Curtis. It's a pleasant six mile bike ride on a rural road to visit their library and laundromat. I passed a bi-secting road named "Had Her Way", and another road named "Retired & Broke Drive." Also passed Aunt Teak's and Uncle Junk's Shop. Will spend another day in this friendly rural area before heading south to the Lake Michigan area.

     Watching the sun go down . . .

. . . until it disappears behind the treeline.