We left our last campsite (White Lake Provincial Park) after breakfast as usual. We started doing this as it gives us the day to get to our next destination with lots of time to stop wherever we want to. On this day we didn’t stop. We could have a few times due to the thick fog but we plotted along. It was a long drive up, down, around, in the rain and in the fog. Some of the hills were steep – up and down. Nothing like listening to an engine hum along uphill at 4200 RPM in 2nd gear in the fog. The tank was just about 1/2 full and we made out a billboard advertising gas up ahead. We drove right by both stations. Didn’t see them until we were beside them. I figured we would turn around at the next area I could. 10 kms later we hadn’t found a place to turn so, on we went. Finally around Nipigon it started to clear. We stopped to get a bite to eat and fill up with gas. Nothing serving food was open as we left early so we each had a coffee and candy bar. Gotta work on this. The drive from then on was uneventful. It rained on and off and stayed cool, 8C.
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, formerly Sibley Provincial Park, is located on the end of the Sibley Peninsula, about 1 hour east of Thunder Bay. The campsite main gate is 24 kms from the boundary of the park. The campsites are large and most are fairly level. There is no water service at the site but there are numerous water taps available throughout. The camping area is on the shores Marie Louise Lake which is a big lake, which seems even bigger since it is atop of the peninsula. There was a strong breeze blowing creating whitecaps on the lake the 2nd day of our stay and the 3rd day it rained so we never a chance to kayak on it. There are a couple of other lakes that can be canoed/kayaked as well but we ended up busy doing other things. There are three or four trailers that the parks has available for rent. Each is hooked to water, sewer, propane, and electricity and they are 30 feet long. None come with bedding or linens.
Animal life is plentiful and they are pretty use to humans. Over the 3 nights we stayed in the park we saw fox, deer, grouse, and porcupines. The fox and grouse walked through our site (one shortly after the other), the deer were everywhere – around our site, side of the road, and the trails. There are plenty of trails to hike and can be tiring with their length and hills to climb. The days we were here were cool, 5C at night and 9-11C during the day. The leaves are still tiny, slowly growing, waiting for some warmth to spur them on. No wonder Gumby spent so much time in Aylmer. Again, no biting bugs we are used to with the cool weather.
The trek to the main lookout atop Sleeping Giant was left for another visit. The 15 km hike in the wind and drizzle made it unattractive. We did go the Thunder Bay lookout. It was a 15 minute drive from our campsite to the cut off and then another 9 kms to the parking area. The dirt (not gravel) road varies from decent to potholed condition. On the day we went it had rained so it was muddy. The road got a little worse and there were steep grades the closer we came to the end. The last few hundred metres were driven on the good old Canadian Shield: slightly sloping and fairly smooth. It was kind of neat to drive over something I thought of doing as a kid at the cottage. We parked on the rock and then followed a wooden pathway to the lookout. The lookout is cantilevered over the cliff and with a metal grid deck. The view is amazing. The wind was strong and with the grid platform it helps you decide if you like heights, or not. We took quite a few photos.
That same day we also drove out to one of the Amethyst mines, Amethyst Mine Panorama, about 20 minutes east of the park. It also is a drive on dirt and gravel roads, hilly and winding by forests and lakes. The mine has been in operation for several decades and was “discovered” by accident. A road was being built to erect a fire tire well into the bush when the machinery digging away the dirt exposed the amethyst. We were given a tour of the mining operation as well as a brief explanation of how amethyst is formed and then pointed to the area we could dig for our own amethysts. The mine is an open pit style, digging more of a large crevasse where the vein is. The “dig” involves digging and sorting through the cast offs of the mine. No picks and shovels required, no hammers permitted. We did find some nice pieces to take with us, to Alaska and back. My camera decided enough was enough and it stayed permanently wonky. But we did get some photos. We bought a Nikon B500 to replace it the next day in Thunder Bay.
On our way out we stopped at the mine entrance to take in the view at their lookout. The steep climb up their driveway made for a very good vantage point of the surrounding forest and hills. Back in the truck and half way down the winding hill we were stopped by a bear scampering off the road. Our first bear sighting of the trip. It turned back and jumped/climbed the cliff-like roadside to a point higher than our truck in a couple of vertical leaps where it stopped to check us out checking it out. After a few moments it disappeared into the bush.
Leaving here we drove off to Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park, a day use only park. See our other blog on that.