Into the Woods Again

Tomorrow morning we leave for Canada and Lake Superior Provincial Park.  The plan is to leave at 5 AM so we can be on the trail by 1 PM.  Lake Superior Provincial Park is an amazing destination that is just far enough away from urban areas that few people ever discover it.  If you are coming from the Lansing area you drive four hours to Mackinaw City, cross the Mackinac Bridge, drive another hour to Sault Ste. Marie, cross the International Bridge, pass through customs, and then drive 2 hours north on the Trans-Canada Highway to reach the southern end of the park.  A passport or enhanced license is necessary for crossing the border.  Travelers coming from the Canadian side, although not needing to deal with crossing the boarder, have an even farther drive from the places people actually live.  Toronto, for example, is an 11 hour drive.    As a result, this very large geographic area sees very few visitors.  We made our first visit to LSPP in 2008.  We were already planning a trip to Mackinac Island to celebrate our anniversary and had a few extra days to spend up north.  I literally looked at my North American Atlas and thought, "hey this big green area north of the Soo could be cool, let's check it out."  Our experience on this first visit truly summed up the unique aspects of this park.  The drive north on the Trans-Canada is a spectacular one, mostly following the coastline of Lake Superior while crossing a  number of wilderness rivers as they empty into the big lake.  Warning signs dot the highway with the threat of rogue moose wandering into traffic.  As we made the drive into the park, it was beautiful and sunny with temperatures reaching into the 80's.  Reaching the Agawa Bay Campground we found a seemingly endless beach with hardy Canadian children swimming in the tumbling waves.  We hurried to set up our tent, hoping to get in a swim while it was still warm.  In classic Lake Superior fashion, the skies grew dark and the waves treacherous in a matter of minutes.  We wound end up having to prepare     our dinner that night in the car (not recommended!) because it wasn't possible to light the stove in the gale force winds.  By the time the sun came back up it was forty degrees colder than the day before and Superior was a raging sea of whitewater.  8-10 foot waves crashed into the shore loudly enough to drown out conversation at the campsites.  Although the air temperature would not reach the 60's again on our trip, we managed a number of day hikes, and a couple of paddles in the interior lakes.  While we were in the park we saw a couple of bears, as well as beavers and otters.  According to the park website, LSPP encompasses over 1,600 square kilometers of unspoiled wilderness.  Included in the park are countless rivers and lakes, miles and miles of spectacular Lake Superior Coastline, towering cliffs home to Peregrine Falcons and a forest that stretches north to the beginning of the Boreal Forest.  The night skies are some of the best around.  After a couple of days in the park we felt as if we were a thousand miles from home.  I've yet to find another destination that is within a day's drive of Lansing that has a fraction of the natural beauty of LSPP.  We've since been back four more times and have hiked and paddled many of the routes through the park.  This visit will be our first backcountry trip within the park, however.  The coastal trail runs for 39 miles, mostly along the Lake Superior coastline, starting at Agawa Bay and ending in the Gargantua Harbor area.  I won't be able to post updates while I'm in the park (it is one of the few places left with no cell service) but will post a full summary and pictures on Friday when we head home.  Here are a couple of pictures from our previous trips: