August 2, 2007

Canada - Lake Superior Provincial Park

Like Sleeping Giant, here is another of Canada's North Shore treasures. We enjoyed this area so much, we spent a full week here, taking advantage of numerous hikes, wildlife, shore walks including pictographs & potholes, and a couple of nice paddles.

When we were at Naturally Superior Adventures, last week, David, the owner had mentioned that he always tried to have live music for his guest and friends. He had invited us to return to hear "Gruff" a unique bluegrass group that blended an upbeat modern (and somewhat Cajun) style with traditional bluegrass sounds. They write all of their own music, and play almost no covers. The setting in the large Lodge Room was perfect, opening out to a beautiful view of the sunset over the bay.
The next day was spent exploring the northshore area near the Park, and a little bit of its history. We located a few ancient pictographs against a high ledge that proved a bit challenging for "mere tourist" to reach, but no problem for us seasoned hikers!



We found it interesting that when compared to American counterparts, the Canadian parks allow one to explore farther out to edges and closer to danger without barricades or rails, leaving things just "as they were". Farther up the shoreline, we hiked a rocky area along the lakeshore that was dotted with large potholes. These are spots in the surface rock where small loose rocks get trapped in the daily tidal & wave action, swirling round & round over the centuries, eventually wearing a large "pothole" in the surface. We saw similar occurances in areas where glaciers had done the wear.


It was interesting to see the many variations in rock form, color & texture along the shore. The areas of potholes and worn rocks were some 20 -30 feet above the waterline. It was hard to imagine the enormous forces that have been at work over the years, storms that hurled fierce waves high up the shore to create these artworks of the past.

The diversity of this Park was amazing. One day exploring these rocky shorelines then the next into mountainlike hiking country and peaceful paddles on glass smooth lakes.


Day 3 included a hike around "Trapper's Lake". I guess the most unique feature of this small wilderness was the similarity to South Louisiana ponds.



Dotted with waterlillies and hyacinth, and a few blue-winged teal, we felt right at home while sloshing through the muddy perimeter trail.

It was a rainy, dreay day but the lake presented a wide variety of views making the long hike around both interesting & enjoyable.

Hiking out was just as interesting as the loop around the Lake.