Day 1: Sault Ste.Marie, ON to Kakabeka Falls, ON

Day 1: Sault Ste.Marie, ON to Kakabeka Falls, ON
Start: Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Finish: Kakabeka Falls, ON
Distance: 776 km  485 miles
Campground: Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park; $41/site with electrical
Gas: Wawa, ON 15.26L @ $1.179 $18.00; White River, ON 6.739L @ $1.239 $8.35; Schreiber, ON 12.858L @ $1.249 $16.06; Kakabeca Falls 15.49L @ $1.299 $20.75


On the first day of our travels, we awoke to see a thick fog over a very calm and tranquil St. Mary's River. We started off by 10:00 a.m. after the 2 Als did a minor repair job on the wiring of my camper trailer. It was a cool 63 degrees and very overcast, but we were anxious to head out.

We headed down Hwy 17 North to our first anticipated stop,Wawa, about 230 kilometers down the road.

Going down the Mile Hill, you could see the immense hills of the Superior Highlands that were a  backdrop to Goulais Bay, Haviland and Batchawana. Pictures would not do justice to the expansive depth of the rugged and forested mountain vista that edges the lake.

Hwy 17 hugs the shoreline of Lake Superior on one side and has rugged rocky cliffs on the other. In some sections of the road, where the highway was cut out of the rocky mountain side, it seems that there were sheer vertical cliffs hundreds of feet high. On the coast, many small rocky islands dotted the many bays. Hwy 17 is a very curvy, hilly route that never lacks in beauty.

As you near Michipicoten, the hills get higher, the curves more sweeping and the ride more enchanting. White River, Marathon, Terrance Bay, Schreiber, Rossport and Nipigon continue to display scenery that is so incredibly striking. Sadly, it is hard to get photos as there are not a lot of places to stop; but it's all breathtaking.

Along the way, we had a few construction stops and one major accident stop. Someone went thru a guardrail and we saw the ambulance leave the scene in no apparent rush. Later we learned there was a fatality. Hwy 17, though such a great road to ride, is also deadly.

We got to Thunder Bay about 6:30 and continued on to Kakabeka Falls, about 20 miles west on Hwy 11. We stayed at the provincial park and set up camp in a nicely wooded site. We met a very nice young couple, Linda and Dan Clement from Winnipeg. They were heading eastward on their motorbike and came to take a look at our camper trailers. They've done some extensive trips and just love heading out on their bike to enjoy wherever they end up. A camper like ours would really fit there lifestyle. We enjoyed talking with them and admired their enthusiasm.

After we sat down for dinner, a storm started to roll in so we called it a night. Man, it was a dousey! There was a ton of rain, an incredible lightning show and loud cracks of thunder seemed to be right over our tents. We are going to have a wet packing up tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow we are heading to Fort Francis and then to Bemidji, Minnesota and then to Fargo, North Dakota.