Adventures in Rock and Water

Wednesday dawned foggy and cool.  I was ready for a long walk, so I took off down the riverwalk in Sault Ste Marie and had a lovely walk down to the Locks Park and back.  In addition to getting a good workout, I learned that a huge building we had seen the previous evening on the river was the Edison generating plant and is still operational.  The riverwalk is well maintained and scenic.  Like Detroit's riverwalk, it is a great way to let people see the best side of a city.

 Edison Generator

When we began our drive, it was drizzling and foggy and that cloudiness stayed with us almost all day.  We were driving from Sault Ste Marie to Wawa - about a two and a half hour drive.  We did not reserve a room in Wawa ahead of time because I wasn't sure that's where we would stay.  Since it was kind of dreary, we just drove - but the road construction gremlins were with us that day.  We experienced several delays.  The great advantage of traveling with no firm destination in mind is that delays are really not an issue (this is MaryAlice's opinion).  

I really wanted to stop and see the Agawa Pictographs in Lake Superior Provincial Park.  We have seen pictographs out west and they are interesting and moving and old.  It is hard to imagine that these "messages from the past" can last so long on a rock face.  When we reached the park, a young staff member cautioned me that this rainy day was not a good day for doing the short but difficult hike to the pictographs.  I agreed, but I still wanted to try it.  Dennis was not interested, especially after we saw the description of the trail.  It was really a stack of rocks with an occasional step cut in to keep the hiker from falling.  The rocks are very slippery in the rain.  I took off my sandals and put on my walking shoes.

Two pictures of the "trail"

The walk was moderately terrifying.  I slipped three times, but managed to use my walking stick to keep myself from falling - and then I reached the rock face.  I am not a swimmer.  The rock face goes straight up from a curved rock ledge in the water.  There was a 6-inch wide flat spot to sidle along the face and try to take a picture.  People who are swimmers might not view this as dangerous - true, you would sustain bruises and lacerations, but not drown.  For a non-swimmer, it's a whole different issue, especially if you are alone and don't have a helping hand to steady you.  Anyway, I'm proud of myself for doing it and getting some cool photos.

My reward - the petroglyphs

I also wanted to take some pictures of the scenic High Falls outside of Wawa.  We followed a few signs that pointed the way, but didn't really provide much info.  It was the oddest drive to a waterfall that I have seen.  However, we agreed that the ride was worth it to see this lovely waterfall.

Scenic High Falls

Then, we arrived in Wawa - a small town that has seen better days.  There were a handful of motels, some still had vacancies.  I suggested the Wawa Motor Inn and we went in and asked for a room.  Luck was with us - we secured the last available room.  The motel was neat and clean and quiet and had a dining room!  The food was homestyle and delicious and the breakfast the next morning was terrific.  It was a good find.  

On Thursday we had a fairly long drive.  We traveled from Wawa to Nipigon - about 4 hours.  The day was sunny and there was no road construction!  We had in mind to stop at two waterfalls, Augusabon Falls and Rainbow Falls.  The road - still on the Transcanada Highway 17 - took us away from the shoreline and back again.  We drove along through lots of rock and forests and lakes.  This stretch of road was unpopulated with only an occasional small town.  

Augusabon Falls is located outside of Terrace Bay.  We pulled into a small parking area and took a boardwalk out to a viewing area.  It was an easy walk to get some good photos.  We chatted with another couple from Toronto.  While we were watching, we saw a couple of hikers cross the river below the falls - great photo-op.

Augusabon Gorge and Falls

Hikers Crossing River

The Rainbow Falls has its own park.  We pulled into the park and paid the fee for the day pass and headed out to the trail.  It wasn't really a trail.  It was a boardwalk stairway that went down along the falls to a bridge over the river, so we could see the rapids along the way and the falls at the bridge.  The stairway was more than 150 steps, but we didn't have any trouble.  It was part of our daily workout!  We arrived in Nipigon in the late afternoon and checked in a motel that provided us with a basic room.  

 Rainbow Falls

 

These Two Travelers Gazing at Rainbow Falls