I a rushing through these posts as I am behind three days and I am forgetting to mention little things here and there. Some are not that interesting but others explain the flow of the story.

The park we stayed at had a water warning so I was able to use the purification pills supplied by Global Hydration. Even though I double dosed on the water to pill ratio the water tasted fine and did not have a heavy chlorine taste. I treated about 3 litres of water which not knowing the road ahead was truly a a great “piece of mind” feeling.

The night was pretty hot so I slept outside the bag for most of it and surprisingly woke up up before the girls did from what I could tell (no sounds from their tent). I got packing early and before long Robyn emerged and started prepping for the day. It is so different preparing for the day ahead with companions: pack quickly or not, take time eating breakfast or not, crank out the first 20km or ease into it. These things you do not even consider on your own but as you read on these things were less important than the group motivation.

It wasn’t too long into the ride before we put on our rain jackets. Now I am of course in Stormtech Blue but Kate was in purple and Robyn in lime green. Though the rain was gently soaking through I was happy the trees where getting some water and the air was cooling down.

We climbed a hill into Wawa to see the great goose. I liked it and other than the rain the town was quite beautiful with a view over the the bay. I ran into a Karen Dahl who is working with CES Canada to provide education to orphans and HIV effected children in Kenya. It was too bad we didn’t have more time to chat but I knew I needed to eat my food and get on the road as we had a lot of Kilometers to cover today.



Here is their site for more information: www.cescan.ca

I ate quickly and Robyn and I went into town to get groceries while Kate went to the tourist office to catch up on some internet I think. After a quick spree at the shopping center which included getting some chocolate we rode to the Tourist office to meet Kate. Since I had no phone service I downloaded Skype and was able to call my nephew Jeremy! You made it in a blog little bro!!!

Just before leaving Robyn noticed her tire was missing some chunks of rubber and thought it better to change under roof now then out in the pooring rain later. This gave me a few more minutes of internet time which you never know where or when you will get it using Bell Canada. Back to the road it was a little lighter rain and it wasn’t all that bad since it cooled everything down a bit for us and watered the thirsty forest. As we went along Robyn got a flat on the tire she changed but this is kinda happened to me near Portage la Prairie. The rain had stopped by this time so it was an easy change and we were back on the road in no time. We eventually entered Lake Superior Provincial park which is a very large park on the Eastern shore of the lake. It was very beautiful and green with rocky outcrops into the lake hiding sandy beaches in the small and large bays. One particular bay worth stopping at is the Old Women Bay which has large sandy beach along the half moon shaped bay. The rocky mountainside to the South protecting the bay looks like an old womens face.

Further along we came across Sandy River which I have now named the “Sandy River Rapids Slide” since Kate and I slide down a section or two of smooth rock. It was an unexpected break in the day as we needed to cover some ground but well worth the fun and it cooled us down as things warm warm and muggy now.

As we rode on it was getting later in the day and we had to start thinking about when to stop. We pulled into Agwa provincial park which has a beautiful brand new looking tourist office wifi. I think we almost stopped there for the day but we all agreed to keep moving toward Montreal River where we confirmed there was a campground. As always late in the day things progress slower and the hills become harder or so it seems. We had been hitting hills all day long which really wears you down but this last one was a pretty good one. Down the other side it dipped into a small downhill before a last quick uphill section. Normally I was leading the downhills because I like to go fast but the girls were ahead on this one and when I saw them going for it on the short uphill section I had to put the hammer down to catch up. Cranking over the ridge I saw this glorious view of the lake with three beams of sunlight breaking through the clouds onto the lake. Even though we had a huge downhill we all stopped to take it in.

Down at the bottom of the hill the wind came out of nowhere and was gusting right at us. Fortunately the campground was there and we pulled in for the night. The campground is also on a beautiful bay but has large river like rock on the beach. I spoke with a couple who were enjoying the last bit of light of the day before cleaning up and having dinner with the girls who cooked up some pasta. What a day and what a beautiful part of Canada!