2007/09 Ontario trip - Sturgeon Bay |
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Monday September 17th
The good weather had caught up with us and the night was much warmer, making it easier to get an early start. The lake is next door to a reservation and outside the store in Brimley I heard an Indian lady complaining “Damn moose just wanders all over the place walking on stuff!” I was going to suggest that she go back to the store and ask for a moose trap, but thought better of it.
We crossed into Ontario at Sault Ste. Marie (the Soo), probably our quickest entry into Canada; the border guard didn’t even ask for our identification. From the Soo, it was just a long drive along the TransCanada Highway towards Sudbury, with the occasional glimpse of Lake Huron.
We turned south along Georgian Bay, intending to camp at one of the parks along the coast. They’d all been closed on our earlier trips; we’d been either too early or too late in the season.
We stopped for a break at French River, always a scenic spot, with its vertical rock walls, carved through Pre-Cambrian granite. The granite domes are mostly bare, still carrying the glacier grooves from the last Ice Age. In a few places, moss, lichen, and grass fight for quality space. A 
visitor’s centre has sprung up in the parking lot since our last trip, so maybe we’ll have to pay to take the river walk in the future. The rest area has also been paved with heat-retaining blacktop, giving rise to this “Brake for Snakes” sign. I don’t know what kinds of snakes sunbathe there but this is one of the last spots to find Massassauga rattlesnakes.
We arrived at Sturgeon Bay to find that there was only one other camper there, so we were able to find another really nice spot, amongst this beautiful pink granite, looking out into the bay between yet more granite islands. This was just as well, as camping in Ontario parks
is pricey, about what it would have cost us, as seniors, for five nights in Michigan. In recompense, the Ontario government scheduled a nice sunset for us.
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