Journey Day 6 - Thunder Bay to Kenora

The day started bright with clouds, breezy and 20.5C and looked promising. We left a little earlier, 9:30 and headed over to Subway to buy our lunch for later. We were ready to get going but got distracted by the search for a "Persian". We had been told that we mustn't leave Thunder Bay without trying one. Circle K turned a blank and A&W was suggested but also turned a blank. It is some sort of cinnamon donut coated with a pink berry flavored icing but today was not our day, we needed to get going.
A highlight of the geography of Thunder Bay is the bluffs beyond the town which apparently provide amazing views and excellent climbing on the cliffs.

We rejoined Highway 17 with the sky now covered with cloud but still bright. As we left town behind it struck me that there were fences alongside the road which until seeing them I hadn't realised that so far everything has been open or natural boundary.

Kakabeka Falls

We only had 25km to our first destination, the Kakabeka Falls. A Provincial Park, we paid our $5.50 for two hours and set off the explore. The Falls are splendid but we wished the sun had been out to set off the water. The main fall is 40ft and the transition from a calm top pool to the cascading web is amazing. The highlight of our visit however, was spotting a Bald Eagle on a rock with a freshly caught fish and then taking off over us.

Kakabeka Falls

Bald Eagle with Fish

Forest

Leaving the Falls, we returned to a mix of forest and clearings.The land is much flatter than previous days meaning that you see the trees close to the road but the backdrop of rolling forest is absent. Often, the highway, railway and a river run together creating a very wide pathway. Occasional large fields are harvesting haylage and other gaps in the forest are winding creeks with verdant flood plains.
We have seen little evidence of lumber working to now but in this are there are occasional patches where the firs have been harvested leaving standing birch and aspen in splendid isolation. There are also a few patches which have been planted but they did look as if they were areas being recovered after fires rather than cutting.
All over, there is a suggestion of massive wild fires in the past. Standing dead stems surrounded by young growth and in other places still dead with scattered timber awaiting the regrowth to start from dormant seed which has survived the flames. Even the mature standing forest is patchy from long ago death and rebirth.

Divide and Time Zone

We passed over the Divide where streams flow either to the Hudson Bay in the North or into the Great Lakes basin and then stopped briefly as we crossed the Time Zone boundary and proceeded to live 12:00 to 13:00 for a second time. This was useful as at 300 miles it was along day so to gain an hour extends the evening.

Crossing into Central Standard Time

Lunch at a picnic spot by a lake was very pleasant though we are now both sporting a fine collection of swollen itching bites which makes time outside the car uncomfortable due to thinking about insects. Fortunately it was quite windy making it difficult for them to fly so we weren't too bothered. 

Weather and Weary

The forest continued into the afternoon, flatter and with long straight stretches of road off into the distance. The skies grayed and with the high humidity, for the first time on this drive, I had to fight heavy eyes and wondering attention. This led to BBC Sounds being employed; Lynne had downloaded several podcasts before we left home so we listened to two very odd Arthur Conan Doyle short stories and the Ricky Gervais Desert Island Disks. These kept us awake and entertained as the weather deteriorated and we drove through heavy rain and spray for a couple of hours and were grateful to arrive at our hotel in Kenora around 5pm.

Evening

We relaxed with coffee from reception and surfed the Internet before crossing the car park to Casey's. We would have gone downtown if the weather had been better but as it was, Casey's really hit the spot. I had a half rack of ribs with BBQ sauce and Lynne a steak sandwich; both were excellent and even better for being accompanied by a bottle of Ontario Chardonnay. 

Leaving the restaurant, we found that the rain had stopped at last and blue sky had appeared so we wondered down to the shore and Husky the Muskie, a giant fish sculpture. We looked across the bay beyond the 25m fountain to downtown and seaplanes moored and then walked back passing a lovely flower garden around Huskie. As a final mark to a pleasant evening, a stag with large antlers wondered about on the hill opposite browsing on the fresh damp grass.

Ged with Husky the Muskie

Back to the room later than intended to write this up. Goodnight!

Today's Statistics

Time Zone: crossed into Central Standard Time, Daylight Saving  UTC-5

Statistics: Miles today: 310; Miles so far: 1383 ; Fuel added so far: 112.7 litres, 24.7 gals; Provinces: Ontario; Time Zone: UTC-4 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) to UTC-5 Central Daylight Time (CDT)