Steve and Steve's Boundary Waters Odyssey
by boonie
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[/URL] I returned in mid-afternoon and did some laundry and washed my car. I had a nice dinner at The Angry Trout and returned to the motel. I was leaving tomorrow to return to WV by way of Canada instead of my usual drive back through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in order to complete the Circle Tour of Lake Superior.
Monday was another nice day and I headed for Terrace Bay, Ontario. I had no problem crossing the border. There was a fair amount of traffic around Thunder Bay, but it thinned out after that. There was quite a lot of road and bridge construction on the Trans-Canada Highway and it was slow going with the construction and the 90-kilometer per hour (56 mph) speed limit. There’s not much between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, so I made sure to look for gas when I got below a half tank. It’s a very scenic drive, but not many good places to pull over. I had lunch at one that wasn’t located in a scenic spot at all, but made a pit stop at one that was located at a scenic spot along Lake Superior. It was late afternoon when I arrived at the Coach House Motel about 12 miles east of Terrace Bay. It was scrupulously clean and nicely furnished.
Tuesday dawned clear, sunny, and cold, with heavy frost. The drive to Wawa today was only 150 miles and I planned to stop at Pukaskwa National Park on the way. [URL=http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/steveboone/media/BWCA%202014/DSCN0185_zps94e12793.jpg.html]
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[/URL] The fall foliage made it a colorful drive along the Trans-Canada Highway and I arrived at Pukaskwa NP by mid-morning. It was nearly deserted – there was only one other person there and we had a nice chat on the Manitou Miikana Trail. I also hiked the Beach Trail, The Southern Headland Trail, and part of the Bimose Kinoomagewnan Trail. I’m sure that the 37-mile Coastal Trail would be a spectacular hike. [URL=http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/steveboone/media/BWCA%202014/DSCN0217_zps1a263891.jpg.html]
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Pukaskwa NP is absolutely gorgeous! Do not miss it if you have a chance. I left late afternoon and was soon at the Parkway Motel in Wawa, Ontario – another scrupulously clean and nicely furnished motel. I had dinner at the nearby Kinniwabi Pines – a restaurant with an eclectic menu of Canadian, Chinese, and Caribbean (Trinidad) food. I had the Trinidadian chicken curry, which was quite good. The service was a little slow, but not too bad, and the people were very friendly and the food was very good. [URL=http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/steveboone/media/BWCA%202014/DSCN0297_zps6726a259.jpg.html]
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Wednesday I crossed the border without difficulty and drove to Saginaw, MI, for my last night on the road. Thursday I drove to Morgantown, WV, and began the process of catching up with my “real life”.
Notes on the Mundane & Trivial Details: Food: Steve seemed to be pretty satisfied with his first stab at “freezer bag” meals. I think he liked the ease and simplicity of it and was satisfied with the meals he put together. He seemed to do a good job of having enough food without having too much. He was also surprised by how little fuel he used. I had the first days lunch/snacks in my pocket. I had 7 breakfasts, 7 dinners, 7 lunch/snacks, and coffee in my BearVault, which weighed about 11 ½ lbs. to start. Six of the breakfasts were cold, which cut down on fuel usage. I also probably drank a little less coffee than some other times further cutting fuel needs. I started the trip with a small 110-gram (~4 oz.) JetBoil fuel canister that I used the last day of my 2012 trip, all 7 days of my 2013 trip and the first day of this trip. I had no new dinners, just some tried and true ones, but I did sample three new breakfast cereals from Outdoor Herbivore. The Maple Blueberry was pretty good and will probably make a future trip. The High Elevation Rice Cereal (the hot one) will not, nor will the Chia Coconut Peel. Dinners consisted of Hawk Vittles Beef Stew, Bacon Baked Beans, and Cashew Curry (2X), and Outdoor Herbivore’s Lickety Split Lentils, Thai Lemongrass Curry, and Chipotle Chili. Water: I bought a Sawyer Filter Water Bottle, which I found to be very convenient while traveling – just dip it in the lake, screw on the cap and attached water filter, and suck it up through the filter. It sure beats carrying 2-3 liters of water or stopping to filter. I did discover, however, that it won’t magically prevent dehydration unless you actually drink a lot of water out of it ;). Equipment: The Exped Schnozzel Pump Bag was an improvement over the built-in pump on my pad. The REI Taj3 Tent was plenty roomy for us and the gear loft was nice. Set-up is not as straightforward as most tents, but we were pretty good at after a couple of days. It is a little on the heavy/bulky side, but provides extra room. It was not tested by rain on the trip. We did not set up the tarp either. The OTB boots that I purchased on closeout worked better than the Keen sandals I tried last year. The boots stay on the foot better than the sandals. The boots could have used better cushion underfoot and on the tongue. An aftermarket insole might provide better cushioning, but I don’t know if they’d drain as well. I also should have gone up one size, which might have prevented some sore toes since my feet tended to slide a little on the stock insoles going downhill. We did a couple of fairly long portages and my feet were pretty sore after them. My feet were warm enough with wool socks, but the air was quite warm and the water cool. I’m not sure what my lower limit would be for wet-footing. I may consider a waterproof or neoprene sock for colder temperatures, but would need a bigger boot. The RaliRider lightweight nylon pants dry very quickly, were comfortable, and seem tough. The ExOfficio/Duluth Trading nylon mesh briefs and T-shirts also work very well. The Wenonah Adirondack canoe worked out alright for us. I think a slightly longer one would be a little better on the water, but the short length was advantageous for bushwhacking.
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