11 August 2016, Thursday
The forecast today is for rain. Our only plans are for showers and laundry. We sleep in until 8 am after yesterday’s long hike. Following our breakfast of a golden brown cheese and bacon potato cake we drive to the main campground. The showers are empty. I guess no one wants to shower on a cold rainy morning. After my very hot and very welcome shower, I gather all the laundry and claim an empty washing machine in the laundry room which is also vacant. As soon as O emerges from his shower we cram his clothes into the waiting washing machine and retire to the car to read while the laundry proceeds. The steady rain cleans some of the red dust from the gravel roads off Jazz as we wait.
Laundry done, we proceed to the visitor center. There are interesting displays on the history and ecology of this peninsula. Paleo-Indians lived here at the end of the last ice age. They used local taconite and chert for their spearheads with which they hunted caribou. There are no longer caribou here, only moose and deer. This peninsula lies at the boundary of the boreal forests of the far north and the more southern woodlands.
I find a picture of the Sea Lion and learn the Ojibwe legend of its origin. Nanabush, beloved spirit and teacher of the Ojibwe, had a dog called Moose-oose, meaning little moose. Moose-oose was accidentally turned to stone near the lake and waits there for forgiveness. My own addendum to the legend is that when the erosive forces of wind and water finish their work, Moose-oose can return to his master’s side.
Just off the tip of this peninsula is a tiny island upon which stood, for a time, the richest silver mine in the world. The discovery of silver here was instrumental in opening up northern Ontario to settlement. The island upon which the mine was located barely rose above the level of Lake Superior. Steam engines were used to pump out water so that mining could take place. In the late 1880’a freighter carrying coal for the steam engines became stranded in ice on Lake Superior. The mine flooded. This, combined with a sharp decrease in the price of silver led to the end of mining here. This peninsula is called the Sibley Peninsula after the owner of the mine.
By now, we are both getting hungry. We agree that we must be suffering a calorie deficit from yesterday’s hike. I have read of a restaurant up the peninsula called Karen’s Kountry Kitchen. One reviewer called it “heaven on earth.” We decide to investigate.
Karen’s lives up to its reputation. I have a chicken and broccoli strudel and O enjoys a spinach ricotta strudel, both delicious. We share a chocolate raspberry brownie and a double chocolate cheesecake for dessert.
On our way back to the park I notice there is a 9 km gravel road leading to Thunder Bay lookout. The rain has stopped so we turn right and drive down the road passing two grouse along the way. The lookout is well worth the side trip. It is cantilevered out over the cliff edge. With some palpitations I manage to go out to the end for a photo. Across the water we can see Thunder Bay.
As we return along the gravel road we pass a snowshoe hare and another grouse. We turn back onto Rt. 587. I ask O to slow down as we pass the north end of Marie Louise Lake. From here there is an excellent view of the Giant. As I snap the photo we notice splashing in the water nearby. Our first impression is beaver, but we quickly realize that four otters are playing there. I find I have captured them in my photo of the Sleeping Giant. They are tiny in the photo, but I think they are recognizable as otters.
Now, back at camp, we relax, swat mosquitoes and catch up on blogging.