Day 11- Lake Superior Circle Tour- White River to Wawa
Day 11
We had no regrets at leaving our terrible wayside campsite on the morning of Day 11 of our Lake Superior Bike Tour. The rumble and rattle of freight trains had kept us up most of the night. Our desire to break camp and leave as quickly as possible was only intensified by the thousands of mosquitos that were trying to eat us a live.
You know it’s bad when you have to wear your rain jackets as protection from the mosquitoes.
We were really glad to at least have our head nets. They mostly protected our faces, except for the occasional mosquito which would get trapped inside and inevitably be smashed into a blood smear against our faces. We were even wearing our rain jackets to protect from the mosquitoes. The only place we have ever experienced more mosquitos than the northern shore of Lake Superior was in a swamp in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska.
We were able to avoid the worst of the traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway, because we got up so early. We tried to get water at White Lake Lodge, but as soon as we pulled up outside, a man flew out of the lodge and yelled at us that we couldn’t have any water. We decided we didn’t need any snacks from his convenience shop either.
Only a bit further down the road, we stopped at the Half Way Lodge, the proprietor there said she didn’t have any water either, because she had also been impacted by the landfill leak. She was very, very nice though. We bought some packaged bologna sandwiches that were weirdly delicious and Gatorade instead.
We ate our sandwiches in the Adirondack chairs outside her store, and a few minutes later the woman came out and gave us some bottled water. We both thought this was very sweet, especially after our encounter earlier in the morning. The woman told us about how the final season that she and her husband would be operating the lodge, and they would be closing next year. This explained why their small store was nearly empty.
We attached these noodles to our bikes to keep vehicles from passing too closely.
The Halfway Lodge is halfway between White River and Wawa, and the store’s owners are so nice!
Refreshed and “full of bologna,” we continued biking east on the Trans-Canada Highway around Lake Superior. We biked past some very dark and beautiful inland lakes with rocky shores surrounded by thick muskeg.
People not from the Great Lakes region might be wondering, “Inland lakes? What other kind of lakes are there?” When you live here, you need to distinguish between these mud puddles and the world’s largest body of freshwater.
We biked miles through thick forests and went miles without passing a single house. At one point during the day, a lynx ran across the road only a few feet in front of us. It’s the closest we have ever been to a lynx in the wild—such long legs!
The past two days of biking were on a far inland portion of the Lake Superior Circle Tour. There is no route close to the Lake’s shore. After about three hours of biking, we began our 30-mile gradual descent back down toward the water.
These colorful Gitchee Goomee totems, which a carved by Michipoten Artist, Spike Mills, are scattered all over Wawa, so keep you eyes open for them.
Right before Wawa, we climbed a short but steep hill. We didn’t actually go into the town of Wawa, because it’s about 5 kilometers off the highway. But we did stop at a classic Lake Superior Circle Tour destination—the giant Wawa Goose.
The giant Wawa Goose is one the most famous roadside attractions on the Lake Superior Circle Tour.
Wawa means goose in Ojibwe. Because of it’s location on the Trans-Canada Highway, this 28-foot tall steel bird is one of the most photographed landmarks in North America. This enormous replica honors one of North America’s most annoying animals.
When you get the opportunity to charge your devices in the remote reaches of Canada, you should take it.
The visitor center in Wawa is a nice place to stop for a break.
We had planned to camp near Wawa, but it was only mid-afternoon so we continued into Lake Superior Provincial Park.
It was about 1:00pm when we arrived at the Wawa Goose. We had biked about 50 miles. The visitor center has a used book sale for travelers and a relaxing outdoor seating area where we sat and charged all our devices, including our Outdoor Tech Powerbanks, which could keep our phones and bike lights charged for a couple of days. We had been in such remote areas that we had been relying primarily on Ian’s dynamo hub to charge our devices. (Read more about how charged our devices while bike touring here.)
Most importantly, their water had not been impacted by the landfill leak and was clean to drink. We drank as much water as we could while we were there and filled our six water bottles and even partially filled our collapsible bladder.
Lake Superior Provincial Park was one of our favorite places, and the highway even had wide shoulders in some places.
But like everywhere else on the Trans-Canada Highway, the shoulder is intermittent. It might suddenly be 15 inches wide or non-existent.
After leaving Wawa, we immediately descended down to the Michipicoten River, crossing the bridge, and then having to climb steeply back out. If you are tired at this point, there is a free campsite listed on iOverlander at Sandy Beach in Michipoten.
Soon after this point, we entered Lake Superior Provincial Park. It was fabulous to be back on the Lake again. It was instantly cooler along the shore.
When we reached Old Woman Bay, we stopped for a swim and a rest. It’s a long white sandy beach with scattered drift wood logs that wash up on the shore during storms. The Old Woman River drains across the sandy beach into the water. There are 600-foot, verdant green cliffs that rise steeply out of the other side of the bay, and the water is unbelievably clear.
Old Woman Bay was one of our favorite places on Lake Superior.
The beach is scattered with bleached driftwood logs that get trapped in the bay after storms.
Since this is a protected bay, the water is marginally warmer and it’s possible to stay in the water for just a few moments longer. It also helped that it was a very hot day.
The water in Old Woman Bay is crystal clear.
The 600-foot cliffs that rise out of Old Woman Bay are a deep green.
We swam and then sat on a bleached driftwood log to let our bike clothes dry out.
The water in Old Woman Bay is slightly warmer, because it’s a protected bay.
One of the best parts about biking around Lake Superior is getting to swim almost everyday.
We talked to a few fellow travelers visiting Old Woman Bay. People always commented that they had seen us out on the road with our pool noodles. That’s all that they ever wanted to talk about was the stupid pool noodles that we attached to our bikes to make sure cars passed us with three feet of space.
We hung out on the beach at Old Woman Bay and talked to some fellow travelers.
This long sandy stretch of beach is the perfect place to stop while bike touring around Lake Superior.
They’d also always ask, “How’d you get here so fast?” We realized that we might be traveling at the same pace as many of the motorists doing the Lake Superior Circle Tour. While they are making a lot of side trips far off the highway, we were taking a direct route with very few stops, often biking from early morning until dusk.
Ian looked like he was wearing an old-timey swimming costume when he swam in his bike bibs.
I thought I found a stealth campsite at Old Woman Bay, but upon further investigation, it wasn’t stealthy at all.
I thought I found the perfect stealth campsite tucked into the woods, but we realized that it was actually only about 20 feet from a parking lot. It was still early, so we decided to continue down the Trans-Canada. Camping was also explicitly prohibited, and we usually try to only stealth camp in places where camping isn’t necessarily encouraged, but also that no one cares if you stop for a night.
The shore of Lake Superior is covered in colorful rocks. If you know what you are looking for, there is a good chance that you will find an agate or two.
After a few miles we had to climb a 500 foot hill, so we were relieved when we saw the Rabbit Blanket Campground at the stop of the hill. Although we had only camped for free thus far, we decided that we would stop as long as it cost less than $30. Well it cost $36, we justified that this was only about $25 American dollars so we decided to stop anyway. When I found out they had showers, I wasn’t going to bike another inch.
Cooking dinner at the Rabbit Blanket Campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park.
Ian had to work on his bike while we were camping here because somehow his cranks were loosening up.
We got to our campsite, set up camp and then I immediately went and took a shower. Even though I had already swam earlier in the day, the shower made me feel like a million bucks—Canadian bucks that is. There was a laundry room where I could charge my phone while I showered. The campground had cell service. For dinner we cooked a bag of beans and rice, and we were so pleased that there were hardly any mosquitoes! Sometimes these simple luxuries are all you need while biking.
See our full route on Strava!
POSTS ALSO TAGGED:
AEROTECH DESIGNS, BEACHES, BIKE CLOTHING, Bike Lights, BIKE ROUTES, BIKE SAFETY, BIKE TOUR PLANNING, BIKE TOURING, BIKING, Bridges, CAMP FOOD, CANADA, CYCLING GEAR, Dynamo Hub, FRUGAL TRAVEL, GREAT LAKES, HIGHWAY 17, LAKE SUPERIOR, LAKE SUPERIOR CIRCLE TOUR, Lake Superior Provincial Park, NORTH SHORE, Old Woman Bay, ONTARIO, Outdoor Tech, Provincial Land, Provincial Parks, PUBLIC LAND, Rabbit Blanket, Rain Gear, ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS, STEALTH CAMPING, TRAINS, TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY, TRAVEL, Wawa, Wawa Goose, WHITE RIVER, WILDERNESS
Have you visited Lake Superior Provincial Park or the Wawa Goose? Tell us about your favorite spots on the Lake Superior Circle Tour in the comments below.