June 30 Panmure to Iroquois

After saying goodbye to the Bells this morning I was passing through prosperous farms with lush corn and other crops. The farms have signs beside the crops advertising the products which were used to get the impressive results seen. Mostly flat land with a wind from behind so was covering ground at a pretty good rate today.

In the afternoon my road passed over the 401. Being on a bike this is forbidden ground for me. Good. You would not meet anyone going along the freeway anyway. In Burrits Rapids beside the Rideau River a parks Canada employee who looked after the swinging bridge there recommended that I go south to highway 2 and follow it along the St Lawrence. I'm taking his advice.

This is at the Legion grounds in the town of Cardinal. In the background is the St. Lawrence with the U.S on the far shore. My bike is leaning on a 40 mm Bofors gun. It is a rapid fire antiaircraft gun which was used in WWII. I managed to stay out of the rain until the end of the day and then got into a motel in Iroquois before it started. The Queen in Ottawa was not so lucky and had to do her ceremonies in the rain. Somebody probably held an umbrella for her. I don't have anyone to do that so have to put on my rubber suit or hide in a barn.

June 29 Penbroke to Panmure

The weather was good And I made good time headed South of Pembroke today. This Plaque was beside the road near Cobden. Champlain must have said some bad words in French when he reached into his pack for his astrolabe and found it gone. This was in 1613 so when he got to Mattawa in 1615 he had already lost it. Now the truth comes out. He probably put Mattawa in the wrong place on the map because he had no Astrolabe!

Crossed the Mississipi one more time today It's considerably larger here than it was where I met the grouchy tortoise. If you enlarge this photo you might be able to see the beaver who was swimming along near the shore on the right side.

Near the end of the day I stopped to admire this stone farmhouse and ask directions. Anne and Keith Bell invited me into their home for the night and treated me like Royalty. Anne keeps this home which was built around 1860 spotless. She fed me supper, breakfast and packed me a lunch for the road. Keith is a retired senior civil servant who dedicated himself to doing what was right. We need more people like this.

June 28 Stonecliff to Pembroke

Here's the Sherman tank which the Armed forces gave to the town of Petawawa to celebrate the 100 anniversary of the base there in 2005. The first half of the day was spent struggling with hills but as you get closer to Petawawa the land gradually flattens out. Just before this spot I came across two young guys, 18 or 20 years old, who were just nicely started on their trip across the country. They had just come up the Ottawa River valley which was a breeze and were feeling quite pleased with their progress. I felt I better let them know what they were in for. I told them they were about to leave the civilized part of Canada and enter the bush. I sprayed them both down with one of the two cans of DEET I had and gave them one can. I told them how to deal with ticks and flies and such. I told them of the monumental task they had set out on. Of the hard country they were headed into. They would have to beat the terrain, bone deep exhaustion and unpredictable weather. The headwinds which would beat them to a standstill and the heat and drought they would face on the prairies. Of the wall of rock which would loom up in front them if they made it across the prairies and also of all the incredible support and acts of kindness they would get from unexpected places. If they made it to the west coast they would be looked on as athletes and travelling adventurers. They could look upon themselves as men. They left with looks of grim determination on their faces.

Lots of men and equipment moving on the highway around Petawawa. Here's one of the newer trucks I saw on the road. A lot of the stuff they have is obviously not new, in fact kind of beat up looking. Maybe they keep the good stuff for Afganistan. More likely this is just all they have. We expect a lot from our troops without giving them much to work with. Not like the U.S. They have all the best that money can buy. Flags in Petawawa were at half mast for two more young soldiers who died in a road side blast yesterday. I suspect some of the activity was related to the G8 G20 summit which just finished.

By Pembroke I had done 90 km and was faced with a quandary. Do I waste time going into Pembroke to find a place to do laundry and and stay the night or should I press on to the next spot which was another 40Km. I looked at the weather coming at me from the west and decided against going any further. The storm hit and knocked out the power in Pembroke just as I was unloading the bike at this motel. The Laundromat down town still had power so I threw my tent in to dry out and did laundry. While it was drying I hit the Chinese buffet across the street. Delicious, best meal since the Soo.

June 27 Talon Lake to Stonecliff

Passed through Matawa about noon and got this shot of Samuel de Champlain. He penciled the Matawa region on to the map in 1615 and described it as a barren and desolate land. Not much has changed in the intervening 400 years. It is hard shield country with rugged topography and lots of bugs. The steep hills make it tortuous going. The horse flies, deer flies, black flies mosquitoes and no see ums swarm you when you are slowed down pushing up the hills. You loose the gang of them for a few minutes when you swoop down the other side but another lot magically appear as soon as you are slowed down for the next hill. I covered myself and my bike with DEET.

This is the Ottawa River where the highway drops down to it for a short spell near Deux Riviers. Here it is the border between Quebec and Ontario. Quebec is in the left and Ontario on the right. After a couple of kilometers it was back up on to the shield again and climbing hills. My GPS told me that I had done the equivalent of climbing over the Blueberry Paulson Summit in B.C. which is one of the hardest climbs there.

The plan for today was to hold up at the small place of Bisset Creek but it turned out to be nothing there . Just a couple of dark mobile homes. I though I might be able to get to the next place on the map which was Stonecliff but the going was too brutal. I was lucky to find a small flat spot beside the old highway down a short side road. The land was composed of rock cliffs, thick bush and insect infested bog. Just before turning in for the night I took one last look around and felt a bit nervous about the position of the tent. It had good drainage away from it but was in the path of any water running off the old highway. Just to be safe I got busy and erected a small dyke of dirt and cut a drainage ditch around the end of it with a stick. At 1:00 in the morning I was awakened to the thunderous roar of heavy rain on the tent. I looked out the flap with my flash light to see that my dyke was working quite nicely and deflecting a flow of water around the tent but it was about to give way! I scrambled out dressed in not much and quickly got to work reinforcing my earthworks. By morning the rain had quit but gave me one parting splash just as I was taking the tent down. I rolled it up as a soggy mess to be dealt with later.

June 26 Hagar to Talon Lake

Spent a good part of the day today travelling along the North shore of Lake Nipissing. Here's something I had not seen for several days. A crop other than hay. There is good agricultural land around Sturgeon Falls and North Bay. Flat and a tail wind - easy going. I stopped in Sturgeon Falls and by chance contacted Marion in Spain on Skype.

North Bay is a fair sized place and this is one of it's claims to fame - The Dion Quints Museum. It was closed so I didn't get to go in. This whole area is very French Canadien. At one point a young lady jogged by me as I was taking a breather and said Ca va? I did a mental Google of ca va? and came up with the reply that Bernie in Fernie told me thirty some years ago - Pas mal.

She then said a whole string of words quite rapidly and I had no clue what she was saying but it sounded encouraging so I just gave the thumbs up sign. She didn't seem too pleased with that. Does any one out there know what the thumbs up sign means in French? Is it something bad?

East of North Bay the land rises back up onto the shield again. The highway is cut through fascinating geological structures and a wide array of rock types. I had to pay attention not to wander off the road staring at it as I cranked by. Had a tail wind today and made pretty good time until hitting the hills at the end of the day. Near the village of Rutherglen I pulled off and found a campsite beside this pretty little lake. Shower and Internet both work here. Amazing! Mosquitos are eating me alive so that's it for now.

June 25 Serpent River to Hagar

The big Nickel in Sudbury. It is up on the top of a hill so I didn't want to waste time cranking up there. My laundry was starting to ferment in its garbage bag and I was down to my last pair of clean socks so had to stop and look after that. Couldn't find internet anywhere near the Laundromat.

Inco. This scene had me singing stompin' Tom's song, Sudbury Saturday night. "The boys are gettin' stinko. No more they think of Inco." Trust stompin' Tom to rhyme stinko with Inco. On the right side of the picture is what looks to be a fifty tonne Volvo wiggle wagon hauling ore up to the plant. One plant I went past was shut down but this one had smoke coming out of the big stack. They are on strike but someone is doing some smelting here. On the way into Sudbury I saw signs which had been changed from Sudbury to Scabbury. There must be a story behind that. Hope it doesn't end up like Yellowknife in 1992.

Made pretty good time other than the two hour delay to do laundry. It was drizzling down for the last hour so got a motel in Hagar. No internet there either. What's with these guys? It's not that had to set up wireless internet!

June 24 Blind River to Serpent River

Here's a bit of a view of Lake Huron, the North Chanel. This is between Manitoulin Island and the mainland. Back into shield country here lots of up and down but had a nice tail wind so could not complain.

Here's what I had for Breakfast. Stopped for a bathroom break and realized I was standing in a blue berry patch so pushed over into an uncontaminated part and pecked away. Most of them are not ripe yet but I will be keeping an eye out for them from now on.

Here's the old protestant cemetery near Walford. The only reason I took this picture was because of the one below.

The Catholic one was directly across the highway from it. I guess at this time it was not acceptable to be buried with the wrong type of people. Made pretty good time into Serpent river and just got the tent set up when the sky ripped open and dumped it's contents on me. One I'm in the tent it's fine but it makes it a bit more work in the morning to try to get things dried out before packing it away. No internet at the serpent river campground.

Bruce Mines to Blind River

Part of the day was spent travelling along beside the Mississasauga River. Interesting day with an earthquake ahead of me and tornadoes behind. Didn't see or feel anything of either. My main obstacle was thunder showers. I dodged some of them but drove through three real soakers. At one point I wasn't fast enough getting into my rain gear when one caught up to me from behind. I dodged under a big tree beside the road to get into it when the resident invited me in to his porch. I talked to the family man who was a miner from Sudbury. Inco there has been on strike for a year so he had finally given up and moved away after having lived there all his life.

How can you tell when you are in shield country? You don't have a front lawn because there is a big chunk of glacier polished k-spar granite sticking up instead. Land was rolling today which always slows you down. The slow going up one side is not made up for by the swoop down the other side. Not feeling quite up to snuff physically myself. Gave up in a steady drizzle at Blind River as there was nothing more for quite a way. Should have a tail wind tomorrow so should be able to get most of the way Sudbury.

The Soo to Bruce Mines

Here are the two delightful people who have been my hosts in the Soo for the last day and a half, Mike and Doreen Skippen. I would have liked to stay and enjoy their hospitality for longer but had to get back on the road.

Saw this horse and wagon/buggy just West if Bruce Mines and the first thing I thought was that it was Amish. First one like this that I have seen. The wind that was from the East this morning swung around by noon and was from the South. Got in half a day to do the 65 kms. to Bruce mines. Nice to not be in pain today.

Sault Ste Marie

Day off today at Mike and Doreen's but lots of interesting things to do. Mike fired up his MGB and moved it out of the garage. Then got the tractor running and used it to move the sailboat out of the garage.

Next was to put the boat cradle together and bring the sailboat around on to it. Here Mike is tightening the last few bolts as an iron ore freighter goes by in the back ground. We are only a few miles from the Soo locks here and there is a fair amount of ship traffic going by in front. This one is set up to unload itself with the conveyor just above the hatch covers.

Here's Mike and Ginger out for their first boat ride of the season. After a swim in the lake we went out to a big pasta and meat ball feed which was a benefit dinner for a family which had been in a tragic car crash. Met a good many people who were there for a good cause. This was the project for this morning. We needed to disconnect the plumbing to the well and pound the suction pipe down farther into the water table. That went fine and we eventually got a good flow going. It was a wet foggy wet day so I was not in a big rush to get going. Nevertheless it was time to get rolling again after a relaxing day and a half.

Seney to the Soo

Finished crossing the U.P. to the Soo today. The photo above was taken in the small town of MacMillan. This is one of several abandoned old brick schools which I passed along the U.P. I suspect this was due to declining populations in the area. Many large underground copper mines once employed thousands but none are left. The forest industry has largely been mechanized so no where the number of men are needed.

This is Peaches. She was with her sister and a young family at a rest stop. Peaches' mom is a Boston who became involved with an English Bulldog unexpectedly. She looked like a Boston on steroids. What a chubby little barrel of energy she was. I squeezed her more than I should have but she didn't mind.

This is a common sight across the U.P. too. A closed down Motel or cabins. For each one that is open there appears to one that has been closed and taken over by weeds. Probably a combination of factors. One being declining population and economy and also the rise of the Motor home and travel trailer.

I spent a fair chunk of the day passing through the Hiawatha National Forest. This is a typical hardwood forest with lots of Maple, Oak and Elm. It must be impressive in the fall. Spent an awful long day in the saddle today to get to the Soo. Had a partial tail wind and made about 140 kms. so 400 kms. in the last three days. Too much. My legs were telling me to quit by the end of today. Mike and his sister met me in the Soo and took me across the bridge because it is freeway and you are not allowed to cycle across it. I thought that strange but was told the same thing by two separate people so did not want to risk it. Looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

Harvey to Seney

Picnic by Superior. This is another place that I remember us stopping at ten years ago. Just East of Marquette. Highway 28 follows the south shore of the lake for several miles and there are scenic stretches of beach. I remember swimming way out into Superior until the girls were concerned that I might swim over the edge of the earth. Seagulls were floating overhead in hopes that I would drown and they would have me for lunch.

While in the U.P. you have to have a pasty. They are a meat and potato pie which I'm pretty sure used to be the main component in the traditional miners lunch. Brought from Cornwall by the miners from there. This is mining country so that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

This is the famous Seney straight. The road is laser straight and pancake flat for 40 kms. I got here kind of late in the day and was wondering if it would be a good idea to attempt another 40 km. with nothing but bush and swamp to the next tiny place. The wind was to my back and Abba was playing "Dancing Queen" so I went for it. One of the most enjoyable bits of riding so far. Did the 40 km in two hours. 260 km last two days. Not to bad for an old retired guy!

Kenton to Harvey

Rode past his tidy small rural church near Covington this morning. It is the Trinity Lutheran which seems to be the most popular denomination in the U.P.

A little farther on this backward redi-mix concrete truck came into view. This is set up backwards to any redi-mix truck I have seen in Canada. Must be some local condition which it is designed to handle. Yoopers can't back up?

This sign shows that the term Yooper is an actual term which refers to people of the U.P. I remember this place being here when we crossed the country ten years ago but it has got bigger. The sign claims that this is the world's largest operating chain saw. Looks dangerous.

This is as far as I got today. The photo was taken looking west back across Superior to the City of Marquette. The main obstacle today was the heat. It was near ninety degrees this afternoon with high humidity from the lake. I was leaving a trail of sweat and drinking a liter an hour. At one point I was gulping down my last mouthful of water when Mike and Doreen and their golden lab pulled up beside me. They are mutual friends of Bernie and me. We made arrangements to meet at their summer place in the Sault and the lab gave up a bottle of water for me. Quite good water. That got me to the next gas station. Good conditions today other than the heat so made 130 km. to Harvey.

Kenton to Harvey

I rode past this small tidy white church this morning and found it attractive enough to take this photo. This is Trinity Lutheran Church near Covington. Lutheran seems to be the denomination of choice in the U.P.

Ironwood to Kenton

Headed East from Ironwood on the border across the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) today. At Wakefield left highway 2 and swung onto the more northerly route of Highway 28. It's similar to highway 2 but much less car traffic. They only give you about 20 inches of shoulder. Fewer towns, much less settled with long stretches of unbroken forest. Only two radio stations, one Christian and the other Country. By the end of today I was feeling guilty about not having "washed in the blood of the lamb". I have been well washed in the blood of a moose and various other ungulates but I don't think that counts.

Here's the guys that you have to share Highway 28 with. Pulpers loaded to the gunnels and running flat out. The also figure that cyclists are pretty well the bottom of the highway pecking order. The Northern forests are the main employer in these parts. Lots of pulp wood and oak logs being taken out.

This is also cottage country. This little country pub is on lake Gogibec. The patrons inside were crowded around the one flat screen T.V. listening to the CEO of B.P. - Hayward, talking about how sorry he was that he has ruined the Gulf of Mexico. Some of them were ready to form a lynching party. I bought some water and stayed out of the debate. Made it to just outside the Hamlet of Kenton (110 kms.) . Strong side wind from the south but I was mostly protected by the forest. Got a Michigan sticker today. Missed getting one for Wisconsin though.

Ashland to Ironwood Michigan

Had to get the bike into a shop in Ashland this morning because of a sticking brake arm - can't go with brakes dragging. We gave the bike a good check over,fixed a bunch of nagging problems and I finally got away at 2:00 this afternoon. Just East of Ashland is the Bad River Native Band. They have a huge Casino and store the size of Wal Mart there. This is the Bad River which looks quite like a tributary of the Amazon with jungle up to the banks.

After Bad River you are passing through historical Iron Mining country. Every few minutes an iron hauler truck passes on it's way to the docks in Ashland. They just look like heavy duty dump trucks which have two extra axles which are lowered into place when the truck is loaded to take the weight of the Iron Ore(taconite). They are in a hurry and don't look on bicyclist favorably.

On of my favorite rest stops is a rural cemetery. This one is built on a hill overlooking the Apostle Islands. Interesting to note that the majority of names are French while the rest are Scandinavian, many Finnish.

With the late start I had to hustle to get to Ironwood across the line into Michigan. Tonight I'm camped in a grove of beautiful big maple trees. Good day today with no rain or wind.