Wawa to Montreal River Harbour

On the shores of Gichigami

We had to wait until 8:00 for the Best Northern Resort restaurant to open for breakfast, but it was worth it for both the espresso (made with a Jura machine – and the only espresso machine in Wawa, according to the owner) and crispy pancakes with fresh berries and peaches.  We left with more peaches and cheese and marinaded eggplant sandwiches on focaccia for lunch.

After a few km we caught sight again of Lake Superior. We cycled to Old Woman Bay just to sit on the beach for a while. It was wonderful and serene. After another 50km , we arrived at Katherine Cove, where we ate our lunch and relaxed on the edge of the lake for some time. We had hoped for a swim, but the weather was cloudy and cool. We were reluctant to leave but still had 30+ km to go. It was unfortunately too far off the road to see the Agawa pictographs, so we made for the Agawa Bay visitors centre on the edge of the beach. We had camped here in the past with Maritia and Chris. As we left, we noticed that the sky was increasingly dark to the north and we heard thunder. Pedalling furiously, we thought that we would miss the storm, but it caught up with us about 10 km from Montreal River. We huddled beside a guard rail for a while, trying to shelter beneath our tarp. We eventually decided to carry on, with lightning flashing all around us. The wind and rain were so strong at times that we had to walk our bikes and on the long hill down to Montreal River we gripped our brakes tightly.

With great relief, we arrived at Twilight Resort Cabins and Campsite. This was the only accommodation between Wawa and Batchawana Bay, and although “rustic” , it got us out of the  storm! We bought tinned baked beans, potato chips and chocolate bars from the camp store and (vegetarian) poutine for Paul, from Twilight’s “chip wagon”.

We are still on the traditional territory of the First Nations of the Nokiiwin Tribal Council