Although we put 45 miles on the odometer, we ended up in nearly the same place that we started this morning: Rainbow Falls Provincial Park,. Because the campgrounds were quite full, we had to reserve a site at one campground for the first night and a different campground for the second night.
The day dawned sunny and bright, with a lot less of the mist and haze that we have been experiencing. As we drove away, however, we drove into a fog bank and it was rather foggy for most of the morning.
As we had already hiked to Rainbow Falls, we drove 20 minutes farther down the road to Terrace Bay, and parked at the Terrace Bay Beach. Here is a broad sandy beach in a protected cove that also has the confluence of the Aguasabon River. The river descends into the bay in a series of beautiful cascades, making for some great scenery in all directions.
A trail leads up from here and follows the Aguasabon river to the falls, 2Km upstream. We hiked this and also took a fork in the trail to another cove, called Danny’s Cove, a secluded little beach area where we just enjoyed the pleasantness of the day for a while. The fog gave it a bit of other-worldliness and it was very quiet and still.
Aguasabon Falls is surprisingly tall, which would explain the steepness of the trail leading up to it. Can’t get real close and the falls are only visible from above on a viewing platform.
Back at Terrace Bay Beach we stopped in at the park store and asked a few questions, including how to pronounce “Aguasabon”, “Nipigon”, and “Schreiber”. We also found out there is a red chair close to here, on a point on the east side of the bay. We hiked there, only about a quarter mile, and found a delightful outcropping with the iconic red chairs and a great view.
There are over 100 of these located in places like this, lesser-known but still scenic areas. Started by some National Park team members in 2011, they came up with the idea to place 18 Adirondack chairs in lesser-known places, inviting visitors to enjoy and share on social media. This has grown to over 100 placements in Canada Parks. What a great idea. This certainly was an enjoyable location
After lunch we picked up a few groceries at the store in Terrace Bay and talked to a local park person about places to see in the area. On her suggestion, we drove down to the Pump House Beach, which appears to be known only by the locals. There are no signs, just a road leading through a residential area. The beach was another sandy beach in a protected cove with rocky outcroppings on either side. We hiked to the end of one of these and sat out on the rock, mesmerized by the sight and sound of the surf. The sun had come out for a while and warmed the rock but now the fog was rolling back in, obscuring distant views. The large and flat warm rock, however, just invited us to lay down on it and we did for a while, soaking up the warmth and enjoying the sound of the waves.
We don’t sit too often but today we did, enjoying the rest. The only thing missing from this spot is red chairs. It would have been a great spot for them.
We made dinner back at the beach and then reluctantly drove back to our reserved camping location at Rainbow Falls.
Forward progress around Lake Superior: three miles. Tomorrow we will start putting a few more miles on.
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