after one week

Let's start in Lion's Head. After a week of drinkin' and sleeping in, which included a visit from good buddies Colin and Dave, we finally departed from Tobermory via the Chi Chimaun on Sunday the 12th at 11:30 am. The trip across to Manitoulin was nice, smooth waters and sunny skies. We intended to chat people on the boat into giving us a ride once we reached South Baymouth, but most passengers were either elderly and unwilling to tempt fate with a couple of twenty-somethings, or they were families on vacation, with kids and a car packed to the roof with supplies. So needless to say we were on foot when we deboarded.

From 1 pm to 7:30 we had decent luck on the road, five rides took us as far as Blind River on highway 17. This is where we thought we would have to spend the night, as 2 hours of thumbs out resulted in zero rides to that point. Just as we were about to find a spot to make camp one of the best overall rides of our lives came along. He went by the name of Mark and he piloted the "Slum Queen" a sweet Toyata camper van that had recently fallen victim to a spetic overflow. Depsite the smell she was quite roadworthy and we made it to Ironbridge that night. Mark invited us to camp at his friend's cottage on the shore of the North Channel which we gladly accepted. We arrived around 10 and I'll be damned if our hosts didn't offer us everything from drinks to a sweat in their beachside sauna. That night rolled on until 4 am when we finally made it to the tent. Originally the plan was to leave there by 8 the next morning bound for the Soo, but since no one was up until nearly 11, that plan hit the skids. After some bbq'd sausages and hangin' in the kitchen we packed and hit the road a little after noon. Mark took us into Sault Ste. Marie and dropped us off on Hwy 17 on the far side of town. Two more rides got us within 80 km of Wawa, our first destination, and again we thought we would be spending the night, but luckily a lovely fella from the Soo, who happened to be the Conservative MP candidate thwarted by the NDP in last winter's election, brought us the rest of the way. By 8:30 we were on the corner of Michipicoten River Village road and Hwy 17, with packs on backs and ready for the 5km walk to Naturally Superior Adventures where Shannon works and we've been for 5 days now.

When we showed up Shannon happened not to be around, so we set up camp and cooked dinner for ourselves. Unfortunately rice is very difficult to simmer on the MSR Whisperlite, but our meal of beans, rice and wraps turned out quite delicious. Delicious enough that we passed out before 10 pm and slept until Shannon woke us up at 9:30am. After some greetings and some food we decided we'd trekk into town to get some food for the week. Kjell gave us some directions that would make for a good bike ride. They were somewhat vague but we trusted ourselves enough to make it. We shouldn't have. We ended up doing the world's largest loop that ate up almost 2 hours of our afternoon, and all we got was a swim at Sandy Beach. So we show up at NSA 2 hours later with nothing in hand, and no energy. As we're cruising back, Dave Wells drives up and asks us our plans for meals. We were planning on being self-reliant, but he had another plan. If we gave him 3 hours a day of labour, we could eat for free. Sweet. So now we don't have to buy food for ourselves, but we still have to get the stuff that Shannon needed for dinner. Kjell was gracious enough to take us into town and show us what Wawa has to offer. Which really isn't much. After that wonderful chili dinner, we went for our first huck. Kjell and Shannon took us to Silver falls (5 minute drive) and we got to jump some 20 foot cliffs. Hucking would become our most prominent activity during our days at NSA. The rest of the days have been a combination of working our 3 hours, hucking, eating everything in sight, and a random assortment of extreme bocce, saunas, and kayaking. We also had a splendid evening with The Hudsons. The Hudsons were a band who got booked here tuesday afternoon, and played wednesday night. And they were spectacular. They were a group from Austin Texas, and Pheobe's spice of fiddle set them over the top. They were great entertainers and spuer musicians. After the show they needed their fix of the Trailer Park Boys, so we drank some wine and watch some shows. To say that was a highlight would be good, but this whole week has been pretty sweet. Now we're experiencing a rainy saturday where we actually get to relax. Thanks to Ike for picking us up tomorrow, when our adventures will continue.

Shout out to Mike, 'Biff and Jessica', the young gun in the red hot ford escape, Mark, the Yankees, our conservative candidate, and all the others who picked us up but we never got your name. Our trip was fairly easy, and a lot of fun.
peace love and road hockey.