Being in Thunder Bay it made some sense that we should see what the area had to offer. We rose and had an excellent bacon and eggs breakfast made by our strange but earnest host. He told us that people come to Thunder Bay to hike, and we were glad for that because that is what we were going to do.
We headed first back East out of Thunder Bay. We went to Eagle Canyon. It was a fair sized canyon with a little lake running down the middle, but what it is known for is the longest foot suspension bridge in Canada (600 feet long). On top of the canyon we crossed on a shorter bridge then walked along the far side. We came to the long bridge and crossed the canyon again. We followed a long set of stairs down to the bed of the canyon and walked along the lake. We walked out of the canyon and back to where we started. The views were great, the bridge was great, it was great to see some trees clinging to the rock, and somehow, just somehow we inherited two pine trees along the way. How? Who knows!
Leaving Eagle Canyon we were near to Ouilet Canyon and headed there. It was pretty quiet and there were not many people exploring. There was a little box asking for $2.00 as an entry fee, and the complied. Oh how I love the honesty system. We walked through the trees and across a wooden bridge then through some more trees. It was not far to the canyon, and though Eagle Canyon was impressive, this one was very impressive. There were lookout “pods” that were stretched over the very edge of the canyon. We stood and looked. Awe. It was amazing. We could see lakes in the distance, and at the bottom of the canyon we could see the fragments of boulders that had fallen and shattered. There was a board that told us that on the top of the canyon the climate was boreal forest, but on the bed of the canyon the climate was sub-arctic tundra. This means that while flowers might bloom in the spring on the top, those same flowers would not bloom until late summer or fall on the canyon floor.
Having seen what we could we made our way back toward Thunder Bay and stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial. For Canadians Terry Fox needs no explanation, but for everyone else, Terry Fox is a Canadian Hero. He got cancer, and instead of taking it laying down he decided to fight that cancer as hard as he could. He lost a leg due to cancer, but even that would not break his spirits. With his one good leg and one prosthetic he set out to do something that had not been done before, he set out to run across Canada. Having dipped his foot in the Atlantic Ocean in St. John’s Newfoundland he headed west. His run, called the “Marathon of Hope” took him far across Canada, engaging the entire country in the fight against cancer. He crossed the maritimes, Quebec, and Ontario. As he neared Thunder Bay the cancer forced him to stop. The very memorial where we stood was near to where Terry Fox took his last steps on the “Marathon of Hope.” On June 28th, 1981 Terry Fox succumbed to the cancer... It may have taken him, but with that courage and that vision Terry Fox kicked off the fight against cancer... over $500 million has been raised in his name...
It seemed strange standing at that memorial. I had done Terry Fox Runs as a child at school, we had tried to raise money for cancer, I had seen movies about Terry Fox, but in all that it only seemed real to me standing at the monument. Terry Fox was not some mythical heroic man that all of these stories were about, but just a man with the courage to make a difference.
Moving away from the memorial with is figure of Terry Fox looking over Lake Superior and with the amethyst of Thunder Bay lining its base we headed to Cascade Falls Conservation Area. We had been told about the area by Tribe Sensei, and we followed an excellent map that he had drawn for us to get there. The conservation area was packed. There were people with dogs, people with kids, and people with people. We walked in and to the cascading falls. It was a popular place and we could see the remnants of many campfires. There was graffiti on the stones where people made their mark, but despite this it was still beautiful. We walked on barren rocks beside raging waters and back through the trees to the car. We took some dirt to put the trees into and then were back on our way.
We headed back to the B & B, getting KFC on the way to satisfy the craving that the Double Down could not quench. We relaxed, and blogged, and watched an episode of Lie to Me, and then rested... and blogged... can’t forget the blogging...
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