The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Nipigon, Canada

Today’s travels took me along the north shore of Lake Superior between Sault Ste Marie and Nipigon. It was cloudy with the occasional sunny break and rain here and there, but not heavy.

It is an absolutely stunning drive, with the many vistas somehow enhanced by the moody feel and shades of blue and grey that the clouds and fog brought into play. The road starts at lake level just north of the Soo where there are some great provincial parks and beaches, some which are fine white sand and others that are agates. The road winds back and forth, mostly staying in view of the lake but then it disappears for a time, only to reappear in grand style as you round a curve and find that you’ve climbed quite high above the lake and you’re now looking out to see nothing but lake for as far as you can see or small islands dotting huge bays.

There is not much to spoil the serenity and beauty of the lake and surrounding forests and smaller lakes, with very little in the way of population, and I often have the highway to myself. Until a huge logging truck comes barrelling down on me, that is!

The air is so clear here that you can’t help but breath deeply to soak it up at every opportunity.

I’m afraid however, that once again, I’m not able to share the vistas with you because it would mean risking life and limb. Where there were pull outs, it was without exception, raining and the pictures would not fairly represent the beauty.

I passed through some small places along the way, but I can’t show you the Wawa Canada goose, the lighthouse at Terrace Bay, the cute little B&B in Rossport or the other things that made my day interestings.

I tried something new today, in that I didn’t have a reservation to camp anywhere because Iwasn’t sure how far I would get. I did some research to see what was available in various spots and when I knew that I would make it to at least Nipigon I decided to reserve a spot at one I’d looked at on line, called Stillwater Park Campground. I promised to share the downsides with you as well as the upsides and here is where we get to “the Bad and the Ugly” part. I’m glad I only paid $30 for the night here, because it’s not worth even that. The campground is completely uninspiring with little in the way of grass and mostly sand and gravel, the washrooms are ancient (and it’s the first time I’ve run into needing a code to get into the locked washrooms) although they are as clean as is possible, it’s right next to the highway, with all the wilderness in the world around us the sites are packed in like sardines, there is a faint sewer smell which I hope I’ve managed to stop by disconnecting my grey water output, and to top it off the WIFI isn’t working – a Bell problem I’m told. So, thank heavens I’m here for only one night. I clearly need to get better at choosing RV Parks on line. I guess the price should have tipped me off. 🙂

The good news is that the sun came out full after I arrived and so I set up quickly and headed into “town”. Nipigon is not a thriving megalopolous or even thriving- it’s population is steadily declining. A mill that was sold to the workers in the early 2000’s, and for which an expansion was planned, burned to the ground. But they appeart to be trying hard to keep it vital by promoting fishing excurisons and tourism. Clearly they need to get better at their camping facilities.

There is a nice marina and park area and an interesting park highlighting a book about the region called Paddle to the Sea. The park starts in the downtown core and ends at the marina on the Nipigon River (which comes originally from Lake Nipigon and empties into Nipigon Bay on Lake Superior). It is a series of fun looking kids play areas encouraging you to walk along the pathway like the boy who paddled to the sea.

Enjoy the pics I was able to take along the way and after the sun came out in Nipigon.