Geography

Day 63. Espanola to Tobermory. 79 miles. 3842 miles TTD. 3900 FT elevation. Weather warm and humid with a little headwind.

My day started very early because of a little anxiety about making the ferry, which I had a ticket for at 3:30. After leaving the motel at 6:30, I stopped at a gas station to get supplies for the day. As I was loading them onto my bike, the store attendant came out and said it’s going to be very hot today. He then handed me a bottle of water. I kid you not! This is Canada. My next stop was A&W, as I haven’t been to one for weeks, and I am going through some withdrawals. They serve breakfast, which is about the same as all other fast-food breakfasts, but I just needed to stop at A&W.

I had somehow concluded that riding between Espanola and the ferry terminal at South Baymouth would be relatively level, as it was near the water. This conclusion was very erroneous. In fact, I encountered an elevation that was almost approaching BC levels. Again, it was rolling hills. There are many rolling hills. The whole area was beautiful, and I never really knew if I was on an island, next to a lake, or on the shores of Lake Huron, as it was constantly changing.

Regardless of my location, it was beautiful. There is an abundance of rock, which I always enjoy, and lush green forest, all mixed with extensive lakes and rivers. I checked my data from my previous post about Lake Huron, and yes, there are 30,000 islands.

One of the islands I rode onto was Manitoulin. This is the largest inland island in the world. Again, thinking that things would be relatively flat, I headed out of town only to be confronted with a hill that was too steep to even think about pedaling up. At the top, there was a beautiful view over the island after pushing my bike up the hill.

Fortunately, I arrived an hour and a half before the ferry was to depart. It gave me enough time to sit down at a nearby restaurant and have a local favorite, fish and chips. It feels like an ocean, and with fish and chips as a typical restaurant offering, it tastes like one.

Bikes always get to be first on and first off when it comes to fairies. I tried to engage with this other biker, even though he was pulling a dog. I’m not a dog hater, but I find it shocking that people would pull a dog for a 3-month bike trip, as he described. He and his girlfriend/wife(?) are from Quebec City. Interestingly, he only had the trailer/dog, and she was loaded down with all the gear. Again, I’m starting to get nervous about communicating in Quebec because he barely spoke any English.

The ferry ride was beautiful and a very pleasant 2 hours of relaxation. I even fell asleep briefly on one of the deck chairs. Then I just had a few kilometers to my motel in Tobermory. This part of the country is so completely different; it’s amazing to see the variety and differences each day.

Tomorrow I continue south down the Bruce Peninsula towards Toronto. I’m now further south in Canada than I was north in Michigan.