SPF 100: 2015 Big Truck around Lake Superior, Day 3

Day 3 started with us retracing our route north past Bathtub Island, headed into Wawa on another recommendation from Dallas, the Embassy diner/bar for breakfast. Since we've never been to Wawa, we had no idea what we were in for, and with no phone/internet we couldn't do our customary research on the way. This is the gem we sought.

Once we got into town, it was pretty apparent that we would be able to find it. The one main drag had a couple of restaurants, and there right in front of our face was the Embassy. We took no pictures out of respect (and fear) for the locals, but this was exactly what you'd expect a Canadian diner to be when there is no real town for a couple hundred kilometres in any direction. The breakfast food was amazing, and when we told the waitress that we had come on a recommendation from a couple of bikers from southwest Michigan, they were ecstatic. We now have to pass on that recommendation, so someone go to Wawa, get the home fries with onions, and tell them it was recommended by some ginger.

On to Pukaskwa. We had about 2-2.5 hrs of driving, all winding 2 lane with a 90km/hr speed limit. Lots of curves and hills, but fairly easy driving as the scenery is incredible. As we got close to Pukaskwa, we felt like we were finally leaving all of modern civilization. There is one road that leads to the park, and once it crosses the Pic River, you are met with a sign that says 'Highway Ends'. First, how is this a highway? Second, this is before you see any signs for the National Park. After a moment of panicked suspense, we saw the welcome sign and worked our way into the park. This gives you and idea of the location - we came in at the northern point.

Once we made it in (one more piece of evidence that to be a Canadian park ranger, you must be a female under the age of 19), it was a bit of a scramble to grab a campsite. It is first come, first serve and even as polite as everyone is up here, I can't imagine the rage and uppercuts that would fly if I drove all the way up here to find out all the sites were taken. There literally is no other destination.

Next up - visitors centre.

The centre itself is quite small, and is essentially a lounge with free wifi for campers/hikers. We thought that was cool - our first contact with the outside world in a few days. Then we walked out on the back deck and saw this.

There was an eerie sort of mist covering enough of the sights in the distance to conjure up images of the moor from the Baskervilles.

We decided to do a few of the short hikes from the campground, but before we got started, I was confronted with this sign. So many jokes. Canadian icon designers must be far more mature than I.

We started on the Southern Headlands trail, and immediately got into some of Jordan's favourite terrain.

The mist effectively blocked most of the scenery beyond about a hundred metres, but in this pic you can somewhat make out how odd it was when we came across these chairs bolted into the granite atop one of the major rock formations.

Later we found out that this was part of a social media promotion for the park, asking people to post pics with a #sharethechair hashtag. Either way, I wish they would #sharetheplans for those chairs because they were ridiculously comfortable.

After a few more twists and turns we came up to an overlook. Here's a few shots, very surreal atmosphere with some crazy colour contrasts against the black granite.

As has become customary on these trips, we try to shoehorn my huge noggin into a family selfie, and then we all break out into the 'HEEEED' jokes from So I Married an Axe Murderer. Who am I to ruin a tradition, so here's the family selfie...

And here's the reference, complete with Mike Meyers' one Scottish accent which he has parlayed into about 15 characters (If It's Not Scottish It's Crap, Shrek, Fat Bastard, etc to name a few).

We looped back toward the campsite, and since Jordan was fading, we decided to split and I'd do the rest of the trails on my own. Probably for the best, as I soon found out what we had suspected from the previous few days. Canadian hiking trails are the best - no unnecessary railings, lawyered-up warning signs, or barriers at every sight worth seeing. I'll throw out a few of the best images, but those 4-5 kilometres contained enough sights for days worth of hikes.

I was hoofing it trying to get back in time for the campfire & movie night (A Night at the Museum part 7 or whatever sequel is the latest). By the time I got back, with the mist & humidity, this was me.