Sleeping Giant Provincial Park - Canada

I'll skip the usual boring details and summarize as follows: the drive from Minneapolis is rather long.

I suppose it must've been midafternoon by the time we arrived at the park. This was probably on a Friday, having left Duluth in the morning, after driving there from Minneapolis the prior evening. We loaded up our gear and set out along the trail. The plan, and the reality, was to hike 3 to 5 km (I really can't recollect) to one of two campsites on the shore of Lake Superior. These have a South exposure, looking upon Isle Royal, if we could see past the horizon (due to curvature of the earth & whatnot, we could not).

I suppose I ought to explain just what Sleeping Giant Provincial Park is all about. The park is a sizable chunk of land on the North Shore of Lake Superior; the true Northern shore by the way, not the part that we Minnesotans call the 'North Shore'. In the province of Ontario, the park is a peninsula extending South and a bit West into the lake, thereby creating Thunder Bay. Not too far off shore from the park is a U.S. National Park - Isle Royale. The park gaines its name from the shape of its primary geographic feature - a plateau extending the length of the peninsula that from parts far off (i.e. Thunder Bay (the city) or Isle Royale) appears to be a recumbent Giant. The park has a few inland lakes and is surrounded by Lake Superior. The area is thickly wooded and home to a variety of warm & fuzzy creatures. While I'm told that maybe there are wolves & moose & deer and things, all we saw, of consequence, were porcupines.

Anyway, that first afternoon, we took a fairly short walk from the parking lot to our campsite; which was, exactly as promised, on the shore of the big lake. We setup camp quick and set about to more important tasks - like skipping rocks. I forget who exactly won that competition; maybe because we were interrupted by the dog's rather ferocious barking. Or maybe we were already done skipping rocks; its not important. What did happen though, was that the dog continued her yipping & yapping and whatnot, much to our chagrin; for after all - were we not on this trip partly to enjoy the quiet of the North Woods? After a variety of efforts to quiet her, including playtime and food, we finally discovered the source of her unrest. Not 20 meters (we're in Canada, eh?) from camp, a porcupine calmly - or that is slowly - eased itself to the ground and ambled down the trail; this with three medium-large humans following for a good photo op. Luckily Heidi is kept on a line in camp, or she surely would have acquired a snoutful of quills.

With that excitement overwith, I'll skip to the next morning.

Our first night's camp was nearly at the base of the Giant, near 'his' knees, I believe. Of course, we chose to climb the plateau prior to beginning our 'real' trip. The trail to the top disappears shortly after leaving the loop trail that follows the shoreline around the Giant. When the trail disappears, it is replaced by largish jumbled rocks - from the size of a large footstool to that of a small Volkswagen.

The dog did not like this.

I was able to coax her a good way up the hill, but as it got steeper and some of the gaps grew wider, she was less inclined to succumb to my whims. Kevin & Eric (the hiking buddies) soon outdistanced the dog and I. At roughly the halfway point (maybe 75 meters altitude gain?) she was not moving under her own power. She would just stand in one spot, her paws on 2 to 4 different rocks, shaking, scared to death. Not good. Lifting her from one spot to the next did not help. For a while I tried moving one paw at a time to help her 'learn' how to climb rocks.

I finally realized that she would be much better off on very steep dirt than on not-quite-as-steep rock so we made our way horizontally to a treed area with dirt to get off the rockslide. Once we reached the not-quite-so-rocky section, she took off like it was flat. I could not keep up - using my hands as well as feet. As we reached the cliffs near the top of the rock slide, we were forced into a ravine / chimney area, where we rejoined the 'trail'. This section was also very steep, but there was enough dirt that Heidi was quite comfortable. Near the top, there are some near-vertical sections between one and two meters high or more, that she was able to navigate without much help. Here, you can see a shot of her nearing the top, right when Eric came back to see how we were doing.

From the top, we followed the trail for a bit to some overlooks of the lake & a very faint Isle Royale through the haze. After a rest & some snacks, we turned around. Getting back down went much more quickly, since I knew the dog would make her own way on less rocky terrain. She and I bushwhacked down one side while Kevin and Eric took the rocks again.

Somehow, the climb had left us a bit drained; we were all seriously dragging ass and we were now only just getting on the trail! Ooops. The trail is fairly well marked along the shore. At times it gets a bit rugged as there are some boulder fields at cliff bases that can be traversed only by climbing the huge rocks. The toughest part, thanks mostly to our prior efforts of the climb, was crossing the Giant at 'the ankles'. This required a very steep ascent up the plateau, though not as high as our prior trip up at the knees. It seems that they have not yet heard of switchbacks in Canada.

Anyway, lucky for us, the campsite is not too far around the point. We setup camp shortly before sunset on the Western shore of the peninsula - with just enough daylight left to lay around a bit between setting up camp and making dinner.

By the time the sun was setting for good, we were reclining on the rocks, sippin' Jim Beam & Lemonade just soaking in the peace & quiet.

In the morning, we continued our way along the shore until we had circled the Giant. For our third evening's camp, we planned to hike to the saddle between the Giant and some other highlands. In the seat of the saddle, a couple hollows were full of water, which leaked down the hiking trail we were climbing. This section is, again, very steep, though very beautiful. While the trail doesn't follow the creek bed exactly, they do cross one another several times.

Upon reaching the saddle & campsites; we discovered some more wildlife: ferocious mosquitoes. In the afternoon heat & humidity the little critters were unbearable. No breeze could find its way into our hollow to ease our suffering either. Before too long, we decided to seek altitude. We filled our water bags (about two gallons each) and climb to the Giant's chest for our camp. Again, the climb was brutal - it seemed straight up (no switchbacks) plus we were carrying all the water we planned to need. At 8 lbs a gallon, this was an additional 32 gallons of weight (sorry; I can't convert to kilos). Fortunately, in horizontal distance, we didn't go much beyond a kilometer before reaching the flat & open plateau.

This decision to camp up top may have been the best one made by our group, ever. It was certainly the luckiest. After dinner & a little more Beam & lemonade (a good substitue for sour mix), we were just sitting around shootin' the bull while the sun sank towards, and beyond, the horizon. From our site, we couldn't watch the whole sunset, as trees blocked the view. But we could see a long way North and South, as thats the direction of the clearing. Well, as the light began to diminish, Kevin commented on how the Northern horizon was still light. We probably speculated on being far enough North to see polar alpenglow or something for a while, until the rest of the sky darkened while the light from the North grew. When dark fully descended, we were treated to a spectacular show of the Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights. We laid there for I don't know how long before falling asleep; mesmerized by the lights & patterns in the sky. Throughout the night I awoke to see incredible displays overtake the majority of the sky - from the Northern horizon up past verticle, the colors swirled and rippled - reminding me of reflections of sunlight off water. Truly Awesome.

In the morning, we descended to reality, the parking lot & a long drive home.

If you're thinking of going to Sleeping Giant, go. If you live in Canada, you know better than I whether you're close or not, so I won't say. If you live in the U.S. its not too bad a drive from Minneapolis or Duluth, though you have to plan for it. If you're in Northern Wisconsin or Michigan its also in pretty good proximity - cross at Sault Ste Marie. If you're thinking of visiting Isle Royale, the drive to Sleeping Giant just might be -shorter- than the ferry ride. Check it out, though I do have to recommend trips to both places.

Anyway, we had a cool time. And while I can't guarantee good weather or active Auroras, I'd say its hard to go wrong with a trip up there.