Day 108 – July 20

We were on the road by 9:00 having had a mosquito free night. On leaving we noticed a sculpture on the top of a post in the parking lot that depicted some outsized mosquito armed with a knife and fork carrying some forlorn looking camper off towards the woods. Should have paid more attention when we drove in.

About 30 minutes down the road we passed through another time zone. We were now on Eastern Standard Time, now only one hour off of time at home. I loved time zones when we were going west, less so now that we are focused on heading east and loose an hour of travelling time as we cross into each zone.

We stopped at a sign pointing to Kakakea Falls. There was a sign as you entered the parking lot that said all cars must have a permit posted and a group of visitors were cued up at a pay and display machine. As I could hear the waterfall loudly from the parking lot I walked to the edge of the lot to a viewing platform to see a very impressive waterfall of maple syrup coloured water. I walked to the the still busy machine to see what the cost was and was shocked to see that it was $5.25 for 2 hours. Really? I parked in downtown Winnipeg for $1 an hour. I fully support user pay fees but feel that they have to reflect the costs of maintaining the related infrastructure. All I could see here was a short boardwalk and two viewing platforms, a 2 minute stop. As striking as the falls were, Ontario hadn’t created nor were they maintaining them. At $5.25 for 2 hours I felt like I had just been to a Mother Nature peep show sponsored by the Government of Ontario.

Kakakea Falls

One more peek

Undeterred by this provincially sponsored highway robbery further on we turned on to the road to Ouimet Canyon, a spot that had been recommended to us. It was a 45 minute loop walk with two viewing platforms into the Canyon. The site was accessible and had an extensive ramp system leading to a bridge. A lot of expensive infrastructure. Admission was $2/person – a fair price. The canyon itself was a striking and unique geologic formation but frankly after the Grand, Bryce, Zion Canyon triumvirate of May and the Rockies of this month it is hard to be impressed by canyons and geology any more.

Ouimet Gorge

Our progress was slow again. Today the semi traffic was heavy and with the hilly terrain and lack of passing lanes the semis were either holding up traffic while they laboured up hill or breathing down our collar as they rocketed downhill. We had hoped to make it to outside Marathon for the night and found a really nice municipally owned site on Penn Lake right in Marathon with full services, including cable, Internet, and free showers. The facilities were well maintained, in almost new condition, a very impressive park.