Summer 2013 days 2 and 3

Yesterday I rode from Val D'Or to Kapuskasing, I started off at about 8:00 under cloudy skies and light showers and ended up 472 K later under a hot mid-afternoon sun.  The trip was uneventful, trees, more trees, the occasional lake and headframe. There is hoever something amazingly beautiful to the millions of wildflowers that line the highway up here. There are long ribbons of ornage, whitê and blue; and sometimes they're all jumbled together like in an impressionists painting. 




In Kirkland Lake I visited a monument to miners who died underground in what was one of the most dangerous occupations many years ago.  One has to remind oneself that the northern part of Ontario is still a huge centre for forestry and mining and that many earn their livelyhood in these two sectors, and in relaed industries and businesses.

This morning, after an unimpressive continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn, I hit the road in terra incognita, a part of Ontario I had been wanting to see forever,for my next destination, Nipigon. While much of the day's ride was unimpressive, the last 80 K from Beardmore to Kenora more than made up for it. For many kilometres Highway 11 runs along a series of craggy rockfaces that tower above the road, a sometimes narrow strip of level ground between the base of the cliffs and the sparkling lakes on the right. It's hard to keep your eyes on the road when such wondrous sights are all around you. I arrived at the Birchville Motel, a small establishment on the outskirts of Nipigon in late afternoon, and after unpacking and checking in with home base I had dinner, fresh pickerel, at the Esso station restaurant,

This morning, after an unimpressive continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn, I hit the road in terra incognita, a part of Ontario I had been wanting to see forever,for my next destination, Nipigon. While much of the day's ride was unimpressive, the last 80 K from Beardmore to Kenora more than made up for it. For many kilometres Highway 11 runs along a series of craggy rockfaces that tower above the road, a sometimes narrow strip of level ground between the base of the cliffs and the sparkling lakes on the right. It's hard to keep your eyes on the road when such wondrous sights are all around you. I arrived at the Birchville Motel, a small establishment on the outskirts of Nipigon in late afternoon, and after unpacking and checking in with home base I had dinner, fresh pickerel, at the Esso station restaurant,