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Mossfoot Rock Climbing (and showing off)







Like I need this kind of encouragement...









May 17- Day 41

The weather people were right!!!!! It's a glorious sunny morning, and I feel great! I might make it all the way to Fort Frances (well, just outside of and camp) after all!

Nevertheless I had a slow start. Drying the rain fly (damp on the inside from my humidity, I forgot to open part of the flysheet to let the tent breath), having a shower, shave, ect... and fixing the speedometer. How long it lasts this time is anyone's guess.

It'll be a shame to leave this place. This is the nicest park I've been to yet. A nice blend of facilities and nature. On Saturdays they show nature films at a mini outdoor theater (tonight they are showing The Secrets of the Panda), there is even a small nature museum here! And the real wilderness is only a short walk away.

Breakfast was tuna and mashed potatoes (not together), the guy I shared this spot with was nice enough to give me boiling water for the latter (but not ten bucks worth... grumble grumble).

Had a dream last night, which I recorded on tape as soon as I woke up. Very odd and very real. I had partial amnesia and was told I had a wife and daughter, the "wife" was laid up in bed all the time and eventually I found out the girl eventually that I was being tricked. Then there were three witches doing a rite of spring involved, but we won't go into that...

In Sioux Narrows. The winds are not with me, and occasionally against me. I'm taking a winding route south (what rotten luck, since yesterday the wind was blowing from the north and today its not) It went from sunny to cloudy, but that's okay. As long as there is no rain. I heard it should be like this until Tuesday. We'll see.

Lunch is Beefaroni and Pepsi (which was free). I only did fifty klicks so far, so I have a ways to go. My left knee area, however, is acting up again. Hopefully a rest and rearranging the bandage will help. I'll probably wait here a half hour before continuing.

Saw another deer today, and bloody worms (tent catapillers) are everywhere! It looks like fall here because so many trees have been defoliated by them.

Aside from that, however, this looks exactly like Ontario north of Port Perry.

Yuck! Did Pepsi do something to their recipe? It's worse than usual!

Bought duct tape (I was out) and some STP silicon spray. The kind I got from Canadian Tire is no good, wears off in an hour it seems.

Nestor Falls. 95k from where I started (though 2k of that is probably wasted on detours here and there). I'm resting at a bakery by a supermarket. Definitely need the rest. I want to make 150k today if possible. That should get me to the big turn in the road that leads to Fort Frances and International Falls. Since I rebandaged the knee I haven't been having any problems. It's all in the binding I guess.

I've seen a few beaver homes and even a small dam so far, but no beaver as of yet have made themselves known to me. The poplars here are still desolate from Caterpillar infestation. For some strange reason those thing really wig me out. I tried eating some GORP earlier today, and the sight of a pile of them crawling about nearly made me nauseous.

Back at Sioux Narrows about a dozen people inquired about the bike and the trip, most of them Americans on fishing or hunting trips.

Nestor Falls is another one of the typical small Ontario towns that cater not only to local, but tourist needs as well. Not so built up as to say "tourists come here", but it definitely has the resources available for them. It's also the kind of place that sells beer in the supermarket. Something of note, the local volunteer ambulance association is holding a fund raiser so they can get a defibullator. Their tourism association is looking for people to help them make a website for the town. Ahhh, progress.

Time spent cycling: 6:44:47

Distance traveled: 148.70

Total distance: 3009 km

Average Speed: 22.04 kph

Maximum speed: 55.7 kph

Current Location: Creepy Abandoned Farm Houses, 40-50k from Fort Frances

Well, this is different.

Okay, nothing significant happened after leaving Nestor Falls (the falls weren't even worth seeing, considering what I've seen up to this point).

This part of Ontario is insanely hilly. It's just up and down and up and down all the bloody time!

At 130k I spotted an abandoned farm house that overlooked a lake. Really nice. I would have stayed, but I really wanted to get 150k done today after the poor showing yesterday. At 145 I tried a couple of farm houses, but nobody was home, or nobody was answering. So at 148 I found I had a second chance, another abandoned farm area! No picturesque lake, but I did disturb two deer as I entered, and it is by a nice forest.

Problem: MOSQUITOES!!!! This, my friends, is one of the major advantages to staying at parks or in backyards. Fewer mosquitoes. If I didn't have Muskol (which is DEET, sorry environmentalists), I would have been eaten alive! As it was I was only nibbled a bit. I set up the tent quickly and put all the relevant gear inside. Everything else stayed on the bike. With that out of the way, and getting used to the mosquito presence, I decided to explore the dilapidated buildings. Not much to explore, I'm afraid. But I took some nice pictures for later.

When I got into the tent, and took off my wet pants (the grass is high and wet) I found a couple of HUGE ticks on me! They hadn't burrowed in yet, fortunately, so I quickly disposed of them.

I'm not exactly happy with my tent location. Though I'm a hundred meters or so from the road, I feel I'm too visible. Oh well. I should be fine.

So now I'm safe in my tent. I got my food, drink, book, map... everything I need. Even bear spray in case of some Blair Witch kind of creepiness. The mosquitoes are outside, and I'm inside.

There is only one problem.

They'll be out there in the morning, too.



Onto Day 42...