Circling the U.S. Chapter 19: Ontario - Tobermory and Manitoulin Island

Saturday, July 6 - Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Riding along the Lake Huron shore north of Kincardine, Ontario on Saturday, July 6. It was bizarre to see such a large body of water, where you couldn't see land, and know that it wasn't the ocean. No salt, no tides, but still some serious waves.

July 7 was our first day riding over 70 miles, with Rob wanting to make a push up the Bruce Peninsula to Tobermory, where we would catch the ferry to Manitoulin Island. The first forty miles were very pleasant, riding back roads along the shore of Lake Huron north of Sauble Beach. Following are some pictures from that part of the world.

We stopped for lunch at Lion's Head.

You are supposed to be able to see a lion's head in the rock formation off in the distance. Rob thought he could see it and tried to explain it to me, but I was hopeless.

Then we had a 30 mile stretch of nothing on a busy highway, no snack bars, no gas stations, no rest areas. After about 20 miles I needed a break, to get off the bike, get a snack.

Sometimes you just have to make do. We pulled onto a side road and found the smallest piece of shade. But we were happy for that little bit.

We arrived in Tobermory around five o'clock and headed directly to the grocery store. As we were locking our bikes, a young woman with a Canadian Parks badge introduced herself as our Warm Showers host for the night.

Rob offered to cook salmon for dinner. We enjoyed having the opportunity to turn the table around and do the cooking for our Warm Showers host for a change. After picking up what we needed, we cycled the four miles to Carolyn's cottage.

Carolyn spends the summer months living in her parents' cottage on Lake Huron while working for Parks Canada leading hikes and doing educational programming. A dedicated bicycle tourist herself, she welcomes other cyclists who stay in a small bunkhouse behind the cottage. When we arrived one of the first things she said was, "You can stay two nights if you'd like." Rob and I looked at each other. We'd been impressed with the town of Tobermory. It looked like a fun place to explore. Carolyn's cottage had a deck sitting directly on the shore of the lake. We hadn't had a full day off in quite a while and we'd just ridden 70 miles.

As we were bringing our panniers into the bunkhouse, I said, "I think we should stay. What do you think?"

Rob said, "I agree."

We spent most of our time in Tobermory sitting out on Carolyn's deck overlooking Lake Huron.

The Chi-Cheemaun Ferry runs between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island a couple times a day. We watched it go by from Carolyn's deck.

We also saw a couple pretty good sunsets.

We spent Monday morning relaxing on Carolyn's deck. Then we rode into Tobermory to explore and find the free internet on a deck outside a coffee shop. We walked around the small tourist town. Then another visit to the grocery store. Rob had a hankering for spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner. Again, Carolyn joined us. It was really fun getting to know someone our own children's age, who really has her act together.

We had fish and chips for lunch with a view of the harbor.

The Tobermory harbor with the town in the background. 

Tobermory is definitely a tourist town, with a national park next door, the ferry to Manitoulin Island, and a number of tourist cruise options. Rob and I were surprised to discover that the Great Lakes are home to many shipwrecks; you can see a number of them from glass bottom boats here. Boats also take you to various islands where you can see some great rock formations. None of that struck our fancy. We were happy to just hang out and relax.

We took the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry to Manitoulin Island on Tuesday, July 9, around 11:30. It took an hour and a half and cost approximately $34 (American) for both of us and our bikes.

 

From the ferry we could see Carolyn's cottage. It's the one with the yellow kayak.

Disembarking in South Baymouth.

Tuesday, July 9, After taking the ferry, we were on the road by 1:45. Starting after all the cars had left we had the road to ourselves for several miles. Then it was quiet country roads for 30 miles before we found a reasonably priced private campground.

Canadian for "Merge."

Lots of hay bales and one happy bicyclist.

We didn't ride around the entire Manitoulin Island, just enough to give us the flavor of it. On Wednesday, July 10, we checked each other’s calculations and agreed we had a 50 mile day ahead of us to get to our Warm Showers host in Little Current. We woke up to everything wet from the dew so we decided not to hurry and give everything a chance to dry out, only getting on the road at 8:30. We miscalculated the mileage and didn't take into account the fun things we would find along the way, a flat tire, and a detour. It was a long day with a delightful ending.

We spent the morning riding along quiet roads with a gentle breeze and open vistas overlooking fields of hay, cows, farm houses, and barns in various stages of falling down.

We were intrigued by these rock formations by the side of the road. Bill, our Warm Showers host, told us that the prevalence of limestone made the land terrific for cattle grazing, with its natural supply of calcium. Cattle would be shipped to farms here for their last six months before going to market. That was before calcium was artificially added to their diets.

We kept up a good pace on mostly flat roads. When we saw a sign for Split Rail Brewing Rob was keen to check it out. (He lives by the motto that it's always five o'clock somewhere.) We took the short detour into the small town of Gore Bay, population 900, situated on the North Channel of Lake Huron. A walk through town, a grocery stop, lunch in a park on the water, a flat tire, a browse through some art galleries, and beer ate up three hours so we only left town at two o'clock.

We still had at least 30 more miles, miles we expected to fly by just like the morning. But after only a few had passed we had to stop for a swim under a waterfall and ice cream.

We were able to not only go under the waterfall but get behind it as well. The water was not extremely cold but very refreshing and the view through the water was like looking through a distorted curtain. (By the way, if you're wondering about that bump on the upper right side of Rob's chest, it's his pace maker.)

Bridal Veil Falls from above.

Then we hit road construction. When we were stopped at a dirt section that would go on for five miles, the woman holding the sign told us about a detour that would take us directly to the new pavement. It didn't. But her detour was lovely. When we got back to the main road we had a steep hill to climb that was still dirt. There was no way we could ride up that. We'd have to push our bikes. Cars were stopped waiting their turn. I knocked on the window of a pickup truck with an empty bed. The driver rolled down his window and I said, "Could you possibly give us a ride up the hill? There's no way we can ride up it."

He said, "Sure," and pulled off the road. He was a young father with his two sons in the truck. He'd taken them swimming at the falls. He drove us a few miles to where the pavement was new.

But we weren't done yet. The quiet, flat riding was gone and we had a headwind, hills, and traffic. Fifteen more miles and it seemed like we would never get to our Warm Showers destination. Each hill I thought would be the last and it wasn't. I don't know about Rob but I was doing a lot of swearing.

Bill, our Warm Showers host, had an interesting profile, listing bike rides I'd never heard of. His profile said meals weren't provided but in our emails he said he'd figure something out and that we'd be sleeping in our own cottage. There was no mention of a wife, so I was expecting a solitary bachelor. When we finally arrived after seven o'clock we were surprised to find an entire family hanging out at a waterfront cottage, waiting dinner for us.

Bill is a native of the island. His parents ran a small resort with a dozen or so cottages. Bill and his wife own two of them. They use one as a summer getaway and Bill has been fixing up the other one for guests. It was still in a state of partial disrepair, but we were happy for a comfortable bed and the hospitality that Bill and his wife Patty showered on us.

After we cleaned up we went back to where the family was hanging out and had a beer while Bill's daughter's boyfriend grilled dinner. We learned that Bill is not a conventional bicycle tourist. He does these crazy long bike rides that you have to complete in a certain amount of time, including however much sleep you happen to grab. Look up Paris-Brest--Paris to get an idea of what he does. It's a 1200 km ride that you have to finish in 90 hours. No wonder neither of his daughters, nor his wife, is interested in bicycling with him.

The only reasonably normal riding Bill has done is the Iowa RAGBRAI, eleven times. Or maybe it's twelve.

After dinner of barbecued shrimp, steak, zucchini, and potatoes, which was all incredibly delicious, Bill gave us a tour of the property including the main house where he grew up and the other cottages owned by his many siblings. There's a pump house where water gets pumped up to the cottages from the lake - not safe for drinking - and a dock that is no longer used by guests or family. The children who ran from cottage to cottage visiting aunt, uncles, and cousins are all grown and dispersed. One brother lives in the main house full time and others come and go.

In the morning Bill and Patty fixed us breakfast of bacon and eggs. It was hard to pull ourselves away from their many fun stories.

We got a late start so we skipped riding through the town of Little Current. But after crossing the bridge to the mainland we had to stop when we heard the bells ringing for the bridge to open. It opens every hour on the hour during the day.

Bill had given us a description of the hills we could expect along our way after crossing the bridge to the mainland. He was spot on in his assessment of the biggest hill which Rob and I agreed was our toughest so far. But the hills weren't the problem.

After posting this I received the following from a friend: 

Many years ago, I spent a stormy weekend in Tobermory harbor with friends on their sailboat. When the weather cleared, we sailed around Lake Huron for a few days, then they dropped us off on Manitoulin Island and we took the ferry back to our car in Tobermory. It was a lovely trip. My favorite memory was when we anchored in a cove at a small, unpopulated island for the night. Someone on the only other boat there played “Edelweiss” on a recorder or some such and the notes wafted across the still night. It was beautiful.

 

From the Travel Log:

Day 30: Saturday, July 6, 2019       52 miles to Sauble Beach, ON

The biggest challenge today was leaving our new friends, Jan and Rob. Reluctant as we were to turn down their offer of a second night in their beautiful home with their delightful company, the road was calling to us. With a late start and some headwiind, we still managed 52 miles to a private campground. $60 Canadian, not including taxes and one loony ($1) each for showers. Camping is not cheap in Ontario. But this place was much nicer than the $84 one we stayed at a week ago.. While we were getting set up our neighbor came over to offer us a beer. People are wonderful!

 

Day 31: Sunday, July 7, 2019    71 miles to Tobermory, ON

Rob had a bee in his bonnet and wanted to push for a long day. One month on the road and Rob is riding stronger than I've seen him ride since he was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in 2011. The first 40 miles were very pleasant on back roads with a couple stops along the shores of Lake Huron. Then a 30 mile haul on the highway, with a bumpy shoulder, lots of traffic, and enough climbing to keep us honest.

 

Day 32: Monday, July 8, 2019     A day off in Tobermory, ON

We feel like we are leaving one paradise for another. Our Warm Showers host in Tobermory is young woman who works for the Canadian park service (there's a national park nearby) and is staying in her parents' summer cottage on the lake. When she offered to let us stay and extra night, Rob and I didn't even need to discuss it. We'd been riding 11 days in a row, 140 miles in the last 3 days. We're taking today off, sleeping in, getting caught up with trip planning, wandering around the picturesque town of Tobermory.

 

Day 33: Tuesday, July 9, 2019   33 miles to Spring Bay, ON

Spent the morning doing some writing in Tobermory then boarded the ferry for Manitoulin Island. A fairly short ride of an hour and a half. We were on the road at 1:45, starting after all the cars had left so the road was empty. Riding quiet country roads, staying in a private campground tonight that cost a reasonable $30.

 

Day 34: Wednesday, July 10, 2019    65 miles to Little Current, ON

Warm Showers with Bill

We checked each other’s calculations and agreed we had a 50 mile day ahead of us. We were wrong.

Manitoulin Island is a sparsely populated island in the northern part of Lake Huron. We spent the morning riding along quiet roads with a gentle breeze and open vistas overlooking fields of hay, cows, farm houses, and barns in various stages of decay. We kept up a good pace on mostly flat roads. When we saw a sign for Split Rail Brewing we decided it was worth the detour into the small town of Gore Bay, population 900, situated on the North Channel of Lake Huron. A walk through town, a grocery stop, lunch, a flat tire, and beer ate up three hours so we only left town at two o'clock.

We were counting on 30 more easy miles, just like the morning. But we had to stop for a swim under a waterfall and ice cream. Then road construction, but that was okay because the unofficial detour was lovely. Until we got back to the main road which was all dug up and dirt on a steep uphill. For the second time this trip a nice man in a pickup truck rescued us. Then a headwind, hills, and 15 more miles than we had planned on. The last few hills caught a lot of swearing.

The day ended with a beer, wonderful Warm Showers hosts, dinner of barbecued shrimp, steak, zucchini and potatoes, and a beautiful place to stay in our own private cottage overlooking the water.