To Montreal River Harbour

Let the Twilight references begin!
I’m glad that I took highway 17 instead if highway 11 through Ontario. Although the 17 is much hillier, there are more towns and absolutely beautiful views of Lake Superior and other lakes. It’s well worth it. There are some times when I look around me while riding and just think how lucky I am to be able to do this journey.
Today was a fairly short ride because we divided the last legs if the trip to Sault Saint Marie into more manageable chunks because of a campground closure. Bryan and I only did about 77km from campground to campground.
We began by riding up a sizeable hill in Lake Superior provincial park. It wasn’t super steep, but it was quite long. Having not eaten quite enough yesterday or this morning, I was a bit low energy. I was also a bit frustrated by the long hill first thing in the morning. Eventually I reached the top and then zoomed down toward Katherine Cove. I just had to stop here, even though they spelled the name wrong. I had a snack, chatted to some travellers and dipped my feet in chilly Lake Superior. It was fantastic and exactly what I needed to re-energize myself.
A few kilometres later I met up again with Bryan, who had been waiting for me. Despite our slow pedalling, we were only 18km from the campground. There was just one giant hill in the way. I started pedalling and just kept going, wondering when the giant hill would begin (I knew it was coming because of the elevation map in my guidebook). Where was it? I kept thinking. I was going up small hills, fearing the big one. And then, all of a sudden, I saw a sign indicating a big downhill (telling trucks to gear down). That was it? That was the big hill I was scared of? That was nothing compared to the mountains.
As I approached the big downhill warning sign (which had flashing light to indicate that it meant business), it looked as if the road ended. As I crested the hill all I could see was blue sky, but then some blue water appeared and quelled my fears that I was going to fly away off the road. It was only when I started going down the hill that I was actually able to see the highway, which was a relief. I like knowing what’s coming when I’m going to hit 50kph. It was a wonderful downhill and the campground was right at the bottom. If I could get a ride back up that hill I would gladly ride down it again.
Because of the short distance, we arrived at the campground at 3:30 and had plenty of time to do things we normally don’t get to do. We ate at the small restaurant, and then I had second dinner about 45 minutes later. I took a dip in Lake Superior to cool off, and by the time I was ready for my shower my clothes were dry (swimming in a bathing suit is nice, but nothing beats wringing out wet chamois shorts). I finished my old book and traded it for a book that has 4 novels in 1. Four! I feel like I made a good trade. I cleaned my bike chain and oiled it and then read my book while overlooking the lake.
Th sunset was absolutely gorgeous and after a very hot day (28 degrees), there is a cool breeze moving in which is perfect for sleeping. I really am lucky to be on this trip.

It has occurred to me that when my phone was stolen and I did not post any blogs for a week, that I may have frightened some people. I apologize for this – I had no way of notifying everyone of the situation. In the future, should I ever go a week without posting something, I will ask someone to post the following comment on my blog, so that everyone is aware of my status:

Katharine is no longer posting blog and has discontinued her trip.
Reason: (example: got fed up with weather, bike broke down, decided it wasn’t worth it, figured 3/4 of the way was close enough, snow started early, etc.)
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Hope that works for everyone.