Day 59: Nipigon, ON -> Neys, ON

Date: Thursday, July 13, 2023
Start: Nipigon, ON (Nipigon Marina Campground)
End: Neys, ON (Neys Provincial Park)
Distance: 168km

Morning broke and the sun was bright.  Another good day I guessed.  I'd slept with my tent fly rolled up to try to prevent the moisture from developing on the inside of the fly....but it hadn't worked this time.  My rain fly was soaked on both sides.  So much for my theory of air flow!  It had gone down to about 6C overnight and that was well below the dew point, so I think there was no real hope.  Also, sleeping along the water meant it was likely cooler in that spot.

I packed my gear inside the tent and put the tent up to dry in the trees facing the sun, hoping I could get it to a better state before leaving.  My late starts in the morning are at least partly because I'm always trying to dry my equipment and the sun doesn't get strong enough to do so until about 9am.  I made my oatmeal and talked to Gavin and Doug, who were both up and at 'em.

Before going to sleep I'd done some research and found there weren't a lot of options for campsites in the next day.  I could either go 85km to Schreiber (less than I want in a good day) or 165km to Neys Provincial Park (which is a long day).  I'd booked a site at Neys because it had showers and that's usually enough to get me!  When I woke up I'd offered to Gavin to stay at my site in Neys.  He was hoping to go to Marathon, ON (about 200km) but said he'd think about Neys as a backup.  We snapped a picture before he left and I never thought I was going to see him again.  He was doing big distance!

At about 9am I was dried out, packed, done my mechanical work on my bike (oiled the chain and pumped the tires) and was ready to set off.

I biked into town because the grocery store was open and I was in need of crackers.  Thankfully, they had them in stock.  Way to go Nipigon!

The only available coffee was about 4km west and up a big hill on the other side of town.  I decided it wasn't worth it and started heading out.  I saw the memorial for veterans while leaving town.  In case you haven't noticed, I have a soft spot for how towns memorialize their war dead.

At the edge of town, almost at the highway, I came across a small tower/lookout.  Well...I hadn't biked all the way to Nipigon just to miss out on this view!  I stopped and climbed up.  It didn't disappoint.  The landscape was clearly very different from the Kenora->Thunder Bay section of Northern Ontario.  The trees were leafier, taller, broader.  The forests were lush.  This was definitely a different ecosystem from the boreal forest of the muskeg.

A few locals chatted me up and wished me good luck on the ride.  I jumped back on the bike and rejoined the highway.  Immediately I crossed the bridge that had been in the distance for the last day.  This is the Nipigon River Bridge.  I'd crossed it back in March when Emily and I had driven from Calgary to Montreal, but we turned immediately after it and drove across the desolate expanse of highway 11 in Northern Ontario (especially desolate in mid winter).  This time I would head straight and enjoy the shores of Lake Superior on Highway 17.

What followed was a long day of biking hills.  Kenora to Thunder Bay had been QUITE flat, and I'd had a tailwind the entire time.  In those conditions, a 150km day hadn't been very difficult.  But with hills, that turns into difficult day.  And there were a LOT of hills!  I tried taking pictures of them, but the pictures never do justice to just how much the road climbs in the distance.  For every uphill there was an almost equal downhill on the other side, but the cumulative effect is to drop your average speed by a few kilometers for the entire day.  Going uphill at 10km/h for 30 minutes and going downhill at 30km/h for 5 minutes does not average out to 20km/h!

Some of these climbs were a few kilometers long.  2-4 sometimes.  These were the most serious hills I'd encountered since British Columbia (or that one small hill in Flaxcombe, SK).  My idea of what I could do in a day was going out the window.  But the road was still following the lake, and every climb was rewarded with a beautiful view of Lake Superior.  This kind of payoff made the climbing seem worth it!

I realized pretty early on that if I wanted to make the 165km to my booking in Neys Provincial Park I had to keep moving.  I was going slower than expected, so I simply kept grinding and going.

At around 2pm I reached Schreiber, ON.  I was about 80km into the day.

I still had to double this 80km distance and I hadn't eaten lunch.  One more big climb out of Schreiber and I saw something in the distance on the shoulder of the road.  It took a while, but I eventually realized...it was Gavin!  He'd left about an hour ahead of me, and I assumed I was never going to see him again, but there he was!  I kept going and eventually caught up to him at around 100km into the day.  We stopped and chatted as we both took a break.  We were about 5km outside of Terrace Bay where I'd planned to stop for lunch.  We both decided to stop there, and biked into town.

There's a bakery/cafe in Terrace Bay that I was looking forward to checking out.  And guess what...

CLOSED ON THURSDAYS!  OF ALL THE DAYS WHY THURSDAY!?!?!  JUST MY LUCK!

Gavin rolled into town just behind me and we opted for a local restaurant.  I ate a double patty burger and poutine.  It was 4pm and I was starving.  Gavin - who keeps vegan - had a veggie burger and fries.  I felt a bit ashamed to be scarfing down meat and dairy in front of him...but was also starving.  We chatted and ate and drank a lot of water over the next hour.  At almost 5pm we decided to set out.  Gavin was thinking that Neys would be a good place to stop as the hills were punishing and we were both feeling tired.  Another 87km into Marathon would have been too long a day.

We rode separately.  We were going slightly different speeds and were both used to riding alone.  I pushed over more and more hills.  But again, the views were worth it.  The craggy shoreline was rock and trees.  It was really picturesque.

At the top of one of the last major hills for the day there was a pull off.  A family had stopped their van at the top for a break, and when they saw me hoofing it up there they walked a bottle of water out to the side of the road and gave it to me.  I stopped and talked with them while I drank it.  They were from Saskatchewan and were driving to the Niagara region.  They'd passed me along the way and thought I could use a drink.  I'd had lots of water with lunch, but it was a warm day and the hills were difficult, so I didn't turn it down.  They offered me more water and even food, but I was good.  I was very thankful for their kindness and generosity however!

And that's how I met Jerry, Tammy, and their family!  I hope you folks made it to Niagara safely!  Thank you again for the water!!!!

Eventually, after almost 3.5 hours from Terrace Bay, I reached Neys Provincial Park.  I rode in, registered, and found my tenting site.  As I'd ridden towards the park on the highway I'd passed through these pockets of WILDLY cold air.  The closer I got to the water the colder it became, and I eventually put my jacket on.  The air was humid, and now the cold air made it damp and almost sticky.  I didn't realize it but I was chilled to the bone!

I found the tenting site and setup.  Not long after I arrived, Gavin rolled in.  He'd wanted to push to Marathon but also decided it was getting too late and 168km on those hills was enough!  I went down to the beach that Neys Provincial Park sits on and admired the sunset.  It was a truly spectacular piece of nature.

I went back to the tenting site and made my instant mashed potatoes.  Now with my sweater on, I hugged my bowl of warm potatoes trying to pull the heat off of it.  At this point it was getting darker.  Someone nearby leaned around the trees and said "How far are you going?"  Gavin had gone for a shower and I explained that we'd only met the day before and answered the usual questions about our trip.  And then this person said we were invited for coffee the next morning.  Neys Provincial Park has a single cabin that can be rented and it was just across from our tenting site.  She was one of the people in the cabin.  When Gavin came back I was about to explain we'd been invited for coffee in the morning...when the person came back and said "You guys look cold.  Come over to the cabin.  We'll make you tea and you can warm up!"

We didn't even blink, we immediately went over.

And that's how I met Colleen and John.

No pictures of this part because I forgot to take any...but you'll see them tomorrow!

Colleen and John had been coming to Neys Provincial Park for decades.  They were really familiar with the area and told us all about it.  I'd outed Gavin as a vegan and they immediately started pulling out food for him to eat (fruit and nuts).  I opted for a warm cup of tea and Colleen gave me a blanket because I looked cold.

It turns out Colleen and John had done a bike trip earlier this year and just knew what we were going through.  Again, bike touring people abound and they help one another out.  I - or I should say "we" to refer to Gavin and I - were once again the receivers of some kindness and generosity from the wonderful people that live all over this great country.

We talked with Colleen and John for hours.  Eventually it was dark and we needed to get to bed.  They let us store our food in their car to keep it away from bears, and we said goodnight.  I went and showered and was astounded at how I felt both warm and dry.  Without Colleen and John it would have been a long, damp, cold night.

This had been a really difficult day.  Probably one of the most difficult since B.C.  But the views of Lake Superior were fantastic.  The beach at Neys was stunning, and the sunset was singular and entirely worth the fight over the hills.  And best of all, I'd made new friends with Gavin and then Colleen and John.  The real adventure is the friends we make along the way, and it was a great day of adventure!