Hiking (with family)

We are surrounded by beautiful nature and I am so grateful for the opportunities to explore and enjoy it. 

One way to immerse myself is through day-hikes and in the past week (this was written on Aug 16, but I forgot to post it) I’ve gone on a few different hikes. The James Duncan Trail is south of a Thunder Bay, about an hour by car to the trailhead and since I needed to go to the border anyway for the bumper parts for my truck, it seemed the perfect day to hike the trail. My wife and son and our daughter who is visiting us from Toronto all came: we left a vehicle at one end of the trail and my truck at the other end and hiked the steep, rugged, rocky trail replete with blueberry, raspberry, and Saskatoon berry bushes along the route. 

The hike was a bit marred by somebody stepping into a ground hornet nest which resulted in several of us getting stung, me six times in the legs.  Ouch!

A few days later we visited the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. It is directly across the bay from our home so is easy to get to; by boat in the summer or we can ski across the ice in the winter. Or drive around the end of the bay to access the many trails there.  

This time we took the motorboat to a small bay at the base of the “head” of the giant. Sawyer Bay is about 20 Km away across the water from me. There is a dock where you can tie up, and the trail is easy to access. On this map, the trail is just a bit wast of south of our home, the blue flag indicates bay. I’m the blue arrow at the top of the map.

A close up shows our location once we’ve made it to the top of the mountain.

Here’s a map of the trails:

The boat ride was fun, the climb was beautiful and the views were spectacular. Eight of us went (in two boats) and as we were climbing we met at least ten others on the trail, some had hiked in and camped at by the shore of the bay at the base of the trail after hiking in and others had come from Thunder Bay by sailboat and had moored in the bay over night. 

 

This has sections that were quite steep. First, a walk around the bay to the base of the climb. Then 338 meters of ascent to see the view.

We had lunch on top of the mountain and headed back home. Immersing myself in my natural surroundings, together with family, is a great way to experience life!