After a really good sleep at Janet’s and a lovely cup of coffee, Buster and I hit the road around 8:30 am. Of course I left his water and food bowls behind but they are easy enough to replace.
I had read that outside of Nipigon are some amazing amethyst deposits so when I saw the sign for the Panorama Amethyst Mine I had to check it out. After a longish, windy, steep and mostly gravel road lined with some pretty amusing signs (I guess they didn’t want you to get discouraged) we finally arrived at the Panorama Mine. We were welcomed with a story about how the deposits were originally found: it seems that a group of forest rangers were dragging machinery back into the bush to build a fire tower when they scraped off a layer of rock to reveal a seam of amethyst crystals. They noted it but then did nothing about it for another 20-30 years. At that point (around 1980) the family that currently owns the Panorama mine staked a claim and have been mining the seams since. We were then given the basics about how the amethyst crystals form (something about earthquakes and splits in the limestone). Then we were told to wander out and see if we could find some rocks that we liked. We brought back what we found, had it weighed and paid $3 a pound. I got a couple of really cool rocks. Buster was not as impressed as I was.
As we left the mine we spotted a baby black bear strolling off into the bush. By the time I got my camera out he was turning into a black speck. I hope you can make him out in the shot.
Further down the road I spotted a unique lawn mower.
Back onto the Trans-Canada we headed for the Terry Fox memorial. Bus enjoyed that a bit more than the mine. And it was there that we spotted the requisite rabbit. Is there a Wonderland connection here?
We didn’t stop in Thunder Bay but carried right on to Kakebeka Falls. I got some new dishes for Buster in the town then headed for the Kakebeka Falls Provincial Park. The falls were incredible! The power of that water is breath-taking. If you are ever out this way you really have to check out these falls. I had noticed a couple of places along the Trans-Canada between Wawa and Nipigon where there were a few ice patches on the rock cuts on the south side of the road (where they didn’t get the sun). There was a patch of ice in the rock by the falls as well. And who did I run into there but the English couple that I had met at White River. I wouldn’t be surprised if we run into each other again along the way.
And now it is 9:20 pm. The sun is still quite high in the sky and I have set up the tent at Aaron Provincial Park near Dryden. Let’s pray it doesn’t rain tonight. (I just heard a pileated woodpecker).
It was breath-taking when the sun finally set.