Anyone following the tracker over the last few days will see that we’ve made it to Thunder Bay, but not by boat. After the exertions of the Grand Portage my shoulder injury got significantly worse, leaving me unable to paddle. Pain throughout the night means neither of us are sleeping either, though we have at least managed to find and patch the holes in our mattress. So, with a heavy heart, we made plans to miss paddling the first part of the lake and get ourselves and our kit to Thunder Bay whilst we rest and see what we can do. Of course, being in the US, in a tiny town with no car hire or taxi, and a border between us and our destination, made things a little tricky.
High Falls, Pigeon River
We have to thank many people for their efforts in getting us here (see below), but not least John Walker, of the National Parks Service who volunteers at the Grand Portage Museum dressed as a Voyageur. On hearing of our trip, and our plight, he offered to drive us the 50 miles to Thunder Bay, and hung around until we had been to the clinic and sorted a hire car to go back and get our boat. He even bought us lunch. Our land border crossing back into Canada took a little explaining, having never really officially left, but went pretty smoothly. And the subsequent trip back to Grand Portage to get the boat and our gear also went fine and gave us a chance to go and look at the stunning High Falls on the Pigeon River, Cas finally admitting that it was a good idea not to try and paddle it. Once back in Thunder Bay we headed to the home of Joan Halonen, the mother of a friend of Jess’s, who saw our plight via Facebook. Having been delighted to avoid social media for so long on this trip, we are now grateful for it. Joan fed us and provided us with a bed for the night, before taking us down to her cabin on the shores of Lake Superior where we are now staying. It’s a pretty good place to rest up and fill myself with anti-inflammatories, whilst Cas is taking pleasure in strapping the shoulder, excited about the prospect of removing the tape along with any unfortunate hairs…
The closest we’re going to get to Lake Superior for a few days
Thanks goes to:
- US and Canadian Border Services
- John Walker
- Jess & Jake
- Mikey Parsons and Westly
- The wonderful Joan!
- Adam (sometimes not so) Useless