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
What wonderful and helpful people you are meeting. Hope the shoulder heals and you can continue on your way but make sure you do what is best for you and not what you necessarily want to do! Listen to the other half of Thedoctorswild. Take care.
I’m not sure where you got the idea that my wife is the sensible one!! Appt with Sports Injury doc tmrw, see what she says. Going to chill out and watch the sun disappear this afternoon x
Happy birthday for tomorrow Mike and hi Caz! Totey and I are catching up on your adventures. Sounds like you’ve had an awesome time and gained some great memories so far! Real bad luck with the shoulder, what ever you do now stay safe and continue to build the positive memories, ok?! 😊
Thanks Ben! It has been quite a trip, which we don’t want to end. Shoulder seems to be settling after some rest and a steroid injection, so planning on heading back out on Monday. Fingers crossed!
Hope all is well there and we get a chance to catch up once we’re home. Cas thinks you u might be planing another rowing attempt? That right?
Hugs and healing. Thunder Bay offered me that and I hope it does for you too!