We are back from an absolutely excellent trip with Joanna to
Canada. As mentioned before, we were about 30 miles north of Thessalon, Canada
at a lodge called Linberlost.
This is in the Province of Ontario, which has a population
density of about 14 people per square kilometer. Ingham County, where we live,
has a population density of about 194 per square kilometer. Michigan as a whole
has a population density of about 68 people per kilometer, about five times
that of Ontario. Guess which one I like best.
With a lower population density comes a level of comfort and
trust. Except for maybe Trump. He scares them as much as he scares me. Our closest
source of gasoline was a trading post about six miles from the lodge. The owner
was a Canadian, and a Pittsburg Steelers fan, so you know he had to be a good
guy. You pulled up to the gas tank, pumped your gas, then went inside and told
them what the pump read. They didn’t bother going out to check the numbers,
just took you at your word. That’s not something you would see around here. They
also had live bait, camping supplies, booze, and great ice cream, but no
scrapple. We would hike to a lake to find that someone, probably local lodge
owners, had portaged a canoe to the lake. There would be a canoe with paddles and
PFDs just sitting there for anyone’s use.
Everybody was just friendly. We had people in a neighboring
cabin bring us freshly caught lake trout they fried up. Still hot, and
delicious. Buddy, the resident yellow Labrador, adopted us. He would wander up
to the door and bark through the screen door so we would come out to pet him.
The owner gave us some dog biscuits and Buddy figured out quickly there was
always two biscuits involved when I came out to play. One palmed in my hand and
the other in my pocket. He would get the one from my hand before it hit the
deck and then start sniffing the pocket while looking up expectantly. When you
stopped petting him he would nudge your hand. I’m betting he’s in seventh
heaven when the place fills up with kids in a few weeks.
My buddy Buddy. (Joanna Mitchell)
It’s a rugged country with great scenery, open spaces, and
lots of rivers and lakes. No waiting until 8:00 for a county park to open. I’m
not quite sure of property ownership patterns. Maybe a lot of this was Crown
lands. Nowhere did we see a No Trespassing sign. All told, this was pretty close
to heaven. Hiking, boating, botanizing, birding and odonating, photography, and
just hanging out with friends. No election news for ten days. Life can’t get
much better than that.
Owner. Don’t know what he owns, but there is an owner.
Ed kayaking near some cliffs.
(Joanna Mitchell)
Lise on a lake we had all to ourselves.
(Joanna Mitchell)
Mississagi River
Mississagi River
monochrome.
Another Mississagi River
monochrome
The trail to Aubrey Falls.
Rapid River.
Ed doing his thing.
(Joanna Mitchell)
Lise checking out the view.
(Joanna Mitchell)
Chalk-fronted corporal – immature.
American emerald.
Aurora damselfly.
Frosted whiteface.
Forestland trail at Limberlost Lodge.
Wildflowers on the Forestland Trail.
Opening ferns on the Forestland Trail.
Last light at Limberlost Lodge.
Eastern forktail.
Dusky clubtail.
Unknown bluet. Need to kill it to ID it under a microscope.
Unknown plant.
One downside of the lower population density is that the
insects had fewer victims to choose from. Anything with a pulse became a
target. We got used to seeing everything through a black mesh. What was
embarrassing was forgetting you were wearing a bug net when you tried to take a
drink or eat a snack. It says something when the store in Thessalon had a whole
section dedicated to various bug net outfits. I think bug nets serve as
lingerie in Ontario.
The long black veil.
This says it all. The problem is, if you had a heartbeat you fed the blackflies.
The smudges are bugs on my lens.
We did have some fun, at Canada’s expense, trying to figure
out the logic for their signage. Or lack of signage in some cases. There is
definitely a different view of liability in Canada. Cliffs and drop offs that
would be completely fenced off in the U.S. are totally open in Canada. I guess
the logic is something like, if you’re dumb enough to fall off this cliff we
don’t really want you around breeding anyway. Some of the road signs in
particular gave us no end of merriment.
This rope with a little piece of flagging served as a guard rail.
The drop off if the rope didn’t stop you.
The no canoeing sign and the trail the no canoeing sign was located on. Whatever you do, do not go canoeing down this
trail.
Proud of their food. In all fairness they were near the Aubrey Dam.
The B2 stealth bomber ahead ahead sign.
The beware of polka dots sign.
The truck hitting something sign.
The slow down for bowlers sign.
Isn’t seasonal heaving when you throw up at the Christmas
party?
Getting into the Canada at Sault St. Marie was pretty easy. The
guard was literally nodding off when we pulled up to his post. He asked a
couple questions and sent us on our merry way. Getting into the U.S. was a different
story. Traffic was backed up on the bridge. There were four gates to go through
and the line I picked moved the slowest. We could see the guard checking
people’s papers, checking things on a computer, examining the cars…. He took
about five minutes per vehicle. When we finally got up to him we handed him our
passports and the conversation went like this;
Guard: Nationality?
Ed: U.S.
Guard: Where do you live?
Ed: Down by East Lansing, place called Okemos.
Guard: Go green!
Ed (surprised): Go White!
Guard: You’re good to go. I went to MSU before transferring
up here.
He handed us back our passports and raised the gate. The
whole process took about 40 seconds. I felt I knew a secret code like the Mason
handshake or something. Thank god I didn’t do something stupid like give the University
of Michigan “go blue” cheer. Probably
would have ended up with a body cavity search.
Sunset at Limberlost.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 