This post is part of ‘The Big Loop’ series, which chronicles our summer road trip from Ontario out to the West Coast of Canada and back via the northern US states.

Michelle’s brother and his family are meeting us in Vancouver for a train journey through the Rocky Mountains, so we’ve decided to pack up the car with our tent and hiking boots, and hit as many provincial and national parks as we can on the way to meet them. Our initial target is Calgary, with a bunch of stops on the way.

Heading West From Ontario to Calgary: From Bug-tario to Cowtown

Twenty years ago we made the drive from Toronto to Vancouver in three days (in the dead of winter). This summer we decide to take our time. We’ll be travelling some 10,000 km over seven weeks. Wow, this is a huge continent.

We’re planning on two weeks for the first leg from Muskoka to Calgary, via Winnipeg and Saskatoon, visiting various provincial and national parks along the way. 

Feathers insisted on a custom racing harness for this trip.

Heading West From Ontario to Calgary: So Much Water

We’ve driven almost 700km today, from Al’s family cottage in Muskoka (north of Toronto) to the shores of the largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Superior. (And we’re still not even out of Ontario!) After a quick stop in Sudbury to pick up a bottle of gin from the Crosscut Distillery (the first stop on our trans-Canada gin experience) and a visit to the Giant Nickel, we followed the north shore of Lake Huron to our destination at Lake Superior Provincial Park.

Even though we’ve lived for five years on the shores of one of the Great Lakes, the novelty of seeing a lake that extends to the horizon never seems to wear off for this Aussie. But Lake Superior takes things to the next level. It’s hard to get your head around the sheer size of it until you drive for an entire day and only cover about one quarter of the shoreline.

At four times the size of Lake Ontario, if you took all the water in Lake Superior it would cover the whole of North and South America in one foot of water. But it’s not going anywhere in a hurry. The water that we’re looking out at stays in the lake for an estimated 173 years before moving on to the next lake, Lake Huron. We, on the other hand, are just visiting the lake for a few days.

The friendly staff at the ranger station suggest that we swap the campsite we’ve booked in a forested campground for one in lakeside Agawa campground. What we give up in seclusion (the Agawa site backs onto the TransCanada highway) is more than made up for by the campsites which are nestled in the edge of the pine forest right on the lake shore. (We were also somewhat alarmed by their description of just how many bugs we could expect in the first campsite…)

We set up camp and then sit on the rocky beach as the sun sets through the smoky haze created by the huge forest fires raging across the country this summer.

There are some great hikes in this park that follow the shores of the lake for miles, but we only have time for a short day hike before getting back on the road west.

The Canada Goose, the bird Canadians love to hate.

 Here’s the mildly disturbing origin story of the bear behind the Winnie the Pooh stories. A Canadian soldier ‘adopted’ a bear from White River in Ontario, took it to England and then realized that the front lines of WWI were probably not the best place for a small bear, so donated it to the London Zoo. This was the very same bear that AA Milne saw and became the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh. The soldier’s fate remains a mystery.

Bug-tario

When we told locals we were headed to Northern Ontario in June they looked at us with a mixture of abject fear and sympathy. “Wh-what about the bugs?” they all asked with the same tenor in their voice as someone might use when asking about sharks or spiders.

A number of years ago we were living in Australia and planning a trip to visit Ontario. We wanted to go in summer because, well, Canadian winter. Al proceeded to explain to Michelle the Law of Bugs ruling Ontario summers. We couldn’t visit in May because there’d be too many black flies (which really hurt when they bite and produce large welts), and then June was no good because that’s when mosquitoes come out, but of course in July and August there are horse flies and deer flies (which REALLY hurt). Hence the hushed tones of fear that Ontarians use when they talk about ‘bugs’.

Since moving to Ontario 6 years ago, we’ve tried not to let this get in the way of camping and getting out in the wilderness and we’ve not had too much of a problem. Until now.

We have enough bugs on our hike in Lake Superior Provincial Park to break out the bug net head gear we’ve had for years and never used. But this doesn’t even come close to the bug-mageddon that we find in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.

Leave fashion pride at the door… 

Heading West From Ontario to Calgary: The Sleeping Giant

This trip has been mapped out to hit a few places we’ve been wanting to visit for a long time. Sleeping Giant is the first. It’s just outside the city of Thunder Bay, in the northwestern corner of Lake Superior.

A rocky peninsula that juts out into Lake Superior, Sleeping Giant is aptly named. It looks just like a person lying on their back.

One of the most famous hikes in Ontario is to the ‘top of the giant’, a day hike up to the head of the Giant where you find yourself at the top of a crevice that plunges 250m straight down to the lake.

Unfortunately, with all the smoke we don’t really get a good view of the slumbering monolith from afar, but the view from the cliff is spec-tacular. We manage to time it so we’re the only people up here, which might be explained by the threat of being carried away by bugs if you stand still for more than 30 seconds.

Miraculously, there’s no bugs at the top of the Giant, but they are out in force for the 5km hike in and out through the dense forest. The key is: Do. Not. Stop. In fact, don’t even slow down. We find ourselves hiking at a stiff pace that keeps us just ahead of the heat-seeking winged critters. That is until Michelle’s shoelace comes undone and as she bends to retie, she’s immediately surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes. She calls out in terror, but Al has gone, marching ahead mumbling do not stop do not stop. So much for no person left behind. It’s everyone for themselves out here.

Back in camp we employ our latest favourite purchase, what we like to call the IDD, or Invisible Dome of Death. It’s a handy little device that diffuses out concentrated chrysanthemum extract to create a dome of 6m where you can huddle mosquito-free. (aka a Thermacell)

Never again shall we question the Law of Bugs in Northern Ontario.

Before we left Ontario we made a quick stop at ‘The Niagara Falls of the North’ and a cool little pub in Kenora

Heading West From Ontario to Calgary: We’re Halfway There

We’ve officially hit ‘The Prairies’ which you can’t help but notice as the dense forest and granite outcrops are suddenly replaced by a sea of yellow canola fields stretching to the horizon. The last time we drove this part of the country it was in the middle of a blizzard, and we’d barely been able to see the car in front of us. This time there’s nothing between us and the car 20km in front. We can see the iconic wheat silos that line the trans Canada railway line, known as Wheat Kings.

By the time we drive past the ‘Centre of Canada’ sign we feel like we’ve driven halfway across the country. But, in actual fact we’ve driven almost 2,000km and only just made it out of Ontario.

New Holland: From Emergence to Harvest

Ever since the 2018 Winter Olympics we’ve been following curling and when we happen to catch it on TV for some reason the broadcast always seems to be from the prairie provinces. As city slickers, the ads for farm machinery always give us a laugh.

Al’s favourite ads are the tractors with giant tires that are ‘self cleaning’, and the ones showing the massive harvesters doing their thing. And the announcer with the deep, serious voiceover saying ‘From emergence to harvest, New Holland gets it done’.

So, as we drive through Manitoba we can’t resist a stop at a farm machinery supplier to wander around and try and guess what some of these giant machines do in the field.

Welcome to Winnipeg!

We have an overnight stop in Winnipeg, where we stay at The Columns B&B and have a wide-ranging discussion with our host April. Among other things she tells us about the new First Nations Urban Reserve, Naawi Oodena. Formerly the Kapyong Barracks former military base, this 64 hectare property has been granted to the local indigenous people under the Treaty Land Entitlement (after a small issue of selling it off to another organization without first consulting the First Nations people). The Treaty Land Entitlement was set up to provide land to First Nations people who were not granted the land they were promised in the original treaties. There are over 120 urban reserves in Canada. The vision for Naawi Oodena is that this area will be developed as a city suburb embedded with First Nations culture. Similar perhaps to a Little Italy or China Town of so many cities.

 Louis Riel, famous in Canada for leading a rebellion in support of the Métis people’s pursuit of recognition and constitutional rights. Ever since we saw a theatre performance in 2017 about Canadian history, we have to say his name with a specific theatrical flair.

We have drinks and dinner at an outdoor beer garden called the Beer Can which has that quintessential feel of a Canadian city summer evening, with everyone out making the most of every single minute of warm weather, before the reality of the nickname Winterpeg will force everyone back inside once again.

The next day, on our way out of town we stop in the salubrious surrounds of the industrial area on the outskirts of Winnipeg to knock on the door of Capital K Distillery at 10am, for the second stop on our trans-Canada gin experience. As is the case with many of the small breweries and distilleries, they share the space with other entrepreneurs. In this case it’s a company called Baltic Bros, a Polish family that makes spirit infusions using their traditional family recipes as inspiration. The Manitoba Mule of ginger, maple, hibiscus and lime wasn’t available to taste but definitely sounded the most interesting.

Where the Wild Buffalo Roam

“There are 12 baby bison in the park at the moment,” the ranger at the entrance to Riding Mountain National Park tells us, with excitement and pride in his voice. From Winnipeg we’ve detoured off the Trans Canada highway and started to head northwest on our way to Saskatoon. Our first stop is Riding Mountain National Park, or Clear Lake to the locals.

It’s no wonder people here are happy to see so many young bison. At one point over 30 million bison roamed the central plains of North America. When Europeans arrived they hunted them almost to extinction and took over most of the prairie land so that by 1889 there were only 85 free-roaming bison left. No, that’s not a typo, just 85.

Despite the many references in contemporary books and movies about Where The Buffalo Roam, they are in fact bison. And to emphasize the point, the biologists named them ‘Bison bison’. They look similar but are actually quite different to the buffalo found in Europe, but when the Europeans first arrived they assumed they were buffalo. There’s been some confusion ever since.

Starting at the turn of the 20th century, the efforts to bring them back from extinction have been working. Hence the excitement of the ranger about the large number of young bison in the park.

So we set out to drive slowly around the designated loop road, looking out at the grasslands. But there were no bison roaming on this day.

We have to console ourselves with some other activities. Riding Mountain is one of only a few national parks in Canada that have a full small resort town within the park. Wasagaming has a beachside town vibe with local Manitobans on holidays having breakfast at the local coffee shops, boating on Clear lake and generally chilling out. We take advantage and sit by the lakeshore, where a group are playing Ultimate Frisbee and remind us of our days in Japan when we’d spend many a Saturday afternoon chasing the disc. These days, not so much.

Glamming it up in a Yurt for a few days 

Ultimate frisbee by the lakeshore

Saskatoon: Paris of the Prairies

Marketing is nothing new. In the early 20th century, Europeans were enticed to Winnipeg with the promise of it being the ‘Paris of the Prairies’. Calgary also tried it on for size for a while, and then there’s the small town of Montmarte which even has a replica Eiffel Tower. More recently, Saskatoon has used the byline to promote itself as a cultural hub. Apparently it worked (probably thanks in no small part to the Tragically Hip song), as it was enough to get us to make a stop and check it out for a few days. 

We’ve driven from Riding Mountain in Manitoba, crossed the border into Saskatchewan and arrive in Saskatoon to peak summer weather and Canada Day celebrations in full swing. As we wander over the bridges and along the South Saskachawan River (which we’ll meet again in a couple of weeks time in the Rocky Mountains) it’s hot, humid and windy. There’s a summer storm brewing.

We’re not sure about Paris, but it does have a buzz about it. We have some excellent meals, chat with lots of very friendly locals, stop by the free outdoor jazz festival, and check out the REIMA modern art gallery.

Wanuskewin Heritage Park

On our way out of Saskatoon we stop at Wanuskewin Heritage Park. This seemingly non-descript area of the prairies is actually very significant to the Algonkian people of North America. It’s Canada’s longest running active archeological site, with evidence of people having hunted here for over 6,000 years. The small gorge surrounded by miles of prairie land plains forms a natural meeting point for tribes sheltering from the notorious prairie winds.

The small interpretive centre includes explanations of measures to maintain the indigenous languages and developing written script from oral languages. Fun Fact: there are a range of words in the English language that are derived from Algonkian including moose, persimmon, squash and racoon.

We check out the exhibit by the Ojibwa artist Clarence Wescoupe with his work from the 1980’s, including his classic line drawings with simple lines and vivid colours evoking the traditions of the many tribes of people who passed through this area.

Despite the fact it’s mid-summer, we’re getting a full experience of the howling prairie winds so we skip the walk through and around the rim of the gorge and continue on our way.

An Island on the Plains

“There they are! Stop!” We’re inside the car so there’s not really any reason for us to be whispering. But just 40m from the road are half a dozen bison grazing. Finally.

I guess if you live on the prairies it’s a little like getting excited to see a cow. But at almost 6 feet tall, and over 900kg, they’re pretty amazing to see quietly grazing. And a little intimidating. They may look docile but the idea of that 1,000kg hurtling toward you at 70 km/hr is enough to get your fight or flight senses buzzing a little.

Leaving Saskatoon earlier this morning, we’ve crossed the Provincial border and arrived this afternoon in Elk Island National Park, just half an hour outside Alberta’s capital, Edmonton.

The small but informative Visitor’s Centre provides an interesting history of the role of the park in conservation history. Almost 120 years ago, in 1906, Elk Island was founded as Canada’s first wildlife preserve with one of the last large elk herds in the region. Shortly after founding the park, the government purchased one of the last remaining herds of plains bison and brought them from Montana to Elk Island.

The whole park is fenced, so that the elk, deer and bison here can thrive without predators. The conservation efforts have been so successful that the populations are too large for the park, and animals are now moved to other national parks around the world. In fact, nearly all Woods bison around the world can be traced back to Elk Island.

Ah, summer camping in Canada. The height of summer and a balmy 8 degrees. At least there’s no bugs!

“There’s no way there’s any beavers in here,” confident Canadian Al states and then immediately, “apart from that one right in front of us”. Given the large number of beavers across Canada these days it’s hard to believe they were almost extinct just 100 years ago and were brought to this park to protect them in the 1940’s.

The beaver is there, but hard to see… 

Howdy Y’all! Welcome to Cowtown

“You sure you don’t want to borrow a cowboy hat?” our friend Sarah asks. We laugh and decline the offer but then later realize that we probably should have accepted.

We’ve made it to Calgary in time for the famous Stampede. Everyone walking the streets is wearing cowboy boots and hats, with their hands hooked on their big belt buckles holding up their Wrangler boot cuts. It feels like the whole city is having a party as the bars and restaurants are jammed. We head downtown for the parade which is an odd mix of multicultural, sports and community groups interspersed with cowboys and beauty contest winners of the last 30 years. Lots of horses, a good number of wagons and plenty of old guys with huge moustaches.

We don’t go to any of the actual events, like wrangling and chuckwagon racing. Partly because tickets are as scarce as a person not dressed as a cowboy, but mostly because we don’t really have much desire to see people either running down large animals or being run down by them. We do wander the area around the main arena to check out a free concert by Aussie Vance Joy, check out the weird and wonderful food of sideshow alley, pretend we might buy a pick up truck (aka: ute) the size of a small elephant, and cruise through the art show where there are more paintings of bulls and horses than we’ve ever seen.

Our host for our few days in Calgary is our friend Sarah who we met almost 30 years ago when we were teaching English in Japan. Her stories and comments about Calgary make us realise how much Alberta has in common with that other mining-centric state, Western Australia (except with mountains instead of beaches).

After a few super fun days, we drop our car in the town of Canmore in the foot of the Rockies and hop on a plane to Vancouver, where we’ll be meeting Michelle’s brother and his family fresh off the plane from Australia.