Wagons Ho! — YOFO Adventures

Lake Mijinemungshing in Lake Superior Provincial Park

Trail sign in Awenda Provincial Park. So many magical trails to hike!

YOFO2 started much like a “lather-rinse-repeat” of YOFO1. We had a specific target destination in mind of getting out to Waterton – Glacier National Park(s) before the snows hit. This was our biggest unfinished business of YOFO1, since both parks were literally on fire as we drove past last year. While we will readily agree that “they’re all good parks Brent,” Glacier National Park, especially when coupled with Waterton National Park (it’s contiguous Canadian partner to the north) is in a special category among the greatest parks the US and Canada have to offer. We were genuinely distraught at having to drive past it, even though the thick blanket of smoke on the highway was proof enough that a visit last year was impossible. On 5 September, we left Silver Lake Farm in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania with that strategic goal in mind, some 2500 driving miles away. Beyond that, we did not really have much of a specific travel plan, except that we wanted to begin as we did last year by visiting Dean’s son Travis and his wife Jessica in Rochester NY.

Letchworth Falls just outside Rochester.

While in Rochester we began the slow process of getting back into hiking shape by visiting Letchworth State Park. It turned out to be a beautiful state park with three epic waterfalls along a 4-mile out and back hike along the Genessee River. As a bonus, on the way back to our campground we happened along the Jello Museum. Yep – there is a museum in the tiny village of Le Roy NY, the birthplace of Jello. They can tell and show you everything you’ve always wondered about how America’s “favorite dessert” got its start in 1897. Did you know there used to be a Coffee and a Celery flavor? You would if you visited the Jello Museum! We always enjoy our visits to Trav and Jess’s place in East Rochester. And the restaurant scene there is excellent, with lots of diverse places to find good eats.

The Sea Lion arch in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on Lake Superior

The US northeast was experiencing something of a heat wave in early September, so we decided to find cooler climes and explore Canada again as we began our trek west. While we love the Canadian parks system, we have to admit to having gained an appreciation for a few treats that we only seem to be able to find in Canada: Hickory Sticks (flavored potato sticks), Coffee Crisps (sort of like a mocha flavored Kit Kat), and whipped peanut butter (made by Kraft! Why can’t we buy it in the US?!). This time our route would take us across the border north of Niagara Falls. After glimpsing Lake Ontario we turned north near Toronto, and started the journey along the northern shores of Lakes Huron and Superior. Ontario has an excellent selection of Provincial Parks and we discovered that in September the vicious Canadian mosquito population is greatly diminished. Our first stops were brief, though scenic, camping at Awenda Provincial Park on the shores of Lake Huron. We revisited Chutes Provincial Park having discovered last year that they are almost perfectly placed as a beautiful stopover on the way to Sault St. Marie. We lingered a few days at Lake Superior Provincial Park, getting in our first sunrise kayak of YOFO2 on Mijinemungshing Lake. That is not misspelled. You may be creative in your pronunciation; we certainly are. While our kayaking muscles clearly needed an attitude adjustment, we were motivated by the beauty around us. At each of these parks we continued to get in short hikes or trail runs. Canada is also a little more liberal about using mountain bikes on their trails, so we availed ourselves of our two-wheelers when possible. As we proceeded west following the shoreline of Lake Superior (a ginormous lake, by the way) we stopped to spend a few days at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, just north of The US Isle Royale National Park. We thought we might tag Isle Royale, but missed the last boat of the season to the island. We’ll leave it as unfinished business, perhaps for YOFO3? We completed this first visit to our northern friends (yes, despite the recent political/trade antics we are still friendly with Canada) by camping at Quetico Provincial Park. Quetico is a vast system of connected lakes and waterways and is a big canoe/kayak destination for backcountry camping. If someone (Dawn, cough cough) had packed the fuel bottle for our stove, we would have been among the folks backcountry kayak camping. Alas, again something for next time.

On the Ash River in Voyageurs, you can paddle practically into a waterfall

Now 12 days into our YOFO2, we crossed back into the US at International Falls in order to spend several days in Voyageurs National Park. Voyageurs is mostly water, and is best visited by boat. We launched our kayaks a couple of times for day paddles to explore different parts of the park: Rainy Lake and the Ash River. We thought to linger a bit longer, but discovered that Dawn would have been the *worst* Viking ever (we suspect excellent marauder though…). Open seas and strong winds are not the thing for our boats, even if neither of us gets sea sick. Seriously though, bad weather convinced us to continue our trek west with more of a sense of purpose, this time driving just south of the border through Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wyoming. We enjoyed a short visit to Lake Medigoshe State Park in Minnesota, but after we left the lakes behind, there’s not much to tell about the vast northern plains of the US and southern Canada. There’s lots of prairie, some cattle, and oddly enough, lots of sunflowers under cultivation.

Dawn was showing off her trick lasso skills but this Canadian bull was having none of it and tried to throw her off!

We decided to jump back north into Canada to visit their Grasslands National Park. It is what it sounds like – a large tract of land set aside to protect the native grasses of the prairie. While not traditionally spectacular, we enjoyed a nice hike that notionally followed a trail until we decided to depart from it and explore a little on our own. We did our best to follow game trails and managed to surprise a few mule deer and see some dropped antlers and critter bones. We hiked to the edge of the Valley of 1000 Devils (seriously, that’s the name) which is part of Canada’s badlands. Curiously, they’re different than the badlands 0f Badlands NP and those of Teddy Roosevelt NP. Unfortunately, we were chased out of the park by a weather front that promised cold rains or snow. We decided to stay north of the border as we closed in on Waterton National Park. Our final stop before the promised land was at Cypress Hills Provincial Park. This turned out to be something of a beautiful oasis in the vast prairie. Cypress Hills seems almost like a mountainous island surrounded by the flat expanses that surround it. Apparently during the last Ice Age, the glaciers bypassed the rocky region while scrubbing the surrounding area relatively flat. The park offered a lake, mountain biking, and lots of hiking. We wished we could stay longer, but we were now somewhat racing the weather.

Cypress Hills have some ups on the surrounding terrain

As we closed in on Waterton, the weather forecast promised a few decently warm (highs in mid-50s) and dry days, but then cooler and wetter weather was likely to prevail. Even in late September, this could mean snow in the mountains. And if there is one thing that YOFO1 taught us, we do NOT like to pull our YOFOhome in the snow! So, we pressed on to the mountains, hoping the weather would hold long enough to at least get a glimpse of the park. We were not to be disappointed!