We started the morning off very early in order to try and beat the wind today. We both showered to try and rinse off some of the grime from the somewhat gross motel room and cooked breakfast outside on the bench. Thankfully, the sun had re-appeared and was trying to warm the air somewhat, although the temperature was in the single digits.
We headed down highway 17 a short ways to the turn off of highway 11 and finally found some nice cycling in Northern Ontario! The traffic is greatly reduced and the trucks are only ten percent of what they are on Highway 17. Still not much of a shoulder but you don’t really need it with the reduced traffic.
Our big event today happened almost right away. The crossing into the central time zone! Only 2 more to go now!
The wind was still a challenge, blowing right into our face at around 10 to 20 km/h all day. Our second highlight was witnessing a bald eagle in the morning as we cycled near Kashabowie. It truly is a magnificent bird with a huge wing span. We found out later that bald-eagles are actually an endangered specie, which we were surprised to learn. In Kashbowie, we stopped at the Can-Op gas station and had a nice rest and lunch. The gas station was actually a combination coffee shop, post office, LCBO and bottle return, corner store and souvenir shop. The people there were really friendly and let us eat our food inside, warm and sheltered from the wind!
We came across what looked liked a bear’s den but it was hard to tell.
We headed on into the wind and crossed the Arctic Watershed, marked by a sign. This is the point from which water starts flowing into the Arctic Ocean instead of the Atlantic Ocean. Another big highlight of the day 🙂
We arrived in Quetico Provincial Park and camped at their lovely Chipewa Campground. These folks renewed our faith in Ontario Parks, with adjustable temperature showers, small campgrounds and frequent water and toilet facilities. The park looked gorgeous and we had a good look at the displays at the visitor’s centre. Apparently, part of the park was on the “Dawson Trail”, a wagon and barge route from Lake Superior to the Red River that ran in the 1800s. They also had neat pictures of the early days of the park. The park has a strict quota system of canoeists per day per entry point but once you are in the park you can camp and go wherever you want to. You can even cross into the US at the Boundary Waters Wilderness area. It looked like amazing canoeing and we vowed to return someday and enjoy it!
Trip Around The World 
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