"Mosquitoes and Black Flies and Sand Flies, Oh My!"
We are officially in the buggy part of the country - mosquitoes, black flies and sandflies in the morning and evening at camp, and horse and deer flies during the day at our roadside stops. Apparently this isn't too bad a year for them, so I can only imagine what it must be like! It had rained pretty hard in the night, but let up by the time we got up this morning. It was foggy again, and cooler, and as I biked I got covered with a fine layer of mist (each hair outlined, and my tights looked grey instead of black). The car wouldn't start again for Dad, but Tammy, the proprietor of "Neys Lunch & Campground", was happy to give him a boost. I met some older gentlemen on the road this morning, both of whom had started in Vancouver and were heading east. I was glad J and I hadn't left earlier when I heard they'd been through some snow storms! We also met another rider, Robin, who has been on the road for nine months! She started in Seattle, went across the southern US, crossed at Niagara Falls, and was heading west towards home through Canada. Such a long time to be on the road alone, but she seemed very independent. We stopped for lunch today before White River across from a place where there had been a huge forest fire in 1999 (36,000 hectare). A lot of greenery has grown back, but sticks are still all that remain of the trees that were once there. There are signs all along the highway warning people to make sure they put their fires out and not to burn if it's windy. Land is really cheap up here as well, I guess because it's so remote; Dad saw a 140 acre plot of land for sale for $20,000! He also saw a fox and a bear today and got some great pictures. There are some entertaining names up here, with "Deadhorse Road" and "Desolate Lake" (not at all desolate) being some of my favourites. Tonight we're camping in Lake Superior Provincial Park on Rabbit Blanket Lake and we've got a fantastic site - right on the water, lined with cedar chips, and surrounded by trees. We had a great dinner (veggie stir fry with meatballs, cheese bread, chocolate milk and brownies) and went for a walk around the park. The wind has completely died down and the lake is like glass.
We are officially in the buggy part of the country - mosquitoes, black flies and sandflies in the morning and evening at camp, and horse and deer flies during the day at our roadside stops. Apparently this isn't too bad a year for them, so I can only imagine what it must be like! It had rained pretty hard in the night, but let up by the time we got up this morning. It was foggy again, and cooler, and as I biked I got covered with a fine layer of mist (each hair outlined, and my tights looked grey instead of black). The car wouldn't start again for Dad, but Tammy, the proprietor of "Neys Lunch & Campground", was happy to give him a boost. I met some older gentlemen on the road this morning, both of whom had started in Vancouver and were heading east. I was glad J and I hadn't left earlier when I heard they'd been through some snow storms! We also met another rider, Robin, who has been on the road for nine months! She started in Seattle, went across the southern US, crossed at Niagara Falls, and was heading west towards home through Canada. Such a long time to be on the road alone, but she seemed very independent. We stopped for lunch today before White River across from a place where there had been a huge forest fire in 1999 (36,000 hectare). A lot of greenery has grown back, but sticks are still all that remain of the trees that were once there. There are signs all along the highway warning people to make sure they put their fires out and not to burn if it's windy. Land is really cheap up here as well, I guess because it's so remote; Dad saw a 140 acre plot of land for sale for $20,000! He also saw a fox and a bear today and got some great pictures. There are some entertaining names up here, with "Deadhorse Road" and "Desolate Lake" (not at all desolate) being some of my favourites. Tonight we're camping in Lake Superior Provincial Park on Rabbit Blanket Lake and we've got a fantastic site - right on the water, lined with cedar chips, and surrounded by trees. We had a great dinner (veggie stir fry with meatballs, cheese bread, chocolate milk and brownies) and went for a walk around the park. The wind has completely died down and the lake is like glass.
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