Day 47: Wawa to Montreal River (105 km)

So tonight we're breaking with a long standing tradition. To date Vanessa and I have alternated days on blog posts, but we got into camp late tonight and Vanessa's taking care of a few things, so you're getting me instead. (She's taking the helm for the next two days to renew the blogging equilibrium.)

As I write this I'm sitting on a bench overlooking Lake Superior and watching the stunning sunset you see above. All day we were treated to panoramic views such as this as we wove our way through the hills of Lake Superior Provincial Park.

I'm always hesitant to say these kind of things because we've experienced such varied landscape to date, but I don't think I've ever seen a place more beautiful than this. Growing up on Lake Ontario I've grown accustomed to the vastness of the great lakes and I often forget just how beautiful they are. The sharp cliffs, wild forests and seemingly unreachable horizons of Superior have reminded me just how truly unique they are.

To try and quantify this statement, I've taken more photos with my SLR in the last two days than I had from the Manitoba / Saskatchewan border to Thunder bay. I've actually stepped away from this post numerous times to grab progressive photos of the sun setting over the lake.

North Ontario has been a total surprise for Vanessa and I. Before the trip we were warned this would be the most challenging and soul crushing part of our journey. What we've found instead are vibrant communities, wonderful people and indescribable wilderness and wildlife (and this is all just from the highway).

All this should be taken with a grain of salt I suppose. Across the country Vanessa and I have been surprised and fascinated by the places we've seen. As a child my family joked about my almost daily habit of declaring that "Today, is the best day, of my whole life". Most days regardless of whether I was playing in a park or defrosting the freezer I would most often find some reason to declare those often repeated words. As we've rode our way across the country, seen what we've seen and met such incredible people day after day, its hard to believe that each day hasn't in fact been, the best day, of our whole lives.