55.3Kms
After breakfast from a big rock over the Lake, we rode an 11.5Kms circuit to try to rent a canoe for the afternoon, but there was a staff shortage at the outfitter so they could not get the gear to us. From 10am until the early afternoon, Y participated in a pine needle workshop (B had seen a camp flyer and suggested it the evening before) with Friends Of Quetico artist-in-residence Val Fraser, while B did bike care and explored the lake shore with his camera. Singularly, we discovered when we were looking at photos from our day that at virtually the same moment Y was completing her pine needle project, B was photographing a tree shelf conch and the two are compellingly similar in form, colour and value. Val explained the funding of the AiR program is from a dinner in the fall, with an auction of one donated piece from each of the season's Artists. The art works can be previewed in a growing display at the Park pavilion during the Park May-September season. At 2:30pm we made the decision to move from our lovely site at Quetico, as we still had not heard back from Mine Centre. If closed for the season, we would need to ride 200Kms to Fort Francis, so we rode in the early evening to Atikokan (Canoe capital of Canada), so we have about 150Kms tomorrow. We had a lovely day and are happy with our decision.

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/10867404

58.3Kms
With so few Kms to ride today, we slept in and sat and chatted together while we had breakfast and coffee (thanks Kashabowie River Kyle!). Highway 11 was as enjoyable to be on as it was the previous afternoon and early evening. The engineering is quite  different on these roads. The arch of the hills and the flats in between are easier to bicycle, as the scale of the hills enables one to easily peddle half way up with momentum from the previous downhill or flat. Also, as few transport trucks use Highway 11, the shoulders are in reasonable condition. We had a nice pic-nic lunch by a little lake and arrived at Quetico Provincial Park about 2pm! We are at campsite #7 and the sun set is directly out from our site - setting earlier tonight as we are now in Central time zone. It is a warm dry night with no fly on our tent and the stars clearly visible above.

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/10867405

108.7Kms
Wolf tracks at the side of the road and only two times seeing people made this day more similar to the Wasa to Port McNeil portion of our Campbell River to Port Hardy bicycle ride last summer. Leaving Thunder Bay took more time than expected: We had a nice chat with McVicar Manor hosts Tom and Dorothy and co-guests Ed and Angie; we had business banking to take care of; and the first 25Kms was up hill. Once we entered Highway 11, about mid-day, the traffic was few and far between, and the road gently undulated over the landscape, with pretty marshes and little lakes at the road side. Most of the traffic was pick-up trucks with boats or canoes, headed to places similar to our accommodation - rustic cabins along a gravel road to a little lake. Kashabowie River camp and cabins is our stop for the night with a nice little cabin (with kitchen, WC, and lots of hot water). Kyle, the owner, augmented our groceries with grounds for making coffee in the a.m., and so we are set!

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/10867406

104.7Kms
There must have been wind at our back as we were over 20Kms/Hr before our lunch break today! By ride end we were 18.8Kms/Hr, mostly due to hills and wind from the West. Riding away from Nipigon we looked back a few times to see a sheet of rain advancing, but we somehow kept ahead of it. Again, as we neared Thunder Bay, a sheet of rain was in front of us, but we just skirted it in a brief sprinkle. We had a pic-nic lunch and then a comfortable meander into Thunder Bay along Lakeshore Drive, which took us past the Thunder Bay International Hostel signpost forest (of particular note is the Vancouver sign and the sign to Heaven :-) and other interesting community spots. Our last views of Lake Superior included sea-going freighters ("salties"). We stopped briefly on a residential street on our way to our accommodation at turn of the Century style McVicar Manor Bed and Breakfast, and a kindly woman, Cathy, came from her house to ask if we were okay and, upon hearing about our travels, invited us to seek her help or stay with her if we needed and she checked B's GPS to ensure our route to the Manor would be safe. The Manor proprietor, photographer Tom Walch, recommended "Bight" for dinner, which was a lot of fun and included an interesting and enjoyable walk on the waterfront past music in the bandshell. We provisioned for the next 2 1/2 days of remote bicycling and camping. We'll be accessing the Internet again in a few days.

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/10817939