Lots of driving, lots of rain, lots of thunder, no wind.
My girlfriend Sarah and I visited Thunder Bay during the Thanksgiving long weekend. The weather was not as bad as the forcast predicted, but still not good. It was mostly cloudy, some rain here and there, some areas are foggy. However, thanks to the rain, the fog and the thunder, this trip was surreal and memorable.
Kakabeka Falls
Before entering Thunder Bay, we briefly stopped at the Kakabeka Falls nearby. $5 for 2 hour parking. There were only about 5 groups of people at the attraction at the time (Saturday 5pm). It’s a medium sized waterfall running between cliffs. There’s a bridge across the cliffs as well as a few lookouts to view the waterfall from different angles. I learned that a lookout is basically a balcony built at a spot with the best views. There’s one that lets you watch the river extending into the horizon.
The waterfall was loud but pleasant. I could see the falling water hitting the rocks with power. The mist from the splash did not get to the balcony, so the air was not wet, which was actually disappointing to me, because I think the better way to appriciate a waterfall is to get more immersive, by not only watching and listening, but also touching and smelling the mist. That said, it still worthed the visit for sure. It may not be super impressive, but every attraction is unique.
Ouiment Canyon Lookouts
After driving for an hour northeast from Thunder Bay, we got to the Ouiment Canyon Lookouts. It was foggy and it started to rain soon after. It was in the morning. We only saw another guy walked into the trail alone when we arrived, and a group of three arrived when we were leaving.
It was very quiet. All we heard was the sound of rain. The air was filled with the pleasant smell of rain and fog. We crossed a bridge and got to the two lookouts.
Did I mention it’s foggy? We were supposed to see the canyon from the lookouts, but all we saw was fog. It’s like we had reached the end of the world and here we could only gaze into the void. We could vaguely see the cliff that the balconies were built on, but we could not comprehend how high the balconies were, as we could barely see the things below us. We both experienced a strange phononmenon that if we stare at the far away objects through the fog, the view starts to look like it’s changing shape and zooming in.
The trail is 5-10 minutes long. The two lookouts are the main attractions. I assume the canyon looks spectacular in clear weather, but our unique experience was magical on its own.
Eagle Canyon Adventures
We basically kept the Ouiment Canyon Lookouts to ourselves because nobody else was around, when we got to the Eagle Canyon Adventures next door, the rain became heavier, and we kept the whole mountain to ourselves, since nobody wanted to visit during rain and thunder. The admission guy said, “enjoy the trail.. or try to at least!” Well, I don’t know about Sarah, but I did have a good time.
We went in with an umbrella, a backpack of hiking stuff, a hiking stick and our phones as cameras. As we climbed, we counted the seconds between lightning and thunder to estimate how close they were, because we were heading to an open field where lightning might be a danger. One of the main attractions was the pair of suspension bridges across the cliffs. One of them was 400m long, the other was 600m and was claimed to be the longest suspension bridge in Canada. We took one bridge to the opposite cliff and took the other to come back. Sarah wasn’t ready to die from lightning strike, so it took her a few minutes to gather the courage to step onto the first bridge. We closed the umbrella and hid the metal hiking stick, recorded ourselves crossing the bridges. Visibility was better here and the view was great.
Depending on the path you choose, the trail could be 20 or 40 minutes long. After the second bridge, there is a stair path that leads down to the river running between the cliffs. This is the longer path. We didn’t want to dip in the rain for too long, but we still went down the stairs to take a look, then climbed back up.
As we walked out of the trail, the smell of rain was all over our coats.
The admission was about $22 per person iirc. The place also offers zip line (also longest in Canada), which was not available at the time.
Sleeping Giant Lookout
It was some intense driving before reaching our next stop – a lookout facing the Sleeping Giant. The last 30 minutes of the drive was going through the woods. It was all quiet, foggy and mysterious. The road had the color of copper due to the red rocks in the area. There was a lot of slopes and turns. It did not feel safe to drive up to the speed limit, especially in the rain and fog.
Four groups of people were there but they all happened to be leaving as soon as we arrived, so we kept this place to our own as well. There was only one balcony here, but it reached further out. It’s built with metal bars which provided plenty of gaps to see through. We were supposed to see the Sleeping Giant from there, but simular to the Ouiment Canyon Lookouts, the view was all blank due to the fog. Got some cool pics out of it though.
Thunder Bay
After experiencing the “Thunder” part of Thunder Bay, we went back to see the “Bay” part. It’s a regular bay that you can find in many cities and towns in Canada, yet somehow it gave me an impression that it’s new and well maintained, as though it was developed not long ago. The grass was bright green, the ground was clean, the buildings looked newly built.
If weather was clear, Sleeping Giant would be visible from here.
Most businesses were closed at the time. Unfortunately, we did not have a chance to visit the museums, art galleries or gift shops.
Final Thoughts
In the video game Civilzation 6, cities built next to mountain, lake or sea have higher Appeal Points. Having been to cities like Calgary and Thunder Bay, I find it very true in real life. Irregularities in landscapes tend to be the source of beauty. Views of a city with a body of water or a mountain in the horizon are definitely more attractive than views of a simple flat plain.
This trip to Thunder Bay has been a success. Surely we did not get to see everything Thunder Bay had to offer, but the experience was unique. To a trip, having memorable experience is as important as enjoying great views. Climbing to the lookouts just to see fog was unfortunate but somewhat funny. I will remember for long that we were crazy enough to go across a long suspension bridge soaking in rain and thunder.
