A Semester Across Canada
Part I - British Columbia to Quebec
I welcome Sara as a new contributor to my travel blog. Note that the links were added by me. ~ Debb
Driving across Canada in 3 months is no easy task, especially during 2021’s lingering COVID-19 restrictions, in the cool weather of a Canadian fall. However, armed with only a handful of maps, a truck, and a tiny truck bed camper, we made the absolute most of the trip. I had taken a semester off from my Bachelor’s program for the trip, and we left just as the air began to carry a hint of fall and the nights became cool at the start of September.
Starting out from Calgary, Alberta we backtracked to the West Coast of British Columbia, trailing as far north as Lund (a very small town at mile 0 of the Pacific Coast Highway) before taking the ferries back down along the Sunshine Coast to Vancouver, catching a glimpse of a couple of orcas from the boats. From there, we began what would be weeks of driving along the Trans-Canada Highway that traverses the country in a relatively straight line west to east.
Mile 0 of the Pacific Coast Highway
Entering Saskatchewan, the first stop was the salt mines at Chaplin. Arriving later in Moose Jaw, we tried for the first time to find a free place to park the truck for the night that wasn’t a campground. Eventually, we settled on what would become a common theme of the trip: a Flying J truck stop, with free overnight parking and 24-hour bathrooms.
Continuing on the road, we stopped at the Regina legislature, Brandon, and decided to drive farther all the way to Winnipeg since everything in Saskatchewan was closed due to the season and COVID-19 restrictions. The Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba was incredible and moving, with 7 floors of exhibits on human rights abuses and the history of human rights struggles throughout the world. We also went up to the top of the tower (I got a bit nervous) and saw how the trees extended endlessly in every direction. Another stop was Fort Whyte, which was a nature reserve and walking area. We walked around the wetlands and boardwalks and saw the bison. We reached Lake of the Woods on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and made our way to Atikokan, the canoeing capital of Canada!
Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg
At this point, we were getting antsy for a bigger city, so we decided to beeline it for Quebec City as fast as we could. On our way there, we couldn’t help but stop at Head of the Giant trail in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario. The hike was 7.5km of flat to the lake campsite, and we had lunch and dipped our hands in Lake Superior for the first time. The last 1.5km was quite steeply uphill, and when we got to the top of the trail, it was so foggy we couldn’t see a thing. At least there were lots of cool mushrooms! We felt VERY wet after the hike, so we turned on the heater and steamed off our clothes before continuing on.
We drove the windy roads to Pukaskwa National Park, and we stopped at a few viewpoints, including Aguasabon Falls. The road was absolutely gorgeous with the fall colours and Lake Superior with its islands on the side. We walked from our campsite to do the Southern Headlands trail and the beach trail along the edge of Lake Superior. Staying in the lovely campground for less than expected was a nice surprise, and there were beautiful sand beaches and clear swimming bays on Lake Superior that almost made me want to swim in the cold.
We stopped at WaWa to see the big goose, and then pulled over into Agawa Bay, which had a gorgeous beach with an amazing diversity of beautiful stones. We stopped quickly at the Agawa Pictographs, located out on a cliff over the water. We flew down the gorgeous drive to Sault Ste. Marie Canals (a Parks Canada historic site), which connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron, and walked around the area to see the bridge to the USA and the fly fishers in the river.
Driving to Manitoulin Island, we saw a big flock of Sandhill Cranes along the highway. We stopped briefly in the first town on the island, and then continued on to Bridal Falls, where we saw a few Chinook salmon in the pool. We walked down a bit farther and found another trying to swim up. We learned that Manitoulin is the biggest freshwater island in the world!
The next stop was Toronto, where we met up with a couple of family friends and went through the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Aquarium. They had cuttlefish, mantis shrimp, sharks, and a giant Pacific octopus. We also got to pet stingrays and let little shrimp climb onto our hands to eat the dead skin. After the aquarium, a friend brought us to Chinatown, Kensington, the museums, and the CN Tower. We looked at the view, but the glass floor was very small and dirty, and the outside part was closed (overrated in my opinion). Next stop was Niagara to see the falls (and fight through the hordes of people), and then the Town in Niagara on the Lake. We saw tons of wineries on the way, including Jackson Triggs.
We then drove to Ottawa, although Parliament was closed due to COVID. While looking for a new place to park, we accidentally drove into Quebec by crossing the small bridge over the river into Gatineau. We visited the National Art Gallery, Rideau Falls, and downtown, and then made our way to Montreal.
The bridge between Ontario and Quebec
In Montreal, we walked downtown around Place des Arts and then went to the Plateau. We went to the McGill campus to look around, and I saw my first Cardinal as we walked to the top of Mount Royal to see the view of the city. The biosphere had a museum of environmental issues. After the museum and a market, we went to St. Joseph’s Cathedral at the top of the hill. We looked around the crypt and the area dedicated to St. Andre, and we caught a glimpse of his preserved heart on display.
The Biosphere, Montreal
We drove southeast of Montreal on a small road to a town near Granby called Saint-Césaire. The mountains along the way were very strange because a single one appears in the middle of a flat prairie, and there isn’t a range. We also drove through Granby and the farming areas around there. We got to Quebec City and excitedly looked around the old downtown area. I also saw my first rat by the train station. We had lunch by the chateau and then ran to the Citadelle for their guided tour.
Old downtown Quebec with the famous Chateau in the background
We then detoured to Sanctuaire Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, northeast of Quebec City. The church was incredible, and the maple trees around the area were perfect. There were about 10 churches in one block of this 3500-person town. Absolutely gorgeous! After that, we drove to Île d’Orléans, which is an island in the St. Lawrence River. The entire island was filled with old buildings and farms, and had a very French atmosphere. The leaves were perfect here as well, and we could see the Laurentian mountains all ablaze in red and yellow leaves as we drove. We stopped at Bilodeau Cidery to taste ice apple cider, and we drove to the observation tower to see where the Laurentians meet the estuary. We went to the village of Saint Jean de L’Île d’Orléans and saw lots of tiny waterfalls beside homes as we drove through the town. We went back across the bridge to Montmorency Falls and checked it out from the suspension bridge.
Leaving Quebec City, we began the trek to the Maritimes (Part II) of this blog post.
