The night passed uneventfully and there was no rain in the morning so the day has already started on the right note. I use the facilities, quickly pack up and then start on my way. The first little bit of the route is on a regular road but soon I make a turn and am on a much quieter one that hugs the shore around Lake Huron. There are lots of nice views of the lake and islands that I never even knew existed. Pretty early on the road comes to a grassy, marshy area and I can see some neat looking birds in the grass. I don’t know much about birds so it’s more surprising when I can identify one. Luckily there’s someone walking their dog nearby so as I ride on my way I ask them what kind of bird it was and they tell me they’re sandhill cranes. It’s the first I’ve seen of them but won’t be the last.
The conditions are really good for riding, the roads aren’t too rough, it’s warm but not too hot, no hills, and there isn’t a headwind. I make better time than expected and hit my lunch spot early, just a bit after 10am, but I’m still able to order a sandwich. The kid working the cash register is wearing a volleyball shirt and part of me wants to say that my daughter plays volleyball too but I know my kids don’t really like talking to adults they don’t know so figure I should just keep my mouth shut. As I’m eating my lunch I can’t help but pick up on this conversation happening at the table next to me.
There are people at other tables working on laptops, presumably using wifi, so I’m not sure what they’re thinking but I had to take myself outside before I said something. I almost lose it when she tried to make an etymology of “prescription” as “before word shun” with the “shun” meaning it was something to be avoided. Nutters aside it was a lot more pleasant inside the cafe than out so I end up taking a bit of a shorter break than planned and continue on my ride.
The ride is small side roads for a bit longer but then I’m on Hwy 6. It’s unavoidable at some point unfortunately. It isn’t terrible to ride on because it has a wide, clean shoulder, and it is really smooth so I can make good time on it as well. I take my first break after lunch at a little rest area and decide to check the ferry schedule again because I’ll probably get to Tobermory well before 3. That’s when I see that I misread the schedule and the only ferry before 5pm is at 1pm. Taking the 5pm ferry wouldn’t be a big deal but it would mean I’d get to the campground just before it got dark so taking an earlier ferry would mean I could be a bit more relaxed about things but I’m not sure that I can make it to Tobermory by 1pm. Only one way to find out! I push myself and make it into town, but now I need to get to the ferry terminal. I’ve taken a boat tour before so I go there but that’s not the ferry. I ask one of the employees and they point me in the right direction. Thankfully there still in the process of loading the cars so I’m able to buy a ticket and get on as pretty much the last person, they end up turning some cars away that come after me.
The ferry itself is pretty neat. At the bottom is the hold where all the cars are. There are even ramps for some cars to be up on a second level. As far as I can tell the cars are just left in park and are good. For my bike they had me tie it to a wall using some rope. It’s the proper kind of thick rope that you’d expect on a ship and it’s fun to practice knots tying it up. Then I go to the very top of the boat so I can get a nice view from the deck. We pull out of Tobermory fairly quickly and then make our way across the lake. It gets real windy real fast but there’s a lower deck which is also outside but protected from the wind. Without the wind and in the sun, there isn’t a cloud in the sky, it’s quite hot and I decide I’ll see if I can get some food.
There’s a proper cafeteria on the ferry and the prices are decent. I think about fish and chips again but end up getting a veggie burger, fries, and cookies. There’s pie but I’m not sure about the crust so cookies seem to be the safer option. Sitting by the window eating my second lunch it dawns on me just how big the Great Lakes are. I’m on a pretty large boat and there’s only water as far as I can see. And not only is it water but it’s fresh water. I’ve been to Lake Biwa, Japan’s biggest lake, many times and you can see from one side to the other as long as it isn’t too foggy. No chance of that happening here or on any of the other Great Lakes. Because of all this water I’d be surprised if the area doesn’t become significantly more populated over the next couple of hundred years – assuming we survive that long.
After a couple of hours the ferry arrives in South Baymouth and we disembark. It’s pretty early in the day and I need to figure out what to get for supper. I was initially thinking of getting fish and chips, which made sense when I was arriving at 7pm because they’d be reasonably warm by the time I got to eat them, but I’d need something that would be decent to eat cold. I end up making a slight detour to stop off at a market and get a veggie quesadilla.
The campgrounds I’m staying at is an “eco park”. The main attraction is that it has a dark sky preserve so hopefully I can see the Perseid meteor shower. After setting up my tent I go to the main area where the washrooms and kitchen facilities are and it turns out they have special guided events which you can participate in for an extra fee. I debate going but then decide that as I’m here I may as well go for it instead of just looking out all by myself.
The event starts a bit before sunset with the participants all gathering. There are some introductions and people talking about the eco park and meteor shower and after the sun sets they direct us to the dark sky preserve which we have to drive (or bike!) to. It’s much quicker for me to hop on my bike and go than people to walk over to their cars and get out of the parking lot so I’m one of the first people there, which isn’t great when it’s dark and the driveway to the place is windy and has branches. There are a couple of times where I end up waiting at a branch to see what the cars do but eventually I make it to the proper parking lot and lock up my bike off to the side. There’s another gathering just inside the parking lot where they mention that there generally are bears in the area but nothing around tonight, which is nice to know! Then we take a short walk to the actual viewing area. It’s a wide open field with small cabins and tents around the perimeter. You can camp here as well but you’d have to go back to the main campground for a shower or proper toilets instead of outhouses. If I had the choice I probably would have booked here but by the time I made my reservation only large sites were available and they cost a lot more. They tell some indigenous stories about various constellations which are interesting to listen to at the time but I remember nothing about them afterwards. As they’re talking we see a couple of meteors cross the sky, and whenever one is seen you’ll hear people’s exclamations. Of course by the time you hear it it’s already too late so you just have to keep your eyes peeled for the next one. They bring out a telescope and show some planets which is neat. They also mention that last night people were able to see the Northern Lights, which got everyone excited, after all who doesn’t want to see them?
Surprisingly, even though we are at pretty much the peak for the Perseids there weren’t all that many meteors going by. I guess that’s a thing with any natural phenomena, you can prepare as much as you want but at the end of the day random variables mean that it might all be for nothing. I stay until a bit after midnight hoping to see the Northern Lights but it’s getting cold and I’m pretty tired so I call it a night and ride back to my tent. Thankfully navigating the driveway on the way back isn’t a problem. I find out the next day that no one ended up being able to see the Northern Lights, so at least I didn’t miss that.
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