Robertson’s cliffs

Don’t visit Robertson’s cliffs as often as maybe I should. It’s always a popular spot and fairly busy. Today was the exception. Did a nice looped snowshoe trail. To the cliffs and back down is not long, but the loop that we did was about 9km.

Pancake Bay falls and lookout

Edmund Fitzgerald lookout and a visit to the “falls”. They are more of flowing rapids than falls though. Decided to take a different route to the lookout and explore a little further in on the trail. Was roughly a 10km loop.

King Mountain

King mountain, still one of my favourite spots. Fun snowshoe with friends.

Orphan Lake

Birthday hike. Wasn’t sure if we’d need snowshoes this time. Turned out the trail was pretty packed down and didn’t need them.

Walker lake cabin

Decided to go for a run out at stokely. Snow was hard packed, which made us easier to get around. Visited Walker lake cabin because I had never been. 9km out and back.

Havilland lookout trail

Did the tour from Havilland to Harmony. There was an interesting river crossing since the water was high due to spring runoff. But after shimmying across a fallen tree, the rest of the trail was pretty easy. Steep climb to the lookout, but most of the trail is wide and pretty flat. Stopped at Sam lake cabin for a drink as well. About 10km point to point.

Voyageur trail - Maki rd to Creek rd

An interesting portion of the voyageur trail close to the Soo. There’s a nice little waterfall and a tricky river crossing when the water is high in spring, but otherwise this is mostly a nice trail to walk your dog with a few decent views. There is one steep climb on the west side of creek rd which was a bit sketchy. 12km round trip.

Agawa

Beautiful spring day to go visit the pictographs and hike around. The pictographs are worth the visit alone, but if you’re already there, venture south along the coastal trail and you’ll find some great views and fun rocks formations to climb under and over. Round trip, I hiked 7km.

Coastal trail - Katherine’s cove to Orphan lake

This section of the coastal trail is relatively flat with lots of it following the shoreline. A lot of hiking on the round rocks, so just make sure of your footing and you’re good. A few nice beaches along the way but honestly not the most exciting portion of the coastal trail. About 13km.

Peat Mountain / Foam Lake

Did this as a trail run because it is the route for the “defeat the peat” race but it is much better for a hike than a run, in my opinion. There is an option at one point to go to the lookout or stay on the main trail, definitely go to the lookout, it’s the highlight of the trail.

Harmony Bay lookout

This was another quick hike up to a lookout over Harmony Bay. The bugs were bad on this one as you hike up mostly the side of a slow moving creek which stirred up a bunch of bugs. Fairly flat until a steep climb at the end.

King Mountain

This was just a quick run/hike up to king mountain, total distance up and down is about 6km.

Norm’s Cabin run

Went for an afternoon run out at Stokely and made my way to Norm’s cabin. Open to the public as a backwoods stopover. You are also able to rent the upstairs and stay for a weekend. There were several nice spots to stop for photos along the way. I ran 23km that day but the trip straight there and back is much shorter.

Awausee trail

This hike had the potential of being a bust but ended up quite pleasant. Was a very foggy day and most of the lookouts were blocked by fog and couldn’t see more than 10m in front of you. Stopped for lunch at the last lookout and watched as the fog receded back onto the lake. The hike is about 8km. Highly recommend going counter clockwise to avoid a steep climb right off the bat.

Coastal trail - Orphan lake to Gargantua

This hike is easily the most technical portion of the coastal trail. Very rocky, hilly, and fairly demanding as there are really no exit points once you get going. However, it also provided some of the most spectacular views and a wide variety of rocky beaches and formations. The fog rolling in off the lake at the end of a warm day was incredible. Did this as a point to point and ended up being about 25km.

Mississagi River - Iron Bridge

Ventured east away from Lake Superior for this one. It was a very unspectacular hike with one lookout. Did this as a point to point, which was about 10km.

Pukaskwa National Park

First visit ever to Pukaskwa and it was amazing. The White River suspension bridge is a must see! Hook falls were also incredible and you can basically go right to the base of the falls. If you don’t mind the extra distance (approx 15km) the Mdaabii Miikna “M&M” trail off the coastal has some incredible views. Total journey that I did this day was about 30km.

Coastal trail - Gargantua to Chafant cove

Ran this portion of the coastal trail as it was mostly logging roads for the first part and nice wide flat trails. Got to be more hilly and technical near Chafant cove. The distance I covered was about 28km. Was a beautiful day with high temps and lots of sun. Also came across a bull moose, so beware of wildlife. Devils chair was a bit of a disappointment and not really worth the extra 5-6 kms off course.

Cup and Saucer/Bridal Veil Falls

Visited Manitoulin to check out some of the trails there. Cup and saucer view lived up to expectations, even though it was an overcast day. The hike up was not overly difficult but definitely go early to beat the crowds. About 5km round trip. Then made my way to Bridal Veil Falls. Worth the visit! Easy access, designated parking and not much of a walk to get there. If you’re adventurous and don’t mind the climb, make your way to the top of the falls.

Misery Bay

Second day on Manitoulin was spent exploring Misery Bay. It was overcast and the trail was a bit tough to follow on the southern part but the rest was a flat easy stroll. The water was higher than usual so the trail around the bay was washed out unfortunately.

Echo Ridges - Voyageur trail

This lookout in behind Echo Bay was much more challenging to get to. Parked at lonely lake and ran up two horse lake rd until I came across the Voyageur trail system. From there I followed the markers up to the lookout through heavy brush, beaver dam crossing, and a fairly steep climb. Came back down Bass lake rd. Entire trip was about 30km.

Odena loop lookout

Took a quick hike up to the Odena lookout to see the fall colours. Parked on sixth line and followed the voyageur trail markers.

Bruce Bay lighthouse

Spent the weekend at the lighthouse which had some short little trails to explore the island.

King mountain

Hiked to the top of King mountain. First part of the trail is fairly flat but then becomes quite steep with several switchbacks.

Orphan lake trail

Trail was icy and footing was sketchy. Loop is just over 6km long. Moderately difficult, much easier in the summer months.

Arrowhead provincial park

3km hiking loop. Park was mostly for skiing but had some shorter hiking/snowshoeing trails.

Track and Tower trail - Algonquin

Freshly fallen snow made for a beautiful hike. Was packed down and no snowshoes needed. Trail was 8.5km long with a treacherously icy staircase.

Odena loop lookout

Quick little after work walk up to the Odena lookout. About 3km up and down.

Pancake bay - Edmund Fitzgerald lookout

Snowshoed up to the Edmund Fitzgerald lookout and then back down and explored the shoreline and ice buildup.

Whitefish Island

Walked around whitefish island and out to the end of the pier to get a view of the bridge. Was a cold and windy day.

Gros Cap bluffs in winter

Parked at the turn around and went up on top of the bluffs and explored a bit North up the trails as well as out on the ice.

Saw pit bay ice caves

Parked on the side of hwy 17 and walked out onto the ice to see the ice formations. In the summer it’s a nice quiet beach area.

Chippewa falls, right off Hwy 17

A short walk uphill from the roadside parking lot up to the top of the falls.