Our first day in Ontario, the weather was perfect. 19 degrees and sunny, just the right kind of weather to have picnic lunches and afternoon swims in the crystal lake waters around Kenora. By the time we were pulling into Thunder Bay, the forecast had changed. Each time we climbed another hill as the highway drew us closer into town, we could see the black storm clouds building on Lake Superior. We took the hint and stopped on the edge of town to buy a couple extra tarps.
I’ve been to Thunder Bay a couple of times and while I’ve always enjoyed my stay, I’ve never really thought of it as a destination but we were getting tired as we left town so decided to make camp for the night in Sleeping Giant provincial park and hope for the best weather-wise. The descent into the Sibley Peninsula is a winding 40km and as we left the main highway we drove into a cloud. Not a fog, not a haze or a mist, it was a cloud and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced.
After setting up camp along the lake (there are actually steps down from each site to the lake, in a sense creating a private lake front for each site), we started to prep our supper. The cloud around us was so thick that the water looked as though it stretched out forever and that the trees on either side of us were all that existed in the world. From the edge of this insulated space, a skunk came ambling into our site. At first we froze, no sudden movements. But the skunk insisted on being friends with us. He checked out our tent, rubbed against our legs like a cat and as quickly as he came he disappeared back into the mist.
While we were still in awe over the skunk’s visit and cooking up our meal over the fire, a perfect little red fox stepped quietly into our site, sat down between us in front of the fire and spent a few minutes enjoying our company and blowing our minds.