twobikes + an Airstream: SLEEPING GIANT PROVINCIAL PARK

We have about decided that the foul-smelling 3AM visitor to our campsite is a randy Fox, not a Sasquatch. There's a plentiful supply of Fox around Sleeping Giant Provincial Park; 30% of last year's photo contest winners were cute fluffy Fox pictures. Flipping on the noisy water pump sends "Stinky" on his way; in our experience, this doesn't work with a Sasquatch ...

Arrived Wenesday at Sleeping Giant after a day of mild anxiety.

Until noon we were awaiting lab reports (negative, all good).
Our border crossing was pleasant. (We should have kept those eggs.)
We were suffering wheel bearing neurosis, but when we pulled into Woody's RV in Thunder Bay at mid-afternoon, they "double teamed" the Airstream and we had new bearings with synthetic grease all around and a new brake assembly on the left rear before we returned from egg shopping. Like with a newly washed car, we imagined the AS pulling more smoothly; even did a couple hard-braking stops to our complete satisfaction.
Now it was 4:30, Sleeping Giant PP was on the itinerary we scrapped during the three day "disablement". We wondered if we could still fit in a visit, but with no Internets, and multiple miles/kilometers down to the tip of the long peninsula before we would know, we were still holding on to our anxieties. The two Ranger Laurens found us a spot.

Lucky, it's August Long (??) and festival weekend at the park.

Oh, we are all about Lucky today!

And speaking of blind luck, we weren't five miles along Canada's superb roads when a full grown Black Bear loped across the four-lane divided. We were the only vehicle in sight (Oh, Canada) and Patty swears he looked both ways before bolting.

The campground at Mary Louise Lake has 200 sites of all kinds. There are premium sites overlooking the lake (a couple of knowledgeable Airstreamers there), most sites with trees and privacy, many with acreage. Tidy vault toilets with running water spaced around, one central shower house/laundry with individual unisex showers which never seem to be oversubscribed, a well-run family place with lots of kids, bikes, tents and an absolute minimum of mega-motorhomes.

They are deadly serious about bear proofing here. No smelly dumpsters here. All the refuse is hauled out of the park, promptly (a 35 km run to the park boundary). Campers can deposit their recycling at multiple locations but bagged garbage in the One collection point well away from campsites. It is a cement block FORTRESS with a thick Sasquatch-proof, latched chute.

The Visitor Center is small, but the exhibits are first class, including details on tiny Silver Islet. This tiny rock just offshore was once the richest silver mine in the world! Now the silver and the miners are gone and Lake Superior storms have reclaimed it.

Hiking is what you do here. For this short walk near the CG, the park provides this detailed FULL COLOR guide to the plant life along the way. WOW! ....and a gentle suggestion that you might want to leave yours for the next hiker.