Eh!!!

Another 6:30am alarm. That just seems wrong on a vacation. But it would start out our full day in Canada, eh!

We made our way to the Algoma Central Railway car #3 named Lake Superior for our day on the train. We found great seats and settled in for a nice 8am to 12:25pm ride to Agawa Canyon. This is the view outside our train window as we departed Sault Ste. Marie.

Yep, we had a forecast for a high of 48 degrees and a 70% chance of rain. This, my friends, is 70% rain.  We were not complaining. The forecast when we left our home in Kentucky was for rain Monday through Friday and we had some sun every day on Mackinac Island. We wore jackets with hoods and took umbrellas.

One of the things we noticed again was that we were the youngest of the old people on this tour. It seems when you retire early that means you can now travel at the best times of the year, May and September.  However, this is when the reality of being on the young end of travelers for these times of year becomes clear.

The ride to Agawa Canyon is 114 miles and the train goes 40mph at its highest speed. When we reached Agawa Canyon we would have 1 1/2 hours to do as we pleased. Then we would get back on the train for a return trip. The train is the only way to see this canyon.

We first learned that Agawa Canyon is pronounced Ag (as in 'ag'riculture) -a-wah. The accent is on the first syllable.

The train was quite comfortable. Nice big seats. There is a snack car and a dining car on the train. We had a shelf overhead for our jackets and pockets in the seats in front of us for our umbrellas and things. The only problems really was the windows fogging up with the cold and rain. Eventually the attendant came through with a roll of brown paper. She tore off long sections for each passenger to wipe down their windows. This really helped those of us wanting to try and take pictures.

Claude and I found several things amusing. There was one passenger with striped socks and shorts (remember the temperature).  There was a very loud man behind us with very strong opinions. There was a very loud woman in front of us with very strong opinions.  There was a kindly travel/tour guide walking up and down the aisle being sure the people on his tour knew what to expect. This was helpful to Claude and I as he gave them pointers for what to do when they got to Agawa Canyon in case it was or was not raining. There was a loud man with an Irish accent that seemed to be a hit with his tour group. We had people from Germany, England, and Amish people, of course Canadians and Americans, people of Arabic descent and on and on. Lots of fun and interesting people on this tour.

The train has 'mile' markers on it. Being in Canada one who expect these would be 'kilometers'. When the train line was built kilometers were not in use, miles was the unit of measure. To keep that tradition they have kept the mile markers and use them on maps and instructions.

The streams are full of dark water. It almost looks like their might be oil in it. It is see through, not thick and dirty. They told us the water has 'tannin' in it and that is what gives it the dark color. When we visited the Wisconsin Dells years ago tannin was also in their water.

I've wondered if the word 'Sault' meant something. On this tour we were told 'sault' means 'waterfall'. Originally the town was name Sault Gaston. Sault for the waterfalls and Gaston for a ruler somewhere. Eventually some priests came to the area and they changed the name from Sault Gaston to Sault Ste. Marie after the Virgin Mary. So, Sault Ste. Marie means Waterfall Virgin Mary.

The train is equiped with video display screens. Every now and then a chime would sound and we knew that they were going to teach us something and show pictures on these screens. Sometimes it was the history of this portion of Canada or the building of this railway. Sometimes it was facts about the land and people. Once it was about a moose that stood his ground on the train tracks.

When they built the train they found the moose were not concerned at all with their horns. In fact, the moose were attracted to the trains during rutting season. They actually had to try several different kinds of horns until they found a sound that would cause the moose to move and leave. Now they have horns that work to repel moose.

The trains wheels made grinding noises on those wet rails, particularly when we were in the curves. One time when the train was going a little slower I had a flash back in my head to my Northern Exposure series I loved so much. As the wheels made a prolonged groan-like grinding noise, I found myself saying, "The ice is breaking. The ice is breaking."

One of the neat things was crossing the two tressle bridges. The first was smaller. The second was a bit larger and curved.

Claude did go to the snack car and bring us back donuts and hot chocolate. It was soooooooo good.

We also ordered lunch boxes so we could have a picnic in the park in Agawa Canyon.

Eventually we got to the point where the track drops 500 feet into Agawa Canyon. It is a very gradual drop. We passed Bridal Veil Falls on our way into the Canyon.

The train stopped and we got off in a nice drizzle and found a picnic table. We had a great quickly eaten lunch as the sun tried to come out. It never really made it through but it did dry up the mist for a bit.

Then we were off to walk to Black Beaver Falls.

Then we walked to South Black Beaver Falls.

Then we found we had enough time to hike to Bridal Veil Falls.

Along the way Claude was the 'River Whisperer'.

I really loved watching my Big Guy walking on the lovely paths between these falls.

Here are a couple of pictures of the river that runs through the Agawa Canyon.

 

We hurried back to be the train. Claude gave me an evil grin and said, "Get your camera ready." I had tucked my camera into my purse to keep it out of the sprinkle that was starting. I pulled it out and put it in my pocket. We approached the train and Claude showed me his strength...ready...here goes!!!

It is truly fun to be old and foolish!!

The couple across the aisle agreed to change sides of the train for the trip back so we could see the other side of our journey. While we were out of the train the train attendants had flipped the seats to face the direction we would be going now. We settled in for the ride home.

From this side I was able to get a picture of Lake Superior in the distance.

As we approached Sault Ste. Marie I noticed a lot, I mean a lot, of seagulls and other birds flying around the steel mill.  I mentioned this to Claude and commented I would understand if it was a seafood packing plant but why in the world would they be circling over a steel mill in in mass.  Claude, in his usual quiet way, said, "They are trying to re-calibrate."  We both had a good laugh.  When the compass on my car goes out of kilter, you are to drive it in tiny circles at a slow speed and then it will find north again and work fine. We kind of wondered if when the birds get north do they have to re-calibrate also.

We had a great day, relaxing and informative, beautiful and interesting. It is well worth the trip to enjoy this beautiful scenery. They say the best time for fall colors on the Agawa Canyon Train Tour is the last two weeks of September and the first week of October. We were right in the middle of that. Rain can't be helped but it didn't diminish our adventure in the least.

Now...a good night's rest (with no alarm in the morning). Then we are off to Chelsea tomorrow to have an evening with all the Michigan portion of our family. Looking forward to grandmonster hugs.