Having explored a bit of the park last night 

and avoiding the thunderstorm we wanted to explore the park a little more before heading off again. We had wanted to stay here two nights to do the park more justice but were only able to book one night so we made the best of what we had. Rushing River is a pretty big provincial park so after breakfast we drove to the park entrance, parked up and went for a walk along the Lower Rapids trail.

The path was a little overgrown in places and there were lots of steps going up and down. It was still early morning and the mist was rising from the river although, since it was August (snow melt long since gone) and it had been a very dry summer the river was not as rushing as it might usually have been. There was though a faint smell of smoke in the air from the wildfires in Northern Ontario. It was still a nice walk along the river but even so by 10.00am we had packed up and left the campground. 

Ninety minutes later we were back in Dryden where we gassed up the car and decided to get coffee at Tim Hortons. From our trip going west we knew that Tims was at the east end of town so we headed that way and pulled across the highway into the parking lot - WHOOPS! The Tims parking lot was really small and there was nowhere we could park and no space to make even a ten point turn! We had no option but to go through the drive through. It was a tight fit in the drive thru lane which was narrow and had raised kerbs on both sides but at least there was no height restricting  bar which would really have been bad! Tims was very busy and it took us a good while to filter through the drive thru and get back on the highway. We managed to find somewhere quiet for lunch not too far along the road before heading through Upsala at 3pm (central time) where we gassed up again - I was taking no chances on getting short of gas! Thirty minutes later we passed back on to eastern time.

We continued east on the Trans Canada Highway (highway 17) down to Thunder Bay where we had booked two nights stopover at Fort William Historic Park (FWHP). We didn't know anything about FWHP prior to arriving. I had hoped to book two nights in a provincial park but there were no spots available - same story as at Rushing River the previous day.

We entered FWHP but there was no obvious campground or indication of where we should go. There was no sign of any other campers and no reception as such. We did mange to flag down someone in a car that was just leaving. It turned out she was one of the costumed interpreters from the reconstructed settlement. She directed us to the foyer of the visitor centre although the visitor centre itself was closed for the day. The visitor centre foyer contained all the necessary information and directions for the campground. It turns out we didn't see the campground as there was no-one booked in there except us! Furthermore, because of Covid the campground had only opened it's campground (and online booking system) to campers the previous day so I must have found the site and booked it almost as soon as it came online. Our campground was on the crest of a hill above the visitor centre although we were rather lonely....

Later in the evening a motorhome came in so we were not entirely alone.

My preference was to have been to spend two nights at Kakabeka Falls provincial Park which was about 30 minutes west of FWHP so after breakfast the next day we headed off there.

Kakabeka Falls is known as Niagara of the north and it's easy to see why.

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After spending a couple of hours at Kakabeka we headed back to FWHP for lunch and then explored the FWHP reconstructed settlement. The original settlement was where fur traders, indigenous guides and merchants from Europe would gather at set times to trade their wares. The merchants buying the furs using 'modern' European equipment such as knives, guns, blankets and cooking pots etc to barter with. The settlement was organised and included a gaol for those causing trouble. 

The original settlement had fallen into disrepair and no buildings were left intact but the reconstruction was built from surviving plans and using the building foundations many of which survived.

 

 

                                                 Trading furs........

 

 The Armoury, although the fort was never built or used as a military site there were plenty of guns and other weaponery around. Note that the earth around the armoury is built up the walls so that in case of an explosion the earth would help to contain the blast and minimise damage. 

The armoury was also in a separate enclosure withing the fort for the same reason. The costumed interpreters did a really good job of talking us through the history of the site and were obviously passionate about the work they do. If we had done as planned and stayed at Kakabeka falls we would have missed this! It was even better as, again due to Covid and a resultant lack of visitors the entrance fee was reduced to just $5 each.

Incidentally, on the drive into FWHP through Thunder Bay we couldn't help but notice the large rock formation ahead of us. We did not confirm it but believe this is the 'Sleeping Giant' after which a nearby provincial park is named. This is the best we could do of it.....