Moominmama's Adventures

  Wherein Moominmama heads south for some hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and gets to see some unusual bridges... The route south to the Great Smoky Mountains crossed through West Virginia and when signs appeared warning me of a closure for "Bridge Day" on Oct. 15, it suddenly dawned on me that I was approaching the New River Gorge Bridge. One day of the year in the fall, the bridge closes to vehicular traffic and opens to pedestrians -- and to base jumpers. This has been going on for years and was stuck in my memory because my ex-husband had come to the bridge to base jump many years ago. I'd seen video, and we had a lovely photo of his parachute against the huge arch of the bridge hanging prominently wherever we lived. He had told so many stories about this place that I immediately knew I had to pull over and see the bridge for myself. Fortunately, it's part of a national park with a visitor center on the gorge. The bridge deck is just over 3,000 f...

In which Moominmama finds Lake Superior to be superior indeed, as she wends her way around its shores to get to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival... Moominmama left Winnipeg to cross into the Province of Ontario, a transition immediately apparent by the sudden return of rocky outcroppings along the highway. I never realized how much I missed rocks until they became part of my landscape once more. Parked at Kakabeka Falls State Park (pictured above), I ventured down to Thunder Bay to hike the Sleeping Giant, a wonderful park on Lake Superior's shoreline with several paths up its reclining anatomy. I chose a steep but shorter trail to the Giant's head. This involved a pleasant up and down trail to a bay on the lake where I ate lunch and then followed the signs to the outhouse -- emphasis on the "out." Fortunately I was alone! From there, the trail got very, very steep. I was using roots, trees and rocks to pull myself up, working up quite a lather. Longest mile I'v...