In Search of Winter Wonderland in Lake Superior

After 10 years of living in Canada, I still don’t quite get used to the short and cold days of winter. Nevertheless, despite the seasonal lethargy it brings, I’ve found ways to cope with the infamous winter blues. This is the time of the year I do more art, edit the pictures I’ve taken throughout the year, and devote time to personal projects. And, of course, I carve out space for short day trips and weekend trips close to home.

Now, the splendor of the Great Lakes is always alluring, no matter the time of the year, but I’d heard that during the coldest months, they truly turn into a natural winter wonderland. Eager to witness the spectacle firsthand, I loaded Ryan and Fleetwood into the car and set our sights on Lake Superior.

A dead tree that got trapped in the waves of a frozen beach. At Old Woman Bay.

From “warmer” Toronto, we headed north and west, tracing the eastern shores of Lake Huron. While Toronto hinted at the onset of spring, the northern cities are still in the middle of winter, and the temperature immediately dropped once we got close to the water.

After passing Sault St Marie, the meeting point of Lakes Superior and Huron, our expedition continued northward, spending the next couple of days admiring the captivating landscapes between Sault St Marie and Wawa.

The rocky shore of Blind River by Lake Huron.

Being the largest freshwater lake in the world (as its name indicates), it would have taken us around a week to truly enjoy going all around Lake Superior. Though still on the bucket list, this time we decided to stay on the east coast of it, at Lake Superior Provincial Park, which has great camping spots and cottages. This was the perfect basecamp for a weekend of traversing frozen beaches, exploring ice-clad caves, marvelling at majestic frozen waterfalls, and shaking off the winter blues