Agawa Canyon Train Tour, 2004

To commemorate our 2nd full year together, Yumi and I decided to get away for the weekend. We hadn't gone away for a few months and Yumi was tired of school...the timing was perfect.

We decided to go up to Sault.Ste. Marie, Canada, and take the last train ride of the season to the Agawa Canyon. My parents had done this trip many years ago and had brought back some posters for my bedroom. It looked to be very picturesque.

The drive up would be a drag. We had to leave after Yumi's last class on Friday, which was at 3 PM, meaning we wouldn't get up there until close to Midnight. When we got to Manistique, MI, about 2/3 of the way there, and at about 9:30, I developed a nasty headache meaning Yumi would have to drive the rest of the way. She guided us past customs and to our hotel room. We fell asleep very quickly after setting the alarm. We would have to get up by 6:30 to catch the 8 AM train.

Morning came way too early for me, but my headache was gone. I almost got another when I looked outside and saw rain. So much for the beautiful fall colors.

We boarded the train and made plans to eat breakfast on board. We were called to the diner car before we even started down the tracks, but received our meals just as we started off.

Bridal Veil Falls

The beginning of the trip, which would be 4 hours one way, started off slowly without a lot of good views, but once we got further into Ontario things picked up. The terrain was rugged. Lakes dotted the landscape and rocky bluffs began to come into view.

Just before noon we arrived at the Agawa Canyon Park. We had purchased box lunches and carried them in my daypack on our hike to the numerous falls. Still raining, we managed to secure a seat in a pavillion and ate our bologna sandwiches. Though we only got to stay at the park for about an hour and a half, it was still very nice and I thought about possibly doing some backcountry camping in the area.

The train ride back was long and boring. It had started to snow and visibility was close to zero. Both Yumi and I caught short naps on the way back. We finished the day with a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant.

The drive back to Manitowoc was equally long. About 2" of snow had fallen during the night which made driving somewhat difficult, but we made it back by about 4 PM.

This would be a nice trip to take in the early fall or even the summer.