Waterfalls and a Giant Nickel

21 July 2023 — Friday

East along the trans-Canada highway to Sudbury with a detour to find some pretty waterfalls.

0835 57, 672 62°F Leave the Clayton Farm Harvest Host in Webbwood, ON

0950 57,729 65° Onaping Falls

We detoured north onto Highway 144 to find waterfalls.

We highly recommend stopping here!

A.Y. Jackson Lookout at the picnic area.

Interesting rock fractures.

There is a handicapped accessible lookout, then a relatively steep trail with views of multiple waterfalls.

Along the trail

An iron pedestrian bridge allows over water views.

From the bridge.

Longer exposures capture the feel of flowing water.

1110 57,729 68°F Leave Falls

Always on the lookout for railroad action, we spotted this convertible rail truck heading west on the tracks.

A little further east we noticed this next to the road. My father was active in the Lion’s club. Not sure what the statue symbolizes, but they do good work helping to provide eye care for people who need assistance.

1115 57,734 Vermillion Falls

Another nice set of waterfalls with the added bonus of ripe blueberries.

Lv 1130

1150 57,744 71°F Azilda, ON

Whitewater Lake Park

Stopped here when we noticed a seaplane dropping down to land. We could see the seven planes and a hanger just across the lake.

It might be a fun place to camp on a future trip. We were told to ask the chip stand lady if we wanted to spend the night. Lv 1245

1302 55,755 75°F Sudbury, ON

We found the largest coin in the world, the Big Nickel at Sudbury’s Dynamic Earth Science Center.

The giant coin was made in 1951 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the isolation and naming of the element Nickel. At 13,000 kg and nine meters in diameter it is over 64 million times the size of an actual Canadian nickel.

We parked next to evidence of a massive meteor that struck the Sudbury area 1.85 billioin years ago.

The main Science Center building. Lots of mineral themed exhibits and the chance to go down into a mine.

Nickel is still mined and smelted here. We learned that tall stack visible in the center of this photo is the “tallest freestanding chimney in the world.” Known as “The Superstack” it helped reduce sulfur emissions from the nearby Copper Cliff Smelter. No longer in service, it was replaced by a pair of shorter, more energy efficient, chimneys in 2020. It’s still one tall stack!