On our way to Pukaskwa, we stopped at White River. The Home of Winnie the Pooh ! What’s that you say? Yes you heard right, the sweet little honey bears story began in this tiny little town in Ontario.
During WW2, in August 1914, Lt Harry Colebourn, from Winnipeg MB, was on a train that stopped at White River. A man sold him a little black bear cub for $20. Lt Colebourn was shipped out to England and took Winnie with him. Winnie, named after Winnipeg, was their mascot. When he was later shipped to France and could not take the cub with him, he left him at London zoo. A.A. Milne and his son Christopher, visited the zoo. Christopher loved Winnie and added the “Pooh” after his pet swan which was called Pooh. And history was made………
Now on to Pukaskwa National Park which is beautiful. The shoreline is somewhat reminiscent of Newfoundland.
You cannot make reservations at this park. When we arrived, on a Tuesday in August, there were very few sites left. We ended up with a non-hydro site. It was a nice site, #29; we had to back down a driveway and park on the driveway. Behind the trailer we had our campfire and picnic table. We could not put both our awning and slide out so we had to leave the awning in. On a bright note, it was very private ! We were only here 1 1/2 days and so we decided to do all the trails except one. The one we missed was the White River Suspension Bridge via the Coastal Hiking Trail. It was 18 km return and because of the trail would take 8-9 hours to complete. So we opted to do all the other trails. Some of the trails below. And yes the beach with all the logs is part of a trail.
This was a nice lake and a separate trail from all the others; called Halfway Lake. It rained while we did this trail; you hike the whole perimeter of the lake. I think it was 4-5 km. Beautiful spot and we did not see any other people on this trail.
Trums Travels 