Announcer: Welcome to "Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope."

[Paddles tapping] Men: Whoo!

Announcer: Where you join us as we accept the world's invitation to visit.

[Cheering] Joseph: Today on "Travelscope," I travel to Ontario, Canada, to Sault Ste.

Marie in Algoma Country for fall foliage adventures by planes, trains, boats, and automobiles.

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Joseph: The first track of the Algoma Central Railway was laid in 1900.

Until 1972, the only way you could take in the beauty of the Agawa Canyon was by passenger train.

Since then, the Agawa Canyon tour train has taken hundreds of thousands of people from downtown Sault Ste.

Marie into the wilderness, and that's where I'm going today.

As soon as the train leaves Sault Ste.

Marie, the fall display begins.

Maples color the landscape in red, orange, and burgundy, while the yellow birch gives off its namesake tint, and even the evergreen tamaracks join nature's changing palette of hues.

Joseph: This is probably one of the only ways people can get up here into the Agawa Canyon, right?

It is.

This and our passenger train.

Passenger train stops along the way and drops people off and picks people up.

This is strictly the tour.

Okay.

It's a 4-hour journey to the canyon where they can go on the trails, see the waterfalls, or hike up to a lookout tower where they get the full view of the canyon.

I understand you get most of your passengers between the middle of September and middle of October, so if you want to come up for these kinds of beautiful foliage that we've been seeing, you better make plans way in advance.

That's right.

What made you decide to do this?

You read about it, or what?

No.

Her idea.

Our friends asked us to come along.

What did you guys come for?

The beautiful scenery and to get to the end when it goes on, they said it's gorgeous, if I can do the 300 steps.

Joseph: Algoma Country is 25,000 square miles of Ontario wilderness.

This natural beauty caught the eyes of the Group of Seven, artists who believed that, inspired by the country's grandeur, they could develop a distinctive Canadian art.

Between 1918 and 1924, members of the group painted in Algoma, often living in a specially outfitted boxcar the rented from the railway.

It's 372 steps, about 200 feet from the Agawa River to the top of the lookout.

You can certainly see why the maple is the national tree of Canada.

It is certainly beautiful at this time of year.

I'm at mile 114 here at the Wilderness Park.

[Bell clanging] I'm going to hop on the passenger train to head out to mile 206.

This train will go for 100 miles after that, but I'll be fine there.

Joseph: Hawk Junction is the only train station between the Agawa Wilderness Park at mile 114 and Hearst at the end of the line at mile 296.

Yet the Algoma Central Railway is one of the last flag trains in North America.

What does that mean?

It means all along this track, people can flag down this train just like you can hail a cab in New York City.

The train is still here to serve the communities.

There are few communities along the track through the Agawa Canyon.

Those who live here and those who visit come for the wilderness, and the only company they seek is Mother Nature's.

[Bell clanging] Joseph: Well, I'm glad to hear that.

Lodge employee: Can you get that, sir?

[Guests conversing] Joseph: With a name like Errington's Wilderness Island, it's obvious that wilderness is what you've mostly got to sell here.

Al: Everything comes from the wilderness, whether it's the fishing, the wildlife viewing, people love to connect to the wilderness.

People who come here are a little bit different.

Yeah.

I think, uh, maybe they--they're looking for a little deeper connection to nature.

We have a large area where people know that the wildlife is actually protected.

2 million acres is certainly not a game park.

[Laughs] No, it's pretty big.

The Ontario government looked into it, and it was the largest wildlife sanctuary in the world.

At the early part of the 1900s, wildlife wasn't really protected at all, so they set aside these large game preserves to get the populations back and to actually feed the outside areas with the wildlife.

The decommissioned most of them in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, but the Chapleau Game Preserve survived that, and it's the only large one left in Ontario.

[Loon calling] [Performing moose call] That's a moose call, Dean?

Yeah.

I was imitating a cow.

A cow?

Uh, yeah, a cow in heat, and maybe I can call a bull in and... Mm-hmm.

Hopefully, he'll come in.

Sounded pretty attractive.

[Laughs] If you're a bull, I hope it is.

If you're a bull.

Joseph: Dean, we have a black bear here on the shore, and, uh, years ago, they were just kind of getting rid of them, right?

Dean: There was no registered trap lines back then.

It was just a free-for-all.

Mm-hmm.

So everybody that wanted to make a dollar, they just come and almost cleaned it right out.

What is the relationship between animals here, the reserve, and the lodge?

They want to make it an eco-tourism, so that we can get people in to see what the animals really look like.

Uh-huh.

Off this lake, we see a lot of loons, eagles, bears.

Every once in a while, we see a moose.

You know, this is-- reminds me a lot of Africa, the game reserves and preserves there.

People needed to use the animals in order to survive.

Because of tourism, they now are benefiting from the animals being alive.

If it wasn't for tourism and the preserves, there would be no animals left.

Hey, uh, talking about eagles, there's one right there.

Wow.

The American emblem, more of them in Canada than anywhere else.

[Both laughing] Well, hey!

Got something there.

Dean: That's your lunch.

Lift her up, lift her up, lift her up.

All right!

Got her.

There we go.

It's a pickerel or a walleye.

Hope you're hungry.

We've got lots of walleyes for shore lunch.

Well, I'm glad to hear that, 'cause we only have one to add to the bunch.

It'll be good.

[Oil sizzling] [Music playing] What is this?

Cook: We got deep-fried bannock.

Joseph: A First Nations People food.

Only slightly addictive.

Only slightly.

I've had 3.

Nothing better than fresh fish, and this is the freshest.

[Engine buzzing] Joseph: The province of Ontario, Canada, is the size of Texas and Montana combined, and from up here, the vastness of its unpeopled north seems endless.

And in the fall, the wilderness cloaks its roughness in a blanket of brilliant colors.

[Water gurgling] The St. Marys River brings more of Ontario's outback riches into the heart of Sault Ste.

Marie, and even though I'm miles from fly-in fish camps, it's still a special place for fishing with flies.

You know, Hemmingway said the best trout fishing in the world was in the Soo in St. Marys Rapids.

Fishing aside, this is a great way to start the morning.

It's beautiful.

Brad: Let the reel go!

Let the reel go!

Right on.

Your first St. Marys Rapids salmon here.

Joseph: Oh, wow, wow, wow, wow!

Ohh!

Ohh!

A little bit too much pressure.

Too much pressure.

Brad: There's 21 different species that are available in the rapids here in Sault Ste.

Marie.

Well, with all those species of fish, I'm sure to catch one, right?

Well, you should.

It's hard to stay stressed out doing something like this.

You're living in amongst 100,000 people here.

You don't hear any industry.

No.

You don't smell any smog.

You hear the odd truck going across the International Bridge.

Otherwise, it's pretty peaceful out here.

It's just you and the fish.

Yeah.

There's something very Zen about that.

Yep, a little bit of wildlife here.

You know, ducks.

Ducks.

Geese.

Yes.

Got a nice blue heron sitting over here behind us.

Joseph: Beautiful.

I've heard fly-fishing referred to as the contemplative man's recreation.

Brad: Oh, yeah.

Some days I come over here with a coffee, and I sit here and I drink my coffee and just take in the surroundings, and I don't even fish.

[Laughing] You're doing pretty good there.

Your technique's looking really good.

Now, how about that fly-fishing technique where you throw out the line and it's going back and forth?

What kind of water you use that in?

Brad: You use that more in lakes, calmer waters, unless you're making a really long cast.

Joseph: There is a technique to every kind of fishing, any kind of water.

Oh, yeah.

This is very accessible to the normal person.

Well, I mean, downtown's right there.

Yeah.

You can be staying here at a hotel and walk down to the rapids.

There's no other place in the world like it.

[Music playing] Joseph: St. Marys River runs through the boundary between Canada and the United States and separates the Ontario and Michigan Sault Ste.

Maries.

The Canadian Sault is gateway to Ontario's north, and in its early days, played a role in the formation of the country's national identity.

[Record needle scratches] Don't shoot!

Don't shoot!

I may be American, but the war's over!

Oh, great!

Thanks for the good news, and welcome to the Ermatinger-Clergue National Historic Site, Sault Ste.

Marie, Ontario.

This hall here shows the history of the War of 1812, and we have exhibits highlighting some of the actions that occurred in this area.

between 1812 and 1814.

Joseph: What was there after the war that wasn't there before?

Prior to the war, there were really no hostilities here, other than competition between different fur traders.

Mm-hmm.

The people here were forced to take sides, either compelled to help the British or suffer from raids by the Americans.

After the war, the people here had a common bond.

They were something other than British, other than Americans.

We were Canadians.

And it formed a new link, I think, with the people just south of that waterline.

As you see right now out of the window, that's Sault Ste.

Marie, Michigan.

There's always rivalry, but we've stood side by side in several wars since then.

We're great trading partners, and we love it when Americans come up to visit us.

Joseph: Built on the fur trade, Sault Ste.

Marie was founded in the late 17th century.

At the Ermatinger-Clergue National Historic Site, life in the town's early days is illustrated by living history interpreters.

First thing I'm going to do is I'm making a gingerbread cake.

And you got the fire going.

Yes, I do.

I'm going to add in butter.

Okay.

But I've measured it in a teacup, 'cause that's how they would have measured 200 years ago.

All right.

So now that I've got the butter in, I'm going to add in some brown sugar.

They would have used, actually, maple sugar 200 years ago.

And I'm going to add in an egg.

And some sweetness.

I'm adding in molasses.

Molasses?

Grate in some nutmeg.

[Tapping grater] Excellent.

And I'm going to add in some cinnamon.

And I'm measuring out a teaspoonful.

Smells wonderful.

Oh, it does.

I'm going to add in some ginger, give it a nice little kick.

And I'm also going to add baking soda.

200 years ago, would have been pearl ash, which was ashes out of the fire that they boiled and then fried till it was white and used that in their cake.

Flour.

You notice I haven't used a recipe?

I did notice that.

Most women 200 years ago in Canada couldn't read or write, and if they could, they couldn't afford cookbooks, so they had to learn the recipe from their mothers.

Okay, so if you can get the hot water down at the hearth for me.

Okay.

We'll add that to the cake.

All righty.

Ooh, it's nice and warm.

It should be, yes.

We want it nice and hot.

Makes it a lot moister of a cake.

Who gets to lick the, um... the spoon?

Usually the youngest in the house.

Well, that would be me then, wouldn't it?

Sure.

[Laughing] Okay, so I'm going to take some hot coals out of the fire and put them down here.

Nifty.

That's going to be like the bottom element of a oven.

Then if you can set it on top for me.

That's really actually quite efficient.

It is.

It's like a pioneer microwave.

Joseph: [Laughs] And we'll know it's ready when we can smell it.

Makes me wish I had lived in the 18th century, huh?

I don't have to.

It's happening now.

That's true.

You can just come here and have cake.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you so much.

Joseph: Across the street from the Ermatinger-Clergue Historic Site, the Canadian Bushplane Museum presents a colorful chapter of Sault Ste.

Marie's story.

Featuring more than 20 vintage planes, the center illustrates the history of Canada's legendary bush pilots and gives visitors an opportunity to, perhaps, meet one.

Joseph: So, John, what are you doing here?

I'm trying to build a Foxmoth from 1947.

How long's that taken you?

Too long.

[Laughing] About 16 years.

Now, what's it made out of?

It's made all out of plywood.

That bends.

Very pliant, yeah.

[Laughing] Are you confident this is going to fly?

You know, if, uh, you give me two minutes to make up my mind, I'd say yes.

[Laughing] The passion that goes into that is indicative of a passion from the bush pilots.

But I also understood that the bush pilot guys could be a little bit crazy.

I'd say most of them were crazy.

Why were they?

Especially when you saw the planes that they flew, because they fixed them anywhere they could.

But congratulations on building your dream, putting it together.

You always wanted to do it, and here it is.

This fall, eh?

I sure hope so.

Joseph: From Sault Ste.

Marie, Highway 17 hugs Lake Superior's north shore, weaving its way through the rugged Algoma hills, and especially in the fall, is one of North America's loveliest drives.

It's 90 minutes to the Lake Superior Provincial Park Visitor Center and access to the park's more than 600 square miles of natural and cultural attractions, including ancient Ojibwe pictographs.

Carol, how far do we have to go again?

Well, it's about a quarter of a mile.

It's short, but it's a rugged hike down.

This is a perfect time of year to be here.

It sure is.

It's about peak of the color right now.

You have a lot of leaf-changing trees here in the provincial park?

We do.

It's kind of a mixed forest.

Got the Great Lakes- St. Lawrence forest, which is dominated by the sugar maple and yellow birch, which are giving us a lot of the oranges and reds right now.

Mm-hmm.

And as you go further north, where the boreal forest starts to take over, which is dominated by evergreens, so it gives you a really nice mix.

Oh, this is beautiful.

Yeah, this is a great spot to get the first view of big lake, Lake Superior.

"The shores of Gitche Gumee."

Isn't that, uh, Longfellow's poem?

I didn't know it was about Lake Superior.

Carol: Yeah.

It means "big water" or "great lake," in this case, uh, doesn't get much bigger.

Lake Superior, largest freshwater lake in the world in surface area.

And it had a very important spiritual influence on the people who lived here as well, right?

Yeah, very culturally significant.

I mean, this was their main travel corridor.

It's also provided for them, and the best-known pictograph in the Canadian shield is the Misshepezhieu, the spirit of the lake.

Just watch this first part.

It's the most slippery part here.

Then if you just kind of get a footing in the crack.

Carol, you know, I hiked in the Swiss Alps, and I don't think they were as precarious as this.

Yeah, it has its challenges.

It certainly does.

Yeah, so watch your footing and find a comfortable spot.

We're just coming up to Misshepezhieu right here.

Oh, wow, this is beautiful.

Certainly worth the effort.

What kind of a creature is that?

Sometimes called a horned lynx, and it's believed that when he's content, the lake can be nice and calm.

But if he's not shown the proper respect, he can lash his tail and change conditions very quickly.

And really hurt you.

And this looks like a birch-bark canoe.

Yeah.

Which they used to row across this lake, which is pretty amazing to think of in the first place.

And, actually, they were very at home in the canoe.

That was their main way of getting around.

We've come down a pretty rugged trail, but they probably would have actually come to this site by water.

It's amazing it's still there.

When you consider they made the paint out of a rock.

They ground it to a fine powder and then mixed it with something like a fish oil or bear grease, so it almost becomes part of the rock.

This site could get crashing waves.

It'll get the sun in a couple of hours.

Lake Superior's noted for its storms.

Yeah, it'll be covered in ice in the wintertime, so it's amazing anything could last a couple of decades, much less centuries.

How long ago would this have been done?

Well, the images that we see today are estimated to be within the last 500 years.

Pictographs in the Canadian shield go back some 2,000 years.

What did they mean to the people who did this?

Maybe documenting a great achievement, thanking the spirits for looking out for them.

Really, only the person that painted them, the spirits know-- know for sure.

Well, this is an amazing site, and thank you for bringing me here.

Yeah, we're lucky Misshepezhieu let us come out today.

Joseph: Heading back to Sault Ste.

Marie, a popular stop on scenic Highway 17 is the Voyageurs' Lodge on Batchawana Bay, where travelers can sample old French and Lake Superior favorites, and where I hook up with some fellows on a mission.

Joseph: I see why these sashes were good for hernias.

[Laughter] Joseph: The fur trade prospered in what is now Canada for almost 250 years.

The transport of pelts for thousands of miles from the wilderness to Montreal, from where they traveled to the haberdasheries of Europe, was done by canoe.

The legendary men who manned those birch-bark canoes were called voyageurs, French for "traveler."

[Men singing "Alouette"] Joseph: The Voyageurs, they were the fur traders with the First Nations people, and they really had a lot to do with the formation of Canada.

Were they actually canoeing on this lake?

Absolutely.

This lake was the last leg of the journey on their way from Montreal to Fort William.

And they were carrying a ton of stuff?

2,000 pounds of trade goods to take up to Fort William.

"Voyageur" is a French term.

How come we're flying that British flag?

The paddlers in the boat were French.

Okay.

Uh, the company men for the Northwest Company were Scottish merchants from Montreal.

The Canadian voyageurs fought for the British in the War of 1812.

Préparer!

Une!

Deux!

[Paddles tapping] Trois!

Men: Whoo!

Joseph: "I had been 24 years a canoe man.

"50 songs could I sing.

"I pushed on over rapids, over cascades, over chutes.

"No water, no weather ever stopped the paddle or the song.

"Were I young again, I would spend my life "the same way over.

There is no life so happy as a voyageur's life"-- An anonymous voyageur.

It's really a thrill to be paddling a canoe on Lake Superior and its tributaries.

It's really a thrill to be paddling on Lake Superior with you.

Well, thank you.

Merci beaucoup.

Joseph: I'm blessed to have been in places where nature has the opportunity to strut her stuff.

I've been to Japan during Hanami-- cherry blossom time-- in Africa for amazing wildlife encounters, on a cruise around Cape Horn in a blow, and in unpeopled places where the night sky was lit from horizon to horizon by billions and billions of stars.

And equal to them all has been the glory of being here in Sault Ste.

Marie and Algoma Country in the fall, where even evergreens change their colors.

While not all of life's blessings are obvious, it's hard to miss the sweet, simple gift of trees going through their fall foliage transition.

It fills me with wonder.

It fills me with peace.

Until next time, this is Joseph Rosendo reminding you of the words of Mark Twain.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

Happy traveling.

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Joseph: Now that we've explored fall in Ontario's Algoma Country, learn more at Travelscope.net, where you can follow my worldwide adventures through my e-magazine, blog, podcast, and on Facebook.

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[Music playing] When you get in, be careful.

That's it.

Make sure your feet are in there.

Step on the seat.

All right.

Now slowly climb down.

Put your feet on the pedals.

When you land the airplane, the tail drops, so you have no visibility over the front.

No.

So you look through the window, and you can look in the passenger windows left and right, and you can see where the runway is.

You're talking about bush pilots being crazy?

[Laughing] And this is, uh... That's your bubble canopy.

That's good.

That's to keep the weather off you.

[Laughing] Thank you so much.

Oh, thank you for coming.

It's a real honor to be able to sit in that.

Well, you're the second person to sit in it.

The second person?

Yep.

I'm the first.

[Laughing] Can't wait to see you fly it.

Well, I'll certainly give it the best I can.