I don’t think I could have read enough blogs or watched enough TikToks to really “prepare” me for my first backcountry camping trip. I spent a lot of the winter saying I was going to try out new trails this summer and hopefully do an overnight trip for the first time. Well, I did, in fact, do what I set out to do. My first backpacking trip was planned rather last-minute, and I’d say I learned a lot on the journey. If you didn’t read the post I made before this one, I’d recommend reading it at some point. Besides what I wish I had done differently, it was a great adventure! Without further ado, here’s a recap of my trip from Gargantua Harbour to Warp Bay, via the coastal trail in Lake Superior Provincial Park!

Quick bit of context, I did this hike with my boyfriend, so if I say “we,” that’s who I’m referring to, not my imaginary friends.

The day started with a drive up Highway 17N to the Gargantua Road turn-off. Sometimes people ask how I get to hiking trails around Lake Superior without using the maps on my phone, but in this provincial park, you basically just drive straight on the main highway until you see the sign for the trail you’re going to. Once on the road, we continued for about 14 km to the trailhead. Don’t take any weird turns, the road will simply turn into a dirt parking lot when you’ve arrived. My boyfriend drives a jeep, so this was no issue for us on the bumpy road, but we did see an SUV in the parking lot, so it’s definitely possible with a “regular” vehicle.

We drove on this road for just under half an hour. Once we reached the trailhead head I had to nerd out and read all the infographics and make sure I knew exactly where we were going. Boy, did that backfire…

Heading north, we hiked two kilometres to Gargantua Harbour. The harbour used to be an old fishing village, and a few of the buildings are still half-standing in the harbour. We didn’t get the chance to see it, but when the lake level is low, you can see part of an old shipwreck. From the harbour, we were another five kilometres to Warp Bay, but we got distracted and ended up adding a good chunk of distance by taking the wrong trail. More than once. We somehow also ended up doing a steep climb to a lookout. So much for studying that map.

Once we finally hit the right trail, we were met with a steady incline, the odd hill/climb, and mud. Lots of mud. I feel like a new person who has learned to accept mud. I’ll pause here to say my boyfriend was a little bit worried about how I’d be with the mud. Well, let me say, I became best friends with that mud and even took some home with me on my shoes and ankles.

The hike honestly wasn’t that long in, and the scenery changed often enough that it didn’t get boring. However, once we knew we were only about a kilometre away from our campsite, the hike all of a sudden started to drag on. I don’t think we would have felt this way if we hadn’t taken the wrong trail, and if it wasn’t thirty degrees Celsius outside. That last bit of the trail also had the most elevation, but crossing the Gargantua River brought back some of that energy.

There was a sign at the end of the bridge that said we were pretty close to Warp Bay, but we still ended up with another twenty minutes of hiking. There was one more steep ascent up a rock face, but if you take your time, it’s totally doable. After what felt like hours, probably because it was hours, we made it to our site. We took the first one of five cause we were ready to get set up and go for a swim. We had the perfect site, and we’d definitely stay here again next time. We were up away from the wind, but nice and close to the water to go swimming and collect driftwood. The people before us also left a nice pile of birch bark and roasting sticks for marshmallows or hot dogs, which was super awesome.

Once camp was set up, we had a great evening disconnected from everyone else and enjoyed being surrounded by nature. While we felt totally alone, there were other campers down the beach, and it gave us some peace of mind knowing they were there in case anything went wrong.

We woke up to thick fog in the morning, but it was nice to know we wouldn’t be hiking out in killer heat. We got the tent packed up and made some instant noodles for breakfast (breakfast of champions, I know), then went for a swim before heading out.

I won’t talk much about the way back out, but I will mention that it was much faster than the hike in, because we actually knew where we were going. We were back to the car in just under two hours. It sounds like a quick hike, but when I say we were moving, I mean we were moving. We hyped ourselves up for real food from Agawa Fish and Chips, and that kept us going. Oh and, of course, more mud!

I did a little happy dance when we made it back to the jeep, and felt a wave of relief when I sat down and put my feet up. Don’t be fooled by my subtle complaints; I loved this quick overnighter. It was great to get out and connect with nature, and ditch the schedule and the feeling of having to answer my phone. Once we hit Pancake Bay, our mouths were watering with anticipation of poutine and other fried foods. Drooling again, thinking about it…

Well, that concludes our backcountry trip to Warp Bay. I’ll definitely be back here, and I’ll either hike further north next time or try the trail to the south. Gargantua is one of many entry points to the sixty-kilometre Coastal Trail, so the possibilities for hiking are quite open.

This was a long read, but I had fun writing it, and I really do appreciate you making it this far. I’ve seen people do this hike in and out in a day, but I think for a more relaxed trip, staying the night is perfect. Hopefully, this post helps you plan for a future trip, whether it be this trail or another one!