A hike to "The Crack" (Northern Ontario, Canada)

With wall-to-wall sunshine & a temperature forecasted to reach a high of 8C, we decided to do a hike to "The Crack", which we hadn't done for several years. As our Province remains in Covid lockdown, it was a hike we had to do alone. A 20 km car ride west along the TransCanada Hwy brought us to the Little Pic River Bridge and the starting point of our days adventure. We would rate this hike a 4 - 4.5/5, because of the steep rocky climbs & descends. The first part of the trail is a steady climb to reach the top of "The Crack", followed by a steep rocky climb down a ravine to reach the bottom of "The Crack" and its entrance. 

The phrase of the day was "watch your footing". 

No mosquitos, yet!

It's 10:30 am (4C) and Trudy is eager to start

 

We arrive at a small lake

The trail brings us to the end of this lake, which normally flows into a small stream but busy beavers have built a dam to stop the normal flow of water.

Appears the beavers need to make repairs as some water is escaping into the stream.

Still evidence of Winter!

 Trudy blows a tire and needs to make repairs of her own!

A view of the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks and bridge, which spans across the Little Pic River. 

A helpful hiker has left behind a rope to assist with descending this rock face.

A beautiful photo of Trudy and a small cave behind her. Glad a bear wasn't inside sleeping!

We reach the top of "The Crack. The green rope will be needed to climb out. 

A disappointing look down into "The Crack" reveals snow & ice with the rope embedded in the ice. We've decided to continue with our plans of entering "The Crack" from the bottom entrance but we will not be able to exit from the top. 

A view of Lake Superior & the mouth of the Little Pic River from the top of "The Crack"

Hard to tell from the photo, but we need to make our way down this steep ravine to reach the opening of "The Crack"

A short break!

You can barely see Trudy as she begins her descent.

Watch your footing!

Halfway down!

Finally make it to the bottom and onto the tracks. Just a short walk along the tracks to reach the entrance.

Opening to the Crack! A tight squeeze in... Because of the snow & ice inside, Trudy decided not to enter. The following photos are views inside "The Crack". One of the photos includes my hat to show how narrow the passage is.

Because of the snow & Ice, I couldn't go any further. In another month, it should all be melted. Unfortunately, "The Crack" never completely dries out, with constant water dripping down the sides.

We had no choice but to climb back up the ravine and onto the trail back to our car.

1. "The Crack" /  2. Starting Point / 3. Ravine / 4. CPR tracks / 5. Little Pic River

Lenght:  8 km

Time:  3 1/2 hrs