Today we are driving north, all the way up to Lake Winnipeg and the Hecla-Grindstone Provincial Park.  We’ve read there are some great hikes around the lake up there, as well as a couple of places to stop for lunch.  So why not?  It’s not a bad day as we leave the condo and find our way out of the city – passing some great murals – and into the hinterland that is the great bread basket of Canada. 

A few miles out of the city and we are in farmland.  Miles and miles and miles of vast farmland without even a house except possibly way out in the distance.  About 2 hours out, we pass a sign for Gimla, the Heart of New Iceland.  Huh?  Really?  A little research and we find that Gimla is the largest settlement of Icelanders outside of Iceland.  They were granted property along Lake Hecla as a reserve in the 1800s and actively recruited to move here.  Fascinating.

Further out, little red huts begin to appear, dotting the farmland.  Have no idea what they are, but think that maybe they are ice fishing huts?  In the middle of the field? Who knows, but as we drive on, we do begin to see piles of snow along the tree line.  Hmmm….It is mid-May, but apparently it is still winter out here…..

….which is totally proven by the time we get to the Hecla and find the lake still frozen over. What? No way!  Yes way!  In every direction you look, you can see either ice coating the surface out in the lake or right up to the shore.  Wow.

And in another wow, we spot a fox on the side of the road.  In broad daylight just looking at us.  Awesome. Then there are of course deer.  Same thing, just hanging out staring at us as we are the only things moving out here on the vast empty road.

Driving all the way to the end of the peninsula, we leave our car in the Gull Harbour parking lot and begin to hike out along the shore of Lake Winnipeg.  Of course we don’t get very far before we run into snow patches.  And then snow mounds, and then well, snowbound trails.  Eek!

We soldier on, past the outdoor movie theater and the little concessions hut (obviously closed), past – I should say over – some fallen trees and then finally out to the beach which is, yes, you guessed it, completely frozen over.  Crazy!

Navigating our way past the snow encrusted trails – sometimes up to our knees in the snow (wishing for our snowboots) – we make it to the trail that will take us back to the road – abandoning our plan to hike all the way around the shore.  Nope – need snowboots or snowshoes for this adventure!

Back at the parking lot where the lighthouse and boat pier are located, we walk around the Gull Harbor Restaurant, peeking in the windows, hoping they are open. The sign says they are, and success!  They are actually open – making us very happy as we really didn’t look forward to driving over an hour back to Gimla to try to find sustenance.  The staff couldn’t be friendlier, and as we are the only people in the place, the service is fantastic.  A big order of Annika Poutine (the chef’s Poutine) and a beer battered Pickerel filet (the local fish here) – both fabulous – finished off with cups of nice warm coffee that completes our meal and rejuvenates us for the drive back to Winnipeg. 

As we are paying, I ask the waitress if it will get busy later, and she replies, “Yes, in July.”  Um, yeah, well, I meant today!  To which she tells us that they do have 1 booking at 1:30pm – but otherwise?  Not so much.  Wild they stay open just for 1 booking and the chance of some idiots (present company very much included) who may just come by.  But we are very grateful that they do.

Heading back out of the park, we stop at a picnic area for the views – definitely not a picnic day as it is pretty darn chilly, dare I say cold, out here with a nice strong wind! – then continue on to the Hecla Historic Village.

Here there is a whole little community – again, Icelandic – with an old church and a school that opened as a one-room classroom in 1889 but was expanded in 1892 to two rooms because they needed more space.  The school closed in 1970 and serves now as an interpretive center, but during its day it was open from September to November and then again from March to June to avoid the worst of the winter. There was also a Community Hall and the Reynistad building which was originally the school, then the first post office, and the site of the first telephone and switchboard on the island and also a homestead that welcomed travelers moving from the north to the south. 

Proceeding on to the entrance of the park, we decided to walk the Grassy Narrows Marsh Trails, hoping they would be a little less snowy.  And it was – just like a different world over here – no snow, just acres and acres of marshland, boardwalks and nice paths to hike through.  If we were feeling more energetic – or had started our explorations here – we might have been tempted to hike the entire Black Wolf Trail, totaling about 10 miles.  But at this time of day, that’s a bit much since we still have a 2+ hour drive ahead of us, and quite frankly the parts we did hike were quite scenic and peaceful. Well, except for the Geese walk – scenic, yes; fun, yes; peaceful, eh, not so much. 

Turning away from the channel leading to Lake Winnipeg, we walked the Chorus Frog trail – and sure enough, you could hear the frogs in this one section.  Neat!

Ending our little excursion, we hopped back into the car, navigating the narrow gravel roads that stretch forever, coming to the entrance to Hecla Island with the cool lighthouse.  Stopping to look about, we learned that ferry service didn’t start to the island until 1953 – before then the Icelandic settlers on Hecla lived without the conveniences the rest of the province enjoyed.  Shortly after the ferry began, the island was connected to hydro-electric power for the first time (the first time! In the 1950s!).  The remains of the ferry dock are still on the peninsula opposite the now ornamental lighthouse. 

Then we are back out onto the main road, passing through the miles and miles of empty farmland and little red shacks.  A quick pit stop in Gimli to buy beer and wine (only available in State liquor stores that were mostly closed on Sunday), then back on the road and safely home in the apartment by 5.  Great day!

We capped off our night with Vietnamese food at Pho Hoang Osborne, walking through the Government gardens and the really cool bear statues on the way.  Ed was in heaven with his Pho, as I did with my grilled chicken and spring rolls on vermicelli!  We ordered way too many spring rolls though, which came home with us for a leftover dinner meal.

A nice stroll back through the Bears – called Bears on Broadway and created to raise money for CancerCare Manitoba in 2005 – we spent the rest of the evening happily hanging out on the sofa watching Netflix.  Lovely first full day in Manitoba, Canada.