Our Travels

Getting to this section of the Great Lakes involves a great deal of history. Just some basics to keep in mind as we talk about where we go and what we see here.  The first point is that Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world and more than 600 FEET ABOVE the ocean! What’s more interesting still is that as all that water flows downstream to the ocean, there are really only two spots any early traveler could NOT float through. The obvious one is Niagara Falls, and the other…? Right here on the St. Mary’s River that runs between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. There’s a drop of 25 feet over nothing but terrible rapids.

With that in mind, we started our personal exploration on the Canadian side of this crazy but oh so important spot between Canada and the U.S.

Sault Ste. Marie Canal, Ontario

Suffice to say, this slice of rapids was fought over many times, so you might imagine the story. Briefly, of course the Indians were here first. Next came the French then the British and Americans, all initially trying to get all those furs, then other bounty from the lands above and below the Great Lakes. The first attempt to tame the rapids were small locks built by a British merchant company called North West Company in 1798. Those locks were destroyed in 1814 during the war with the United States. Then the U.S. built new locks on “our side” of the river in 1853. Everyone used that side until 1870 when the U.S. stopped a British-Canadian ship from coming through trying to stop a fight downstream on the Canadian side. Understandably, this aggravated the Canadians (still very British), so much so that they built their own lock on their side of the river. Whew, end of history lesson…. hopefully!

Completed in 1895, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal was the final link in an all-Canadian navigation system (meaning they’ll stay on their side, thank you) from Lake Superior all the way to the St. Lawrence River in the east. To “one up” those Americans, at the time, the lock was the world’s longest and the first to operate with electrical power! Electricity allowed it to fill and empty faster than the manual locks.

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Islands. Trails. Waterways. History. You know we’re down for that!

After perusing the information at the Visitors Centre, we crossed the canal and South St. Mary’s Island, then took the little bridge to the Whitefish Island Reserve, a national historic site and territory of the Batchewana First Nation. Whoa, more history.

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The entrance to Whitefish Island is marked with a few warning signs.

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Now about that wildlife …

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After our encounters with the small woodland creatures – and hoping NOT to find a bear in search of treats – we carried on down the path. As we approached the rapids, our photographer captured an osprey overhead. Then, as she was looking over to photograph the International Bridge, SPLASH! The osprey dove right next to us!

It happened so fast. There was no time to switch to video, focus or zoom. Only click away and hope to capture something as the osprey captured lunch. Here are a few enlarged shots:

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We enjoyed the sights for a bit and watched a freighter slowly pass way over there, through the Soo Locks across the river.

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No problem, the main path is a loop. We turned around and went back the other way. Guess what? It’s a LOOP. We eventually hit the flooded section again from the other direction.

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We decided to walk out on the canal wall so someone’s shoes could dry in the sunshine.

So pretty!

That was quite a day! Not only didn’t we have treats for the forest creatures, but we also hadn’t packed a lunch. It was well past time to find some of that Italian food the Soo is known for. More on that another time. (And that may involve a bit more history…)