Day 30: Biking in Soo, Ontario

 

This morning we moved from our serendipity water front site at Aune-Osborn CG to an interior site, which, though lacking the wonderful view of the river, is quite nice. After the move, we decided to explore the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario waterfront by bike and familiarize ourselves with tomorrow’s trip across the border to take the Agawa Canyon train trip. We started at the Canadian lock which is closed for repairs. We biked over the hydro plant spillway and proceeded on the boardwalk to the Station Mall where we had lunch. After lunch we walked across the street to the Agawa Railway office and retrieved our tickets for tomorrow’s trip. We also checked out the dining car breakfast menu. We have to board the train at 7:30 a.m. so we plan to have breakfast on the train.

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After lunch we continued east on the boardwalk all the way to Belleview park where we rode the bike paths and Irene looked at the botanical gardens. The total bike ride was 11.1 miles. We proceeded across the International Bridge in the truck and cleared customs where George used his new “green card” for the first time.

Day 29: Soo Locks

 

The Soo Locks are what brought us to Sault Ste. Marie, and we spent most of today learning about the locks at the Visitors Center, watching boats go through the locks, and taking a locks boat tour.  We bicycled to the Visitors Center to see the exhibits and videos and to learn when freighters were scheduled to go through the locks.  The heavy fog that covered Sault Ste. Marie in the morning and the previous night worked to our advantage here:  4 freighters would be going up bound today as they all had been at anchor during the night just east of the locks due to fog.   

St. Mary's River in Sault St. Marie joins Lake Superior to Lake Huron.  The problem is that Lake Superior is 21 feet higher than Lake Huron, and also there are rapids in the river.  So a canal was dug to bypass the rapids, and the locks were built to raise or lower the boats (depending on which way they are going).  If going to Lake Superior, the boats are raised 21 feet, so they are said to be up bound; if going to Lake Huron, they are lowered 21 feet and are thus down bound. And you can really see the difference in the height of the boats in the canal with that 21 feet (see photos at the left).  We watched one of the Locks Tour Boats go thru the canal up bound and then  return, and then a series of freighters passed through the locks up bound.  One of these was the Edwin Gott, a little over 1000 feet long.  Two of the original locks still are in use,  with the Poe lock, the longest, used for the 1000 foot freighters.  The other two locks of the four are not deep enough for today’s freighters.

During all this “lock watching,” we ate lunch at a restaurant across the street from the Locks Visitors Center, and George felt our restaurant was “the real thing” when it came to fried whitefish.  He ordered the whitefish basket and really enjoyed it. 

We ended our Soo locks experience by taking the Locks Boat Tour which was quite interesting, and after watching so many boats pass through the locks, we went through ourselves on the tour.  The shorter of the two working locks was in use, so our tour boat went in the Poe Lock, the larger one, and a 600+ foot freighter came in behind us.  Each boat is tied along side the canal while the water level is being raised – a surprisingly quick process.  We saw many sights in both Soos –  Sault Ste. Marie, MI, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario – including the  Algoma steel mill in Canada, the International Bridge, and the longest freighter on the Great Lakes, the Paul R. Tregurtha (just beyond the bridge after leaving the lock in photo above).

It was a full and enjoyable day, and it ended with a nice view from our coach – the full  moon over St. Mary’s River.

Day 28: Sault Ste. Marie

 

On leaving Tahquamenon State Park heading for Sault Ste. Marie, we decided to take the  scenic route which was part of the Lake Superior Trail.  We were delighted when we came to Point Iroquois Lighthouse overlooking Whitefish Bay and stopped to explore.  From the walkway along the bay we could see wind turbines across the lake in Canada and a freighter in the distance.  We climbed the spiral stairs to the top of the lighthouse for a great view and visited the 1950’s light keeper’s home before continuing our drive.

When we reached Aune-Osborn Campground in Sault Ste.  Marie, we were surprised and pleased that we could have a water front site for two days but would then have to move to our original site.  Almost as soon as we had parked, a large freighter came by heading toward the locks and Lake Superior.  What a sight to see from the coach! 

We bicycled to a park downtown where there was a farmers market which we'd heard advertised on the  radio.  It was interesting and varied – all kinds of veggies, fresh herbs, breads and pastries, preserves, fish, flowers,  birch baskets, used books, and note cards.  We bought choke cherry preserves, green beans, smoked white fish, and fresh salmon which we ate for dinner. The fish came from a local fisherman. George said the Atlantic salmon prepared by Irene with teriyaki sauce and brown sugar was the best fish he has ever had.

 On the way to the farmer’s market, we passed by a very striking, very large stone structure which we learned is the Edison Sault Electric Company, a hydro-electric plant built in 1902.  It’s the world’s largest horizontal shaft turbine hydro-electric generating plant – and the stone work is beautiful.

 

Day 27: Tahquamenon State Park

 

Tahquamenon State Park is largely wilderness with a number of hiking trails, but it’s two special features are its waterfalls.  The Upper Falls are nearly 50 feet high and 200 feet wide at its crest making it the third largest falls east of the Mississippi River.  In addition to its size, the color is very striking because of tannin in the  water.  There are a number of viewing points, and despite the number of stairs, we visited all of them.  The boardwalks and stairs were well constructed and built to last.

While the Lower Falls are not as high, they are also impressive with multiple lower falls divided by an island.  There was a nice boardwalk to the viewing platforms for this falls also, but no stairs, thank goodness!  While the Upper Falls are larger, we were much closer to the river and falls at the Lower Falls and the power of the river was really apparent. 

In addition to the falls, George especially enjoyed the local cafe in Paradise, MI, where we ate lunch.  The ladies there really knew how to bake a blueberry pie!

Day 26: Whitefish Point

 

We arrived at Tahquamenon State Park to find the best camp site we’ve ever had outside of the RV resort condo parks. We are in a  paved boomerang shaped pull through surrounded by Christmas trees - spruce, hemlock, and a large white pine tree.  The only flaw is that there are LOTS of aggressive mosquitoes.

Upon arrival we headed thirteen miles up to Whitefish Point to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. There we saw displays about several of the most infamous wrecks of the area which is known as the grave yard of the Great Lakes. Each display had artifacts of the wreck as well as the facts of the accident.  The renovated light keepers house was also open for tour.

Whitefish Point Light Station is the scene of the most ship wrecks on Lake Superior. It is a place where the lake narrows and ships are funneled to the locks at Sault Ste.  Marie. In the old days there were 3,100 ships on the lake with no radar. Collisions were common. Today there are about 200 big freighters. The most recent (1975),  famous, and mysterious ship wreck is the Edmund Fitzgerald. It was caught in one of the worst storms ever on the lake with 90 mph winds, 30 ft waves, and blinding snow. It is now believed the Fitz struck a shoal and gradually began to take on water.  The bow sank low shifting the iron ore load forward which, along with the stress of the waves, caused the ship to split in half and sink suddenly taking all lives aboard.

Our most interesting experience at the museum was meeting a docent, Bill, who had been a deck watchman aboard the Anderson which was following seven miles behind the Fitz. He said contributing factors to the loss of the Fitz were the light at Whitefish being out due to an electrical short, the Fitz having lost her radar, blinding snow, and the Coast Guard cutter at Sault Ste. Marie being in dry dock. The Anderson was asked by the Coast Guard to go back into the storm to look for the Fitz which it  did. Bill said the Anderson provided the first direct evidence that the Fitz had sunk as she recovered some debris with the ship’s name.

We walked out on the point and saw sand dunes and a freighter coming off the lake headed for the locks.   Unlike the rocky shores we’ve seen before, the lake looked like the Florida Gulf or the Atlantic beaches.

Day 25 Pictured Rocks

 

 After a very rainy day on Saturday, Sunday emerged sunny, clear, and blue-skyed -  but VERY windy.   There are a number of waterfalls in the Munising area, and we visited Munising Falls in the morning.  We climbed to lookouts on both sides of the  falls and enjoyed the views.  We then went to the park visitor center in Munising and afterwards had lunch in town.

After lunch we drove to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and visited Miner’s Castle.  The many formations in the rocky cliffs were formed when softer rock eroded faster than the hard rock in the multilayered formations.  We had intended to take a boat tour but the trips were cancelled due to wind and water conditions on the lake, and with whitecaps in the harbor, Irene wasn’t willing to risk seasickness for the afternoon trip.  Nonetheless, we were able to get land views of the rocks and beaches which were really impressive.  After the storm the atmosphere was very clear and sunny giving great views.

Day 24 Heavy Weather Coach Wash

No, this is not an emergency coach decontamination procedure.

Rather than sit in the coach all day during the rain, George decided to to wash the coach and truck. The advantages are many: better use of time freeing up better weather for touring, no need to dry coach due to soft water rinse of the rain, no need to wet before washing, and no evaporation allowing washing of large areas at a time.
Happiness comes in unexpected ways!

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