Sault Ste. Marie

On Tuesday morning we were off to see Sault Ste. Marie (there are two towns by that name  – one US and one Canadian) and the locks connecting Lakes Superior and Huron. This is where the Great Lakes iron ore ships leave Lake Superior – remember the story/song of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald?  It’s sure remembered here!  It is the last major shipwreck in the region, downed in a November storm 1975.

Sault Ste. Marie was used for hundreds of years by the First Nations peoples for travel, socialization, and the great fishing in the area.  In 1666, Missionary-Explorer Father Jacques Marquette arrived in Canada from France to both found a mission here and also to explore and survey the land.  It took him 5 years to finally reach his destination, but he did arrive and founded a mission on the straits of Mackinac.  Later he and Louis Jolliet left on a 3000 mile trip to explore and map Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River Valley.  His map was the most accurate known then.   Here is the bridge that crosses the Straits of Mackinac between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.

 

SO.  What do sailors do when they’ve been in an RV too long?  Go off on a boat!

 

We took a sister boat to this one for a cruise on the St. Mary’s River. This was quite interesting, as it took us through the large commercial locks on the US side, then through the smaller recreational boat locks on the Canadian side of the 21 ft high St Mary's River rapids - the historical barrier to navigation between lakes Superior and Huron.

 

 First up on our sight-seeing cruise, the Clover Electric Plant, built along the shore of the river in 1902.  Italian stone cutters cut each individual stone to fit perfectly.  A major undertaking for the time!

 

The pillars were designed to look like lighthouses.

 

Here is an observation tower, 5 levels for viewing the river and her locks. At 210 feet tall, she has elevators!

 

The Valley Camp freighter transported coal, iron ore, and limestone for 50 years.  Now she is a museum boat.  Wednesday is forecast to be a rainy day so we plan to visit the museum then.

Next, to the best part of the cruise – through the locks!  In 1853 – 1855 the first set of locks was built here to bypass the St. Mary’s Rapids.  Prior to that, “vessel portage” was necessary to get a vessel past the 21 foot high rapids and to the other side, using greased timbers and special cradles and skids.  It took between 6 weeks and 3 months to get a vessel to complete the route!  Today, 20 minutes. There are 4 locks – here is the  American lock that we went through.

 

Visitors can use the “grandstand” to view the locks in use as boats come through.

 

Know what happened then? RAIN.

 

But, we just went to the covered part of the boat and were fine!  We could see this 1000 ft “laker” ship (a Great Lakes ore ship) slipping into the next lock, headed in the opposite direction.  The lock is only 1200 feet long, and this 105 foot wide ship has only 2 ½ feet of clearance on either side of the lock!

 

Here is the steel mill on the Canadian side of the river.

 

 

And here we are, heading back though a lock, this time a  Canadian lock. 

 

 

Also, immediately after the connecting bridge ---- Wal-Mart!  We shoulda stayed there!  Noooo…. The line across the bridge, coming into the USA from Canada spanned the bridge and beyond.  We were told that it is often 3 miles in length. We can vouch that US Customs is not a fast process.

 

Of course, bodies of navigable water need lighthouses.  They also need fast ferries to cross to islands (Mackinac Island).  Here are both!

 

We were glad to find this little place, too.  A Laundromat.  I liked the old sign.

 

Overall, a nice day in Sault Ste. Marie.  We visited the museum today - pictures tomorrow.