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| Little Canada Man |
We continued north along the Georgian Bay and then headed west along the Northern Channel of Lake Huron. As we progressed the scenery got wilder and wilder. At one stage along a remote highway, a black bear passed the road directly in front of us! We were quite shocked after our lack of bear encounters in Algonquin Provincial Park and surrounds. We rang our bear bell with all our might and the bear stayed away from us. Phew!
Also along this stretch of road in Canada - my Mum and Dad will be pleased to know - we encountered several Amish people either walking along the road or driving in their buggies. I wonder if the Amish are allowed to carry bear mace?
Prior to European Settlement, the Indigenous Peoples of North America inhabited the Great Lakes region for eons – likely coming across the Bearings land bridge from Asia towards the end of the last ice age (although many Native Americans disclaim this theory as it stands in contradiction to some of their religious beliefs relating to their origins on this land). The first Europeans in the region were the French voyaguers who arrived in the early 17th century. The voyaguers were primarily explorers and fur traders, but they established missions and settlements over time. This French connection is reflected in the names of many of the towns along the Ontario side of the lakes – Rosseau, Sault Ste Marie, La Closhe. It seems that the Canadians were less successful in eliminating the influence of the French settlers than the Americans. Obviously in Quebec there is a strong Francophile atmosphere, but this extends across Ontario and along the Great Lakes.
Before we reached the border crossing at Sault Ste Marie, we stopped at Blind River, a small town on the Northern Channel of Lake Huron. There we had our first taste of Whitefish at the Marina Cafe and a whiff of the freedom coming across the border from the USA.
While crossing the long bridge in Sault Ste Marie that serves as the border for Canada and USA, we saw Lake Superior on one side of the bridge and Lake Huron on the other. This channel has the busiest lock system in the world. Much to my surprise, it turns out that Alex is an expert on the topic of locks. He explained the entire lock system to me, how it works, the physics and engineering involved, etc, etc. Unfortunately, I can't remember any of this information to share with you now. Perhaps when we return from our travels, you can ask Alex to share his expert knowledge on this topic with you. In the meantime, for more on locks see http://roadslesstraveled.us/SooLocksMI.html (but don't look for too long, because I think this blog might be better than ours). An interesting fact about the city of Sault Ste Marie, which crosses both sides of the Canada/USA border, is that it is the third oldest city in the USA, being founded in 1668. Probably not the oldest in Canada. For more on that, see our earlier blog on Montreal.
Once properly being made feel like we were terrorists by the border guard at US immigration, we made our way into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (State Motto: “If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.”). As far as I can tell, this part of Michigan serves as a buffer zone between Canada and USA proper. It is rugged, remote, forested, surrounded by water and inhabited by unique individuals (they refer to themselves as “Yoopers”). We spent the night at the Chipewa Motel in Rudyard. For $30 per night it was clean and the television had four channels, including one channel showing the local news. Headlining stories for that evening were: (1) The proposed new carpark in town has passed the final administrative hurdle required for its construction, which now may commence as early as next year; and (2) The two local youths who shot a farmer's cow were sentenced to spend six months in prison and pay $7000 reparations to the farmer. Both of us had a sinking impression that we were a long way from our skim milk lattes and friands at this point...
Nonetheless, the Upper Peninsula is incredibly beautiful and scenic, filled primarily with National Forests. After our night in Rudyard, we headed south through the middle of the peninsula to the second long bridge of this tour – the Macinac Bridge (known by locals as “Big Mac”) that separates the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.
We stopped at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan, so spectacular that it deserves its own blog post. Stay tuned for our summary of this highly recommended beach.
From Sleeping Bear, we made our way south along the coast of Lake Michigan, stopping in Grand Haven to marvel at the waves in Lake Michigan. It was the first time either of us had ever seen proper waves in a lake and Alex was so overwhelmed he jumped in for a swim. I sat on the shore and ate an apple and responded to locals who were bemused by his efforts.
We made our way further south and camped the night at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana (State Motto: “Crossroads of America”). This campground had nice facilities, but was a little noisy with a train passing nearby every half hour or so. The beach here isn't too bad either, but for the nearby factories set along the same foreshore on both sides of the National Lakeshore.
From Indiana Dunes, we made for the last stop on our Great Lakes Tour – the shining beacon of the midwest – Chicago.
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