Lakes Superior and Huron

5 July – We walked up to the Buffalo House restaurant at the camp in Duluth where we have been staying and treated ourselves to breakfast while we published the last blog. Along the highway thru Superior and Duluth and onto the scenic road north/east following the shoreline of Lake Superior. We are now halfway around the largest lake in the world! Our camp was at Gooseberry Falls State Park and after lunch we walked to the falls. It is a series of falls with many families climbing on the rocks and swimming in the pools.

We left the crowds and followed a trail to the upper falls crossing the river and down the other side to end up at the visitors’ centre where we were able to get some info on the provincial parks in Canada. At dinner time we had a big electrical storm and some rain.

6 July – It rained off and on thru the night and was still raining in the morning. The drive north should have been spectacular but mist and rain obscured our view of the lake. Our last camp in the USA for a while was at a state park named after a mayor of Duluth. It was still raining so we sat inside until it eased off a bit and then donned our parkas for a walk thru the forest following the swollen river passed some rough waterfalls to a natural feature called the Devil’s Kettle. Here the river divided in two with half the flow disappearing down a hole in the river bed (the spout). It was a great 3 mile walk which at least got us out of “Ernie”.

7 July – The sun shone and we were back on the road north still following the beautiful lake shore to the last place in the USA before crossing the border, the National Monument at Grand Portage. This was a trading post in the 18^th century where the trapper’s furs were exchanged for supplies. The furs were taken by canoe from here to Montréal and supplies were bought back on the return trips. These birch canoes were huge carrying 4 tons and 8 people. Parts of the trading post have been restored and were very interesting with actors playing the various residents. We drove on to the border into Canada and were waved thru without any problems.

We may have been slightly over our alcohol limit however!! At the Canadian Welcome centre we picked up some more helpful info and used the internet. The country changed and we were into hills again. We headed slightly away from the lake to a Provincial park at Kakabeka Falls. The host at the camp last night suggested going here. The waterfall is spectacular dropping 40m and with lots of water as the river is in flood due to yesterdays rain. We were able to access the falls from both sides giving great views.

 8 July – Another great drive skirting past the city of Thunder Bay and back onto the Lake Superior shore with lovely views of the bays. Our overnight stop is at Rainbow Falls where there was a laundry and we could do a wash. The waterfall comes out of a small lake and we followed a board walk passed the rapids and then climbed a hill for views of Lake Superior.

9 July – Lake Superior has a huge effect on the temperature. 10C cooler in the summer and 10C hotter in the winter. This was demonstrated to us today as we shopped in the small city of Marathon on the lake shore, with the temperature about 12C. We continued on to our camp at White Lake 10 miles away from Lake Superior and ended sunbathing on a small beach in about 25C. 

10 July – Friday today, so we decided to stay two nights somewhere in the huge Lake Superior Provincial park. The first camp we came to was Rabbit Blanket Lake, a small camp some distance from L.S. Our site was great overlooking this small lake. We have no idea why it has this strange name. After lunch we followed a short trail along a river. The mosquitoes were brutal!                   A German couple in the next site came back from the hike we will do tomorrow. It had taken them 6 hours and they were exhausted. The weather is still perfect and we sat outside until dark enjoying our great view.

 11 July – We have decided to do our intended hike despite the German couple’s experiences. With our lunch packed and dowsed in insect repellent we set off for the 15km loop trail. The first section was a gentle climb rising 150m and then a series of ridges up to Peat Mountain with some great views of various lakes. Unfortunately there are some major forest fires in British Columbia and the smoke has caused a haze this far east so we could not see Lake Superior. Continuing on along another couple of ridges overlooking Foam Lake in the valley below.

The track then descended to the lake shore where we stopped for lunch. The return track was passed a beaver dam forming a large pond and eventually back to our camp. It was a great hike! It took us 3 ½ hours. So much for the German couples advice! We enjoyed a swim in Rabbit Blanket Lake to cool off.

12 July – We continued on thru the Lake Superior Provincial Park and onto Pancake Bay Provincial Park. This is a huge camp right on the Lake Superior shoreline with a great beach. The weather is really hot now (30C) so we walked down to the beach and spent the afternoon swimming and sunbathing. 

The difference between summer and winter is hard for us to comprehend. Lake Superior was totally frozen over last winter, we are swimming in it today, (water temperature around 22C) and there will be snow here again in September.

13 July – We continued south towards the Canadian/USA border at Sault Ste Marie (nicknamed The Soo). This is the part of the world where Lakes Superior, Huron and Michigan all meet. We were stopped at the border for some time as the guards were interested in chatting and for some reason could not find our entry stamp into the USA. They also confiscated our fresh eggs (avian flue). Eventually we were allowed back into the USA and drove to the Locks on the St Marys River. We have been here before with Gareth, Cere, Paul and Lynne in 2008. There is a level difference of 21ft between Lake Superior and Lake Huron so there is a huge lock to allow the freighters to sail between the two lakes. Fortunately one of the 1000fters (the name given to these freighters) was going into the lock as we were there. Quite a sight but the ship moves so slowly it takes for ever! We continued on to Brimley State Park where we had stayed in 2008. It brought back some great memories. The weather has been much cooler today and it rained later in the day. We are now only 20 miles from Tahquamenon Falls where we were 3 weeks ago. We have now done the Grand Circle Tour of Lake Superior. This is a world renowned road trip and has been fantastic!

 

14 July – It is still cool with some drizzle. We drove south and over the Mackinac Bridge which is huge and crosses the Straits of Mackinac separating the Michigan upper and lower peninsulas. At Cheboygan we had a large shop as we had let our stocks run low. Canadian prices are much higher than USA. We also managed to find a propane dealer and filled our tank. On to the Cheboygan State Park on Lake Huron.
From the beach we can see Mackinac Island which we visited in 2008. After lunch we had a great bike ride along the Lake Huron shoreline.

15 July – A much sunnier day for our drive around the shores of Lake Huron passed some lovely coastal towns. Our overnight stop is at Harrisville State Park with a nice beach. We enjoyed a bike ride back into the village of Harrisville, a visit to a quilt shop and an ice-cream.

16 July – We continued on the road south along the shoreline of Lake Huron. There are great houses with beach frontages on all the available spaces between the road and the shore. We stopped at Bay City State Park and cycled a pathway into the city 9 miles away. The last part followed the Saginaw River Walkway. On the way back we enjoyed a beer at a pub right on the river. It was a lovely warm evening but rain set in at night.

17 July – We drove thru Bay City and inland towards Lansing to stay with Linda and Peter Carrington. The weather is much warmer away from the lake. We are parked up their driveway after a bit of tree pruning. Linda drove us all to a great little pub for dinner. Cere came around for a visit.

18 July – After breakfast with Linda, Peter and Zeus the dog (who thinks he is a horse) Val started the job of washing every article of clothing in sight! I relaxed! It was very humid and eventually the storm came with heavy rain. It cleared and the T- shirts went out on the clothesline. It was great to sit around and do very little. I cooked dinner for us all as it was Peter and Linda’s wedding anniversary.

19 July – This morning there will be the traditional Carrington Sunday breakfast when their daughters and partners join them. We will leave after this and head east to a state park and our trip along the Lake Michigan shoreline.