Friday August 16, 2024
Left Tahquamegon SP around 9:30 and drove to the upper falls parking area. My opinion, upper falls much more impressive. No one swims in the upper falls. Here it is…..
Next drove to Whitefish point, known for two things: it’s the graveyard of Lake Superior, and it’s where migrating neotropicals tend to congregate as they cross the lake going back south. There have been over 500 shipwrecks off this point. Most were in the late 19th to early 20th centuries when there were as many as 3,000 commercial ships on the lake, there are only about 200 now. Whitefish point is where the lake narrows before the entrance to the St Mary’s river and the Sault (Soo) locks. It’s also where the lakes famously huge waves break as the lake becomes more shallow. The great lakes shipwreck museum is here. Regarding the neotropical’s fall migration, it is just now starting and one checklist submitted two days before we were there had 40 Cape May warblers on it. We unfortunately saw only a few Redstarts and Black-throated greens, and a Lincoln sparrow. After walking the sand beach studded with many colorful flat skipping-stone rocks, and walking the birding trail back along the huge sand dunes, we headed for Sault Ste. Marie. Had a late lunch of poutine at “The Antlers”, look at this picture of the interior and you’ll know why the name,
Mostly local or at least north American game but also African Kudu and gazelle, and many unrecognizables, no jackalopes however.
The Soo locks were worth seeing. There is a museum, free, and behind it a viewing platform. Only two locks are there, one small one large. A third larger lock is under construction on the Canada side. We watched a tour boat and an ocean going container ship go through. The bridge to Sault Ste. Marie Canada is a site to see but I couldn’t get pictures to do it justice.
Sault, pronounced Soo, is an archaic French word for rapids, so Rapids of the St Mary river. Many times in my life I have looked up Sault in a french/english dictionary never to find it, learning the meaning took a deeper dive. The river is about 74 miles long and empties into Lake Huron, which is really the same thing as Lake Michigan btw.
From there we finally started south, camped in Straits SP which is literally on the shore of the strait between lakes Huron and Michigan. Tomorrow Mackinac Island and later Petoskey, Traverse City the day after, then home, at least that’s the current plan.
Roses 1.0 Van Life 