Lakes Superior and Huron

Lakes Superior and Huron

The lyrics of Gordon Lightfoot’s classic “The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald” will pulsate in my ears throughout this section of my trip:

“The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down

   of the big lake they called “Gitche Gumee”.

  The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead

   when the skies of November turn gloomy.

   With a load of iron ore twenty-six tons more

   than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.

   That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed

   when the “Gales of November” came early.”

I take all of this very seriously. That said, the popularity of kayaking on Lake Superior has grown steadily which speaks both to a certain safety base level and the beauty I can expect: Majestic headlands, craggy inlets and bays, and camping on the beaches and enjoying the setting and rising sun. Bill Climie, cousin of Bob Climie, who lives in Silver Islet just a day east of Thunder Bay will join me for two days paddling. I look forward to his input on the “tricks” of kayaking the Lake. He has already made me aware of the propensity for winds on the Lake in August. Fair warning –listen to the marine weather forecasts (Environment Canada) on the VHF and check other features in the sky which can portend wind or fronts. Some have suggested there is a hole in which to paddle in the mornings as the wind comes up in the afternoons –hopefully this is true.

My course of travel will take me along (very close) to the north shore and for the first few days I will have the opportunity to paddle in the lee of Islands, after which it is all open water. I will have to stop in Marathon in order to re-provision. Leaving Marathon I will travel along the shore of Puskaskwa National Park and from all I have read it is divine.  After a safe crossing of Michipicoten Bay and River I will follow the equally wondrous shoreline of Lake Superior Provincial Park which includes Agawa Bay as far as Montreal River. The coast and highway 17 then essentially mirror each other as far as Batchawana Bay, at which point they separate and the crossing through the bay at Goulais River, then to Gros Gap, followed by the entry into Sault Ste Marie can be problematic because of wind and steep cliffs.

Winding through the locks and river at Sault Ste Marie between the USA and Canada will afford time and opportunity to get off the water and replenish both provisions and my personal “battery”. Leaving the channels and islands east of “the Sault”, I will essentially be in the lee of Manitoulin Island which should give some cover from winds and frontal pressures from the body of Lake Huron. However, the gap between the Island and the northern shore of Lake Huron is significant enough to allow quite a fetch to build up and winds to gain velocity. It is not a problem excepting I might have to lay up and wait out any “tempest”.

Once I pass the isthmus and causeway / bridge to Manitoulin Island from the mainland, I will be subject to the winds of Georgian Bay which might require defensive action up to and past Killarney. The objective is to maneuver so that I can enter the estuary of the French River and deal with current as opposed to wind and waves. Actually, the entry into this other iconic waterway will announce the start of the final phase in my trip.