Beware of Wildlife on the Trail!

Original blog posted to Facebook on August 6, 2025.

Three-and-a-half down, one-and-a-half to go! My loop around Lake Huron would not have been complete without a rip around St Joseph’s Island and a dead-end cruise to Gros Cap Bluffs; GCB is where Lake Superior flows into the St. Mary’s River with rapids dropping 21 feet into Lake Huron.

Departing Southampton at 5am this past Sunday morning on a deadhead route to Tobermory, catching the Chi-Cheemaun Ferry, scheduled departure at 8:20 am. First to arrive, first in line, gave plenty of time for a coffee, a pastry and a “washroom” break. Sailing time across the Straits of the Georgian Bay to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island took about 1h 45m. Rolling again at 10:30 am.

boarding

crossing the Straits of the Georgian Bay

Aboard the Chi-Cheemaun I met up with five other bikers. One, an excessively big man named, Ox, and four guys from Grand Rapids riding the Lake Huron loop. “Ox” was aptly named, at least 4x my size with a 5XL helmet with the lining removed to make it fit. Intimidating and intelligent, but a gentle giant at heart. Ox is the Sgt of Arms of the Ontario Chapter of the Booze Fighters MC (one of the first motorcycle clubs (MC) started in California in 1946 by WW2 vets). We rode together for 15 or so miles, before splitting off to go our different ways.

Part of the fun on a trip like this is learning about an area’s history, its culture and people. So, what have I learned?

Let’s start with the Lake Huron and its largest island, Manitoulin Island.

• Manitoulin Island is the largest “lake island” in the world, and 174th largest island overall.

• Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are at the same sea level with the 5-mile-wide Straits of Mackinac connecting the two. Combined, they are the largest freshwater body in the world.

• The water in Lake Huron takes 22-years to flow from its entrance at the Sault Ste Marie to the St Clair River, oddly, making it one of the fastest flowages.

• There are over 230 confirmed shipwrecks in Lake Huron, many recorded in the 1800s and 1900s.

• The White Hurricane of 1913 is the deadliest and most powerful storm to hit the Great Lakes in recorded history. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds overturned and sank ships sailing on four of the five Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron. Wind gusts were reported at over 90 mph and waves over 35 feet.

Now let’s go to Canada’s First Nations and Indigenous peoples. I had heard of them but never took the time to fully understand their history. A day in Sault Ste Marie, ON, is all it took to correct my ignorance. And I was amazed to learn of the Métis. A new mixed-race Indigenous people, first coming about in the heyday of fur trading industry, the 1700’s to late 1800’s, when European fur traders mixed with Indigenous peoples. The Europeans were primarily of French, Scottish and English ancestry, and the Indigenous were primarily Cree. Louis Riel is credited as the political organizer, and founding father, of the Métis, in the area that is now Winnipeg. Today there are over 600,000 Métis throughout Canada.

Excerpted from Wikipedia – “Quoting Louis Riel from Tremaudan's Histoire de la nation métisse dans l'ouest canadien:

'The Métis have as paternal ancestors the former employees of the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies, and as maternal ancestors' Indian women belonging to various tribes.'”

Tomorrow, I begin the trek around the big lake they call Gitchee Gumme, Lake Superior that is.

To be continued…