Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

The Soo

2,198 miles

May 2 – Sault Sainte-Marie in French means "the Rapids of Saint Mary", referring to the Saint Mary's River that runs from Lake Superior to Lake Huron.  

The cities located on either side of the river are both called Sault St. Marie, one in Michigan and one in Ontario, but the Canadian city is 5 times bigger (75,000 vs. 14, 000 residents).  The citizens on each side of the border pronounce the city name differently, depending on how comfortable they are with French accents, but they both call the towns and the general vicinity “The Sault” or “The Soo”, and pronounce either spelling the same.

These river rapids between two great lakes have been a crossroads for hundreds of years.  Native Americans fished, traded, and maintained a portage around the rapids.  In 1668, the first European settlement in this region was set up by a French Jesuit priest who traveled here to found a Catholic mission.

old Sault Ste. Marie ferry

As I gazed at a map of my planned journey, I expected to cross this great waterway by ferry.  All of the images I saw online, though, were very old.  

approaching International Bridge

I learned, then, that a high International Bridge has connected the two Saults since 1962!  (A railroad bridge also crosses the St. Mary’s River just upstream of the highway bridge.)  

steep ascent

So, instead of taking it easy (virtually) on a ferry boat and feeling grateful to avoid real nausea in the choppy waters, I am now faced with ascending the steep ride up the US side to the crest of this bridge before whizzing down into the streets of Ontario.  I haven’t even had to imagine such a steep climb since I crossed the Rockies in Alberta.  So, I decided to focus more on what I could see from atop the bridge: the Soo Locks.

ship in lock, more waiting behind

Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the rapids via the American Soo Locks, a set of parallel locks in one of the world's busiest canals.  The largest ships are domestic carriers called “lakers” that are 1,000 feet (300 m) long by 105 feet (32 m) wide.  They are too large to pass through the Welland Canal that bypasses Niagara Falls, so they are land-locked.  The ocean-going ships that leave the Great Lakes through the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean are, surprisingly, the smaller cargo vessels here.  They are called “salties”, making them sound like cute younger siblings.  Smaller recreational and tour boats use the Sault Ste. Marie Canal on the Canadian side of the river.

People from around the world come to view the massive ships passing through the powerful locks.  Small boat tours to see the huge shipping marvels have become an important local tourist industry. 

During the winter, thick ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes.  From January through March, crews use the closure period to inspect and maintain the locks, including underwater repairs.  That sounds like a miserable time to do that kind of work.  It’s rough environment for tough workers.

info:  Wikipedia.com

images:  Google Images