Soo Locks – August 15, 2015 |

We moved up into the beginning of the UP (Upper Peninsula) and we are staying at Sault (Soo) Ste Marie, which is actually French for the Rapids at St Mary. There is a Sault St. Marie in Michigan with about 15,000 population and Sault Ste Marie, Canada with a population of 75,000 separated by the St. Mary River with the boundary line down the center of the river.

I have to admit, it was something of a shock when we drove into town after being in so many charming small township with such manicured grounds and beautiful flower displays everywhere. No flowers, lots of construction, and no quaintness in the downtown area. The RV Park is a State Park with no sewer and grass pads with no landscaping but a nice view of the river.

Sunrise over St. Mary’s River Sault Ste Marie

Just down the street are the US locks that allow the large freighters to pass between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Several times a day, we see these massive ships go by and hear them blow their whistles. The back window of our camper is facing the water and we get a good view each time.

We decided the first stop needed to be to the Soo Locks in Canada so off we went with our passports to check out the other side. At the welcome center, we asked about a tour advertised for $5.80 per person explaining all about the locks, and several other buildings. The worker tried to discourage us because it was so hot today (high forecasted to be 86 but only about 82 at the time) and none of the buildings had air conditioning. We explained we were from Florida and this is NOT hot to us so reluctantly she went into the next room and found a guide willing to endure the temperatures. Our guide was a recent college graduate who had been working there for 5 summers and was very knowledgeable about the locks and their history. The Canadian locks are only used for smaller vessels like pleasure boats, tugs and some tour boats because when the time came for major repairs, they reduced the size to one-third their original size to save money and they can no longer handle the large commercial vessels.

Boats going down in Locks

Lock Gate doors starting to open

Boats going out of lock into Lake Huron

What I thought was interesting was they originally built the Canadian locks in 1895 because they had a military vessel they had to send through the US lock and were required to unload all the cargo before taking it though the lock for security. I guess that is not a problem anymore. Locks have been used in every ancient civilization back to the Greeks and Romans, but Canada’s lock was the first hydro-electric powered just two short years after Thomas Edison introduced the electric light bulb at the World’s Fair.

The locks are necessary because without them there is a 21 foot difference between the level of Lake Superior and Lake Huron with only fast moving shallow rapids connecting them. When you think that it is all handled by gravity to fill and drain the locks and they actually generate their own hydro-electricity to move the gates and lighting it was a masterpiece of ingenuity for their day and even for today. With this system of locks a pleasure boat can go from the St Lawrence waterway through all the Great Lakes to Lake Superior.

While we were in Canada, we wanted to try some authentic Canadian food. This area has a large Italian population so there are many Italian restaurants, but our young guide suggested a “poutine” and directed us to Smoke’s Poutine. This is a concoction of French fries with cheese curds and gravy and your choice of meat.

Lunch in Sault Ste Marie, ON

Poutins

We tried it but not exactly in the top ten of my favorite foods.

We left the Canadian Soo and stopped at the US Locks to see a BIG freighter come through. After seeing the smaller version on the Canadian side, this looked massive and it works on the same simple principle of gravity.

Freighter entering the lock from Lake Superior
Ship starting to go down in lock
Freighter entering Lake Huron from lock