A Superior Detour
/“By the shore of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,”
We are en route around Lake Superior on the Lake Superior Circle Tour. According to Wikipedia, “Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America, and among freshwater lakes, it is the world's largest by surface area and the third-largest by volume. It holds 10% of the world's surface fresh water.” Pretty impressive, huh? The Ojibwe people call Lake Superior Gichigamiin which does indeed translate to big sea or big water.
Day 19 - We spent a cool, uneventful night at the Grand Marais (maray) Campground … when translated from the French, Grand Marais means ‘Big Marsh’ or as the droll campground attendant put it ‘Big Swamp”.
We stopped in downtown Grand Marais for a morning stroll. The town is cute in a kitschy sort of way with lots of fishing and bait shops, some souvenir shops, boutiques and a gallery or two.
And… the world’s best donuts, so its sign proclaims. Based on the line of customers waiting to buy donuts, they could be right.
We walked up the street to the Coast Guard Station which provided access via a rock and cement breakwater to the Grand Marais Lighthouse. Sailboats tugged gently at their moorings, bobbing in the protected harbor waters.. Seagulls dove and swooped. Shore birds skittered across the rocks and sand. A schooner with tanbark sails left the harbor for a tour of the lake.
Lake Superior is vast. At 160 miles long and 350 miles wide, it looks and feels much more like an ocean than a lake. We dipped our toes in the water. it felt ocean cold. We read that the average water temperature Is 40F/4.4C. Brrr!
Driving further north, we arrived in Grand Portage just a few miles from the Canadian border. The day had brIghtened up and the sun was shining. We couldn’t find the town, but to our surprise and delight, we discovered the Grand Portage National Monument. According to the NPS brochure, “From 1784 to 1803… [the] Northwest Company partners ran the most profitable fur trade operation on the Great Lakes.” The fur barons were some of the richest men in the world.
The Company’s inland headquarters were here in Grand Portage. The national monument provides a glimpse into the fur trade industry and the lives of the “voyageurs”, the French-Canadian birchbark canoeists who plied the rivers and streams of the far north, trading goods with the local native people and collecting furs for the Company. Years before Lewis & Clark confirmed a route to the Pacific, the voyageurs and native people had it already figured out.
The Grand Portage is an 8.5 mile arduous trail across which all supplies, furs and trade goods had to be carried back and forth from the Lake Superior headquarters to Fort Charlotte, a supply station on the Pigeon River. The trail was part of an ancient transcontinental trade route connecting the Great Lakes to the interior of the continent. The Ojibwe people appropriately called it Gichi Onigaming, the “Great Carrying Place”.
Each year in July, the Rendezvous was held here in Grand Portage. The partners of the Northwest Company as well as all the voyageurs from the East (Montreal) and the northwest (the northmen) would gather together for an annual meeting, discussing business and engaging in some rowdy eating, drinking, and socializing.
We walked through the grounds where an Ojibwe village had been recreated.
Inside a fortress, the Northwest Company conducted its business.
Birchbark canoes were the transport of choice by voyageurs in the northern waterways.
The most fascinating part of the visit, however, was talking with Carl. He was so animated and so knowledgeable when he spoke, one couldn’t help feel the voyageurs would be showing up at any moment. He provided such interesting and elaborate detail and background that we stood around for nearly 30 minutes asking questions (swatting mosquitoes all the while) that he patiently answered.
Carl mentioned that when the United States began to tax the fur business, the headquarters were moved to Fort William in Thunder Bay Ontario. We happened to be heading that way and decided we’d camp there for the night.
We were only five miles or so from the Canadian border and decided to fill up with gas before crossing into Canada. As luck would have it, while David was pumping gas and scraping bug guts off the windshield, I took the opportunity to head into a nearby little souvenir shop. As I entered, I noticed a sign on the door and a pile of the same printed sheet on the countertop. Uh, oh! After all the countries we’ve visited and all the research I’d done in the past on entry requirements, I’d not even thought to check the requirements for U.S. citizens entering Canada. It had always been so simple. I really should have known better!
Well, the instructions were clear and it certainly looked easy enough except… we had no cell phone coverage and there was no Wi-Fi at the gas staton. There was a U.S. welcome/visitor center within a stone’s throw of the border crossing. They claimed to have internet, but it was a pretty weak signal. We gathered all of our info, e.g. passports, passport numbers, COVID vaccine shot records, etc. and sat in the Visitor Center lobby trying to fill out forms and upload images. It seemed to take forever, but we finally managed to complete the task.
The line of vehicles at the Pigeon River Canadian border entry wasn’t too long. We got through in about 30 minutes. All of our information had been successfully uploaded and we entered Canada with no problem and proceeded an hour up the road to Thunder Bay.
Next time, join us for several very rainy, damp days in the north country. We’ll keep you dry… promise!