Monday August 21, 2017

British Fort 1812

We enjoy a leisurely morning at the cottage. Carol makes a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and sausage. We pack up and when I am bringing things to the car, the guy staying in the cottage next to us comes over to say hello. Just another friendly Canadian. He is from the GTA as they call it, which is otherwise known as the Greater Toronto Area. We chat for a while and then I return to my loading chores. We check out and the owner, Pat gives us a Sault Ste Marie guide as we had told her we were going there next.

Fort St Joseph Site

We have planned a stop along the way and turn off the main road onto St Josephs Island. We go about 20 miles before reaching our destination which is Fort St Joseph. Just a spot I picked off of a map, we really do not know what is here. The answer is history and the remains of a British Fort from the War of 1812. The history ties in to one of our destinations coming up so that is kind of cool. After the American Revolution, Mackinac Island and its Fort on Lake Huron was given to the United States. Even though on paper, we owned it, the British were reluctant to leave and occupied the Fort until 1796. They left and then came here 40 miles east and just over the Canadian Border and built Fort St Joseph. When the U.S. declared war on Britain in 1812, the British commander at Fort St Joseph received word before the Americans at Fort Mackinac did. Knowing that Fort St Joseph could not withstand an American attack, he went on the offensive and with 100 soldiers strengthened by over 500 French and Indian warriors, he traveled in the dark to Mackinac Island. Approaching from the opposite side of the island, they set up their cannons on the hill overlooking the Fort and threatened to demolish it unless the Americans surrendered. With only 60 men in Fort Mackinac and having been totally surprised, the American commander surrendered. And so the first battle of the War of 1812 was won by the British without a shot being fired. We tried once to attack the Fort and get it back but lost that battle as well. We eventually regained possession of the Island and Fort as part of the settlement Treaty.

Always Chilling

We tour the grounds and find another set of red chairs to sit in. We also see several frogs hopping about near the lakeshore. One hops about 4 feet thus taking the gold in the frog long jump. We also go through the visitor center exhibit learning about the fur trading industry here. I sell my otter pelts for quite the handy sum. We leave the Fort and the island and reach Sault Ste Marie in just under an hour. We stop at an Italian Market that I had read about and order a sausage sandwich and a panzerotti for lunch and a pepperoni pizza for dinner. We eat the sandwich and panzerotti there and later learn that we ate right through the eclipse. After checking in to our motel, we decide to stay in, eat dinner and then go for a walk. That is for two reasons. We are a little bit tired and it is quite a warm day and combined with the humidity, we would rather walk in the cool of the evening.

The Locks

We finally head out around 7 o’clock. It is a short walk to the waterfront along St Marys River which feeds Lake Huron from Lake Superior. There are many people out for strolls, bike rides, and others fishing off a few docks along the way. We eventually make it to the Sault Ste Marie Locks and cross the lock gates to the adjacent Attikameck and Whitefish Islands. They have a nice trail system and when we get to Whitefish Island, yet another friendly Canadian stops us and asks if this is our first time here. We say yes and he proceeds to tell us where all the trails go to and that the left trail is flooded because they released some extra water upstream. We thank him and then Carol swears he said the right was flooded so we hike left.

Water Walker

It is smooth going until we get close to the river and the water is flowing down the trail. It is about 50 feet of water and then we see a wooden boardwalk with an overlook that the river is maybe 6 inches below. We decide to wade this area and see the rapids on St Marys River. We do so in our bare feet and enjoy the rapids and the rushing river. We then think we are past the spot we were told about and walk in our bare feet along the boardwalk until it turns back to dirt.

St Marys River

We put our shoes back on, walk about 200 yards and come upon 3 men, one of who is wading up to his knees on what used to be trail. They tell us that he walked around the bend and it got worse and he could not see where the trail was dry. Nothing to do but retreat, take off our shoes again, walk back in the water, put our shoes on and retrace our steps. We cross back over the locks and take the path back along the waterfront. We get back to our room just before dark having enjoyed a beautiful evening walk on our last day in Canada for a few weeks. Tomorrow we will see Sault Ste Marie, Michigan.

Expenses                                                                                                                                  Lunch and Pizza from Pinos Italian Market 21 CAD                                                        Days Inn 110 CAD