From Montreal to Minnesota, by Inland Sea
The waiting room at St. Lambert Lock in Montreal looks out at a quarter-mile of chain-link fence, six security camera towers, a blaze-orange derrick and a guardhouse. There, three armed men stare at a 750-foot stretch of placid, blue-green water waiting to lift 33,000-ton freighters up along the St. Lawrence Seaway .
The lock is part of the oldest and most traveled inland waterway in America — a 2,300-mile corridor that connects the Atlantic Ocean with all five Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Since deep draft navigation opened on the St. Lawrence in 1959, more than two and a half billion tons of cargo, worth around $375 billion, have traversed the seaway.
I’d been waiting 20 minutes for my ride — a 740-foot freighter called the Algoma Equinox. The Equinox traverses the St. Lawrence and four Great Lakes twice a month, transporting iron ore west and grain back east. Like many freighters around the world, it also occasionally carries people. Travelers willing to take the slow boat get a private cabin, three meals a day and shore leave wherever the ship loads, unloads or stops at a lock.
After picking me up in Montreal, the Equinox’s captain, Ross Armstrong, told me the ship would cross Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Superior and drop me in Thunder Bay, Ontario — six hours north of Duluth, Minn. The trip would take six days.
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Great article with fantastic pictures!
:~)
Those extra-wide panoramic pics were terrific . The prose of the article was almost meditative ... Thanks for posting this Larry !
Thank you Petey! The prose, like the Lakes, are meditative.
Super great article, Larry...The photos were stunning.
Thunder Bay, home of the Oji-Cree. Actually two towns at one time named Port Arthur and Fort Francis.
Spent many a day there.
I jusrt love the article and photo's...Well done and thanks.
Glad you enjoyed the article kavika.
The Great Lakes are a huge boon; something we enjoy whenever possible. The North Shore is one of my favorites, with a day or two spent in Thunder Bay with every visit. We will be vacationing a couple of weeks all over the region the middle of October. First north shore, then Duluth a day, then Michigan state forest a day and nigh on the way over for five on Mackinac island.
I have cousins that live in Silver Bay and some more in Thunder Bay.
The North Shore drive is beyond beautiful, well not so much in January and Feb.
There is something special about that whole wilderness area, a certain spirit about the lake and shoreline itself, and different ones as ya enter the forest, and very cool spots all in between. Heaven on earth for real. There has been a real revival of craftsmanship of all sorts in the entire area encompassing a real cool variety of art....food, drink, painting, handmade musical instruments, religious/ceremonial pieces , art in sculpture, wood, stone and material. Half the fun is going to awesome little outta the way places and enjoying local cuisine and brews, with music and art to purvey. Nothing like the stars and tunes and loved ones...
What a fun vacation!!! And I'm not that fond of boats... But that would be fun!
Great article! Thanks for posting it!
You're welcome Dowser; I'm glad you liked it.
:~)
Having spent most of my life next to Lake Ontario, and as a young boy having watched the iron ore ships sailing from Lake Ontario into Hamilton (Burlington) Bay to unload at the Steel Company of Canada in Hamilton, I am very familiar with the route. Had I known they took on passengers I would have loved to have done it - but not during the gales of November.
I remember that song by Gordon Lightfoot-- "when the gales of November come early".
It's the time NOT to sail on the lake they call Gitcheekoomie.
Kavika takes Buzz to the wood shed for a spelling lesson...
Lake Superior, gitchi gami, or sometimes spelled gitchi gumi....
Please write this on the blackboard 500 times, Buzz.
Of course one should clearly state if they are using the single vowel or the double vowel alphabet of the Ojibwe and what geographical dialect of Anishinaabemowin is being used.
In some Anishinaabe dialects the K in gitchi is replaced with a K.
I spell it both ways.
Kavika looking for chalk for Buzz.
Should read. ''The G is Gitchi is replaced with a K.
Buzz, with aching fingers and removing his dunce hat, admits he was too lazy to open the lyrics to Gord Lightfoot's song.
LOL, as Mrs. Meenie the 8th grade teacher would say, being lazy isn't an excuse...the 500 times has changed to 750...
Buzz has been a baaaaaad boy.
I did love that song... Even if I can't spell the words, either!
I also never thought that a person could travel on these ships. What a cool ride!
Cool...