Soo Locks

It's amazing how sometimes the simplest of things can make you so happy. This morning when we woke up, the sun was shining! We haven't seen the sun for several days now, and it was just the best way to start the morning . . .

This was the view out of our window this morning of the sun shining on Lake Huron

A little later as we were driving, I took this pic of the clouds and the sky. It's so nice to see blue sky after all the overcast and rain . . .


We drove up to Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced Soo St. Marie), which is the furthest north you can go before you cross over into Canada. We took a Soo Locks tour on the Ste. Marie River which connects Lake Huron with Lake Superior. There is a 21 ft. difference in height between the two lakes, hence the locks. Here are a few of the pics I took as we passed through the lock . . .

This is a boat similar to the one we were on



We are approaching Lock #2 from the Lake Huron side -
the gates to the lock are opening


The gates are now fully open and our boat can enter the lock

Inside the lock - note the height of the water. Lake Huron is 21 feet lower than Lake Superior, so they have to allow water into the lock to raise the water level up 21 feet to equal Lake Superior

The water level is getting higher

The water is to the top and the gates are opening to let us pass through

Out of the lock and approaching the roadway bridge that takes you into Canada

Passing under the bridge (the second bridge is a railroad bridge)

These rocks mark the boundary between USA and Canada, which is in the background



We cruised along the water for awhile and saw some of the shoreline sights on the Canada side, then returned to the locks and reversed the procedure - letting the water out of the lock and lowering our boat down to the level of Lake Huron. You would think that after going through the Panama Canal, locks would be old hat to us, but they're not. I'm totally fascinated by the whole thing.

Check the next blog for the rest of our day's adventures . . .