Yesterday we traveled thru the UP of Michigan to St. Ignace. I'm talking like a native, UP is short for Upper Peninsula. The only thing that connects the upper and lower parts of Michigan is a 5 mile long bridge ( more about that later).
The first day we drove back 40 miles to Sault St. Marie. Sault is pronounced sue. We went to see the SOO Locks at the St. Mary's River. St. Mary's River separates Ontario, Canada from the U.S. It is the busiest lock system in the world. St Mary's river connects Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The difference of the 2 lakes is 21' hence the reason for the locks. Over 11,000 ships pass thru the locks, varying from small, passenger boats to large 1000 ft ships, containing 72,000 tons of freight in one load. Most cargo ships contain iron ore, coal, grain or stone. We took a cruise thru the locks.
Beginning of the locks
Notice the water line, that is how far we have to up
You can see that it is almost full
Locks opening up to Lake Superior levels
The bridge goes from the US (on left) to Canada
Steel plant on Canada side
Coming back, entering the Canadian locks
Locks closing to let water out
going down 21'
Back to Lake Huron levels
It was very interesting and we had a beautiful day.
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