Around the Bay

The ship being sent off to Georgian Bay, we ended up in Midland; one of the most popular boating locations on the Great Lakes at the western Terminus of the Trent-Severn Waterway and the southern portion of the Georgian Bay Small Craft Channel.

In an earlier era, when most of the grain from the prairies was shipped through the Great Lakes, the Midland/Port McNicoll/Victoria Harbour area  was the centre of many grain silos and the winter berth for several lakers filled with grain waiting for the spring for the Seaway to open. Today, most of these facilities have been turned into upscale residential housing as part of the ever-widening Greater Toronto area.

The rail lines serving these past industries have also seen a conversion into multi-use trails. I took advantage of our stop in Midland to head out on an early morning ride on two very well-serviced trails: the Midland Rotary Waterfront Trail, which connects at Highway 12 via an overpass bridge to the Tay Shore Trail.

http://www.simcoecountytrails.net/trails/lineartrails/lineartrails.htm

I hopped onto the Midland trail at the Town Dock and followed it eastwards. The trail has made an interesting use of the old rail switches to mount historic plaques.



At Tiffin Basin, the trail is squeezed between metal railings cordoning off the yards of the large homes and their bit of shore frontage; a strange mesh of suburbia and cottage country. However, the trail is a wide, wonderful, smooth concrete marked with decorative lights along the trail complete with small Fresnel lenses. A bit further is a bit of open space, lots waiting for the next dream home, and a large condominium complex built on the remnants of one of the old grain silos.



At the end of the homes, the trail appears to give you the option of going straight or turning to the right after passing through a yellow gate. I made the mistake of going straight and ended up on the highway. In order to catch the overpass bridge, you need to turn right where the trail continues for a couple of hundred metres and then left to the bridge. It looks like the town is making a new trail at this left turn that bypasses the portion going by the shore and the large homes (probaby at the urging of the owners!), and will lead more directly into town.

After passing Highway 12, the Midland Trail connects directly onto the Tay Shore Trail right near the historic site of Sainte-Marie among the Hurons.

http://www.saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca/sm/en/HistoricalInformation/index.htm

You can see a portion of the historic site as you pass over a wooden trestle bridge. On the other side, of the highway is also a church in honour of the missionaries who were martyred in the 17th Century.

http://www.martyrs-shrine.com/

The Tay Shore Trail is paved along its length and passes through some lovely forested areas as it connects the numerous communities that dot the shoreline from Penetang to Waubaushene. A very nice discovery for anyone visiting the area.

Port Colborne morning ride

It's hard to miss a chance for a ride along the Welland Canal bike path even if it means a 5:30 start on a crisp May morning before we sail down the Canal. You need a little luck to find the continuation of the path north of Lock 8, but it is worth the effort.

This Laker was waiting at the lower approach wall to Lock 8 in Port Colborne while a salt water vessel or 'Salty' was making its way through the lock. You can see that he is obviously in ballast, heading to the upper lakes probably to load coal or ore.


The opposite side of the canal can be seen close off the port bow of the vessel, which shows how little room there is between these vessels when they pass at the entrance to the locks.


Lock 8 is known as a control lock because there is only a couple of feet difference between the Lake Erie water level and this portion of the Welland Canal. In most cases, the lock master lets vessels 'walk through' the lock without the need to put lines out and secure.







The bike path moves away from the Canal slightly after this point to go around a grain elevator before coming back at Ramey's Bend. This is where the Canal splits in two with the old section passes on the west and the new section to the east. The bike path follows along the old section that has now been turned into a rowing circuit. The path has very good signage along the route showing the particular section you are riding through and in some places it is even in French!

There was only time for a short ride down to the old bridge just beyond this sign, but I was back around Lock 8 in time to see the Salty poke her nose out of the lock. Hopefully, she will be well down the Canal by the time we are ready for our own transit so we can get through the system in a reasonable eight hours.

The Seasoned Mariner's Lament

I live
within a structure
that for some
embodies
a symbol of hate;
though I was not present
at the moment of impact
twenty years ago...

twenty years ago,
though I am a different soul
within the similar surface,
the slitted stares see
but the ghosts
of ancient atrocities.