Parks Along the Great Lakes

[Those of you who are not interested in parks, nature, Savannah oaks and things 'Carolinian' can proceed directly to the Post Script where the frivolous material is found.]

Pinery Provincial Park

     A few weeks back we visited the Pinery which is located on Lake Huron a few kilometres south of the tourist resort town of Grand Bend. It is a large 'Carolinian' forest, complete with sand dunes and a long beach that is somewhat diminished given the high water this year. If you enjoy peace and quiet and solitude, but dislike camping and prefer fine dining, then finding a resort or cottage close to a park is a good option when travelling in the Great Lakes area. Gathered here is some information about such parks along the Lakes, on both sides of the border.
     Local readers of this blog (there is one that I know of) will be familiar with "Ontario's West Coast" or, as some brochures call it, "Ontario's Blue Coast" -- the water as you come over the dunes is often very blue. The Ontario Parks web site is the place to start and The Friends of the Pinery is useful. The Lambton Heritage Museum is not far from the gates to the Park.
     If you want a little history and some background about the 'Carolinian' nature of the park see these two short works by a classicist who was also a former President of what is now Western University: 'T Aint Runnin' No More: The Story of Grand Bend, The Pinery and the Old River Bed and Some Trees and Shrubs of the Carolinian Zone of Southern Ontario. Both are by Sherwood Fox.
     The title of the first work refers to the Aux Sables River which was damned, detoured and tampered with, like all rivers in pioneer days (remember my recent note about the Chicago River which was made to flow in reverse). One of the 'cuts' is pictured above.

Indiana Dunes National Park

You are probably surprised that there is a U.S. NATIONAL park so close by and that the state of Indiana has a short bit of coast along Lake Michigan. Although a state park survived for years between the abandoned steel mills and new casinos, it just became an actual NATIONAL park very recently (the 61st) even though the Trump administration was opposed. Over the years many were opposed because the sand and steel were more important than a few dunes.

I became aware of the Indiana dunes last year when I began reading some of the books by Edwin Way Teale. He spent his childhood years visiting grandparents who lived close by the dunes and he describes how he became interested in nature in the book Dune Boy.

For a recent article about Indiana Dunes see: "Visiting the Nation's Newest National Park: Indiana Dunes, Michael Schroeder, Washington Post, June, 7, 2019. The park site is here and there is a Wikipedia entry. The picture of the protestors comes from a good blog piece: "The Story Behind Indiana's First National Park", REI Co-op Journal.

Other Great Lakes Parks

Ontario

Batchawana Bay 

The drive along Highway 17 near Batchawana Bay offers outstanding views of Lake Superior. And Batchawana Bay Provincial Park is a perfect spot to stop and immerse yourself in this stunning scenery. A plaque erected by the Ontario Motor League highlights Batchawana Bay (at Chippewa Falls) as the mid-point in the longest national highway in the world - the Trans-Canada Highway.

Inverhuron 

Prized for its sandy beach, dunes and glorious sunsets.

Includes a wetland and a young hardwood forest

Diverse habitat nurtures rare plants and protects many woodland animals and birds.

On Lake Huron north of Kincardine.

Killbear
Kilometres of rugged, rocky shoreline mixed with numerous sand beaches
Beautiful views of windswept pines on rocky islands
6 km recreational trail for hiking and biking
Visitor Centre
Excellent sailing and windsurfing conditions
Georgian Bay sunsets
Parry Sound area

MacGregor Point 
MacGregor Point is one of the most ecologically diverse natural places along the Lake Huron shoreline. A complex ecosystem unfolds at this all-season park on a seven-kilometre stretch of coast, just south of Port Elgin.

Neys Provincial Park 
Enjoy one the finest sand beaches on Lake Superior’s north shore.View a model of a former prisoner-of-war (POW) camp at the Visitor Centre and the actual remains of POW Camp 100.
See Pic Island as it was immortalized on canvas by Lawren Harris of the famous Canadian painting team, The Group of Seven.

Pancake Bay
More than 3 km of beautiful sand beach and Caribbean blue water
Panoramic view of Lake Superior from the Edmund Fitzgerald Lookout hiking trail

The United States

Michigan 

   Isle Royale National Park 

   Isle Royale National Park is located in the northwest corner of Lake Superior. The island contains a roadless backcountry which prohibits the use of all wheeled vehicles and devices (except wheelchairs). Visitors traveling to Isle Royale must arrive by boat or seaplane. There are a variety of transportation services available that depart from Houghton, Michigan, Copper Harbor, Michigan and Grand Portage, Minnesota. Vehicular parking is available at all departure locations.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 

   Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is located on the south shore of Lake Superior in Michigan's
Upper Peninsula, between the communities of Munising (west) and Grand Marais (east).

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

    Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is located in Northwestern Lower Michigan along the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. The closest city is Traverse City, 25 miles to the east

Wisconsin 

 Apostle Islands National Lakeshore 

 The headquarters visitor center is one block off Wisconsin Route 13 in the city of Bayfield.

Sources:
If you wish to meander around this area of the Great Lakes, see these useful Michigan web sites:
Great Lakes Circle Tours
Great Lakes Circle Tour 
Pure Michigan Getaways
Post Script:
   When you saw that this post was about the Pinery/Grand Bend area, you probably wondered whether Mitt Romney did actually tie his dog to the top of the car when he drove to visit the family compound which is in the area.  I anticipated such a query and was fully prepared to do some thorough investigative reporting.  It is not necessary. Just see this: "Mitt Romney Dog Incident".

Bonus: If you noticed the Pure Michigan link above you probably thought of those good Michigan ads and "Yes" there is even a Wikipedia entry about them: Pure Michigan. 

Leaking Oil

The Gulf of Sludge

     Although I try to ignore current events, particularly negative ones, I will mention one here for two reasons. First, it strikes me as an important story that has been underreported. If that is true, then the second reason for offering it is that I am doing so as a public service. If you are a Snow Bird who is thinking of buying property anywhere along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Tampa, you may want to look elsewhere. 

     Anyone thinking about swimming in the Gulf or buying property along its coast would be aware of the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010 and would assume that by now the coast is clear and the water is mostly back to normal. That is not the case. There was an earlier marine disaster in 2004 and the underreported story is that oil is still leaking from the site and at a rate much greater than realized. MUCH, MUCH GREATER. I need say no more. Just look at the sources.

Sources: 

"New Estimate for an Oil Leak: A Thousand Times Worse Than Rig Owner Says," Lisa Friedman, New York Times, June 25, 2019. 

'WASHINGTON — A new federal study has found that an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that began 14 years ago has been releasing as much as 4,500 gallons a day, not three or four gallons a day as the rig owner has claimed."

   The federal study is available, but to avoid link rot, I will just provide the title: "An Integrated Assessment of Oil and Gas Release Into the Marine Environment at the Former Taylor Energy MC20 Site," by Andrew L. Mason, J. Christopher Taylor and Ian R. MacDonald, June 2019.

I am not sure how this report got reported under the current administration which is pushing for offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

There are more articles to be found, but it seems to me that there should be many more given the apparent magnitude of the leak. Perhaps when cold weather returns in the north and we Canadians start thinking about heading south, there will be more reports about the health of the Gulf. If not, I suggest you restrict your swimming to the motel pool.

Post Script:

   I apologize to all golfers who were lured to this post by the title - "Leaking Oil". It was chosen deliberately to attract more readers and I couldn't think of any way to link Archie or his mom Meghan to the subject at hand. For you non-golfers: "leaking oil" is now part of the golf broadcaster's vernacular and is used to describe a golfer who is falling apart on the last few holes. For you golfers here is a bonus if you have wondered about the usage of the word "wheelhouse" during golf matches: "What's a 'Wheelhouse' and Why is Something in Mine?" Chris Higgins, Mental Floss, Sept. 27, 2015.

   While I am considering current events here are two headlines that caught my eye. This one could be misconstrued: "Man, Found Fatally Stabbed Near Van On Fire, Just Wanted 'To Make People Smile'".

For more on such headlines see my post about Headlines. 

This one has to do with the concept of the unintended consequences of practically everything: "Fatal Accident With Metal Straw Highlights a Risk: The Disturbing Death of a Woman in Britain Renewed a Debate That Has Followed Bans on Plastic Straws Around the World," Neil Vigdor, New York Times, July 11, 2019.

Toronto the Carbuncle

New Nickname For Hogtown

     I suppose it is okay to pick on TO since the citizens there are feeling so good about their NBA championship team. (Although I am not sure why. There are more local fish in Toronto's Ripley's Aquarium than there are Canadian players on the Raptors, some of whom were just purchased fresh this year and will be gone by the next one.) So I am suggesting as a new nickname,  "Toronto the Carbuncle" rather than "Toronto the Pustule" since a carbuncle is bigger and worse than a pustule. It seems to me closer to the truth than "Toronto the Good". 

     The reason for this rant now is because I just ran across a rather grim assessment of Toronto offered at the turn of this century. Things have not gotten better, although I must confess that real estate prices have gone up. For involved historical and economic reasons the "Big Smoke" seems to be where many Canadians want to be and have to go since there are not many other urban options. Citizens from other countries are also flocking there and "Diversity" itself seems a big draw. For now. 

     In any case, the rather negative account below is provided by someone who was simply trying to bypass Toronto about twenty years ago. Things have not gotten better. Among the many reasons not to like Toronto is that it is a major obstacle for those who are simply trying to go someplace more desirable. 

     

    "I don't know what the upper limit of population for a functioning human society is, but I do know that Greater Toronto exceeded it long ago. The city is a whirl of people constantly crossing each other's paths, like neutrinos in a cyclotron. The pace and volume of traffic, the raw, wounded-looking land beneath the new subdivisions and shopping centers, and the general sense of noise and hurry made me feel thoroughly jangled, like a mouse caught in a bagpipe. We turned north on 404 well before the city center, trying to escape the worst of it, and maybe we did: but if so, I would not want to see the worst. The freeway ended and we found ourselves facing traffic lights. Cars shuffled and crushed between them; trucks roared and fumed. Everywhere there was new construction - new homes, new strip malls, new office buildings. This, John Hartig had told us, was the finest agricultural land in Ontario. This has not stopped people from paving it. Hundreds of thousands of acres of it. The property-rights people have clearly won the war here. They can go to bed and sleep well. I wonder what they are planning to eat."
from: Great Lakes Journey: A New Look at America's Freshwater Coast, William Ashworth, p.250. This "new look" was taken in 2000. The author had taken an earlier tour of the area in the 1980s and the result was: The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History. 

Sources:
Toronto has so many nicknames there is an entry in Wikipedia  for "Name of Toronto".
See also: "Top 8 Nicknames for the City of Toronto".

Post Script: 
     About the only positive economic economic news here in London is found in the real estate sector. Torontonians are selling their expensive properties to buy cheaper homes here. As a result more fine agricultural land is being paved over and there will soon be nothing but tarmac from Tillsonburg to Tilbury. It makes you wonder what we are planning to eat.
     Not only is Toronto difficult to get through, it is a rather undesirable destination. I admit that I really don't know the city well and visit infrequently. When I do, I am disappointed. Given my harsh assessment I feel compelled to undertake some field research and will visit this summer. Although the lakefront will not yet be improved by "Sidewalk Labs", some scouts from New York have suggested a visit to the Sterling Road area. I am not overly optimistic: "In Toronto, An Industrial Stretch Has Its Breakout Moment," Michael Kaminer, NYT, July 5, 2019.
"Dismissed for decades as a postindustrial wasteland, Sterling Road, a zigzagging half-mile strip of old factories and warehouses, is getting a second life. Last summer, the North American debut of a splashy Banksy exhibition in an empty warehouse there drew a global spotlight. With the arrival of Toronto’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) last fall, Sterling Road is newly hip, its appeal broadening beyond the small cadre of tuned-in artists and bohemian types who for years have had it to themselves. The street’s cavernous structures have also quickly become hot real estate."

Boston Mills Press

Summer Vacation Reading

     If you are looking for an Ontario get-away, or if you know where you are going, but want to read about the place or the area, then you might consider looking at the books that were published by Boston Mills Press. You have seen them, I'm sure. They are often about subjects such as "Cottage Country" and they were frequently seen on coffee tables.

     Boston Mills had some financial problems when its parent company, Stoddart Publishing, went bankrupt early in this century. Fortunately the inventory was picked up by Firefly Books and you can still order many of the titles from them. Used copies of Boston Mill's titles are found on AbeBooks and they can be located by doing a keyword search. The public libraries also have many of the books, particularly the ones relating to the local areas in which they are located.

     All of these titles are older and none are current. I am not sure if any of the tea rooms Melody Wren recommends exist now and some of the "Top 50 Tourist Attractions" may be long gone. Georgian Bay and Lake Erie are still here, however, and you can still spend the night at Windermere in Muskoka. If you are not going anywhere, you can relax and enjoy the books which are usually full of good photographs.
     Here are some sample titles and at the end, the usual useful tidbits.

The Annex : the story of a Toronto neighbourhood / Jack Batten. 2004
At the mouth of the Credit / by Betty Clarkson. 1977
The boardwalk album : memories of the beach / Barbaranne Boyer.1985
Castles and Cottages: River Retreats of the Thousand Islands, Fischer & Mollica.



Changing landscapes of southern Ontario / Virgil Martin
Country inns : Ontario's best getaways / Donna Carpenter.
Daytripper : 50 trips in and around southwestern Ontario / Donna Gibbs Carpenter
Erindale at the crook of the Credit / by Jean Adamson. 1978
Explore Muskoka / by Susan Pryke;
Fifty unusual things to see in Ontario / Ron Brown.
Guelph : take a look at us! / Donald E. Coulman. 1977
Heritage buildings of Norfolk : a sampling of pre-Confederation buildings in Norfolk County, Ontario : based on an inventory undertaken by the University Women's Club of Norfolk / edited
 by Hylda Howes.1985
The Hike Ontario guide to walks in Carolinian Canada / Brad Cundiff.1998
Huntsville, pictures from the past : Lake of Bays. 1986
Huron : Grand Bend to Southampton / Sandra Orr.1993
Kirkland Lake : Michael Barnes ; photographs by Lynne Birnie and Eddie Duke. 1994
Long Point : last port of call / Dave Stone 1988
Main street : a pictorial history of Erin village / Jean Denison. 1980
Maitland : a very neat village indeed / by Stephen A. Otto

  

Melody Wren's Tea rooms of Southern Ontario.1997
Memories of Toronto Island : 10 minutes and 1,000 miles away / M.J. Lennon.
Milton : welcome to our town / William E. Cook.1977
Mount Forest : the way we were / by William J. Edwards.1979
Muskoka's grand hotels / Barbaranne Boyer 1987
Northern steamboats : Timiskaming, Nipissing & Abitibi / Richard Tatley.1996
Oakville : a small town, 1900-1930 / Frances Robin Ahern 1981
Old relics and charming retainers of rural Ontario / by Jack Brooksbank. 1977
Over the hills to Georgian Bay : a pictorial history of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound      Railway / by Niall MacKay. 1981
Owen Sound : steamboat days / by Andrew Armitage.1981
Parry Sound : logging days / by John Macfie. 1987
Port Carling : the hub of the Muskoka lakes / Richard Tatley 1996
Port Sydney past / by George H. Johnson. 1980
Postcard memories of Muskoka / Allan Anderson and Ralph Beaumont. 1978
A river rat's guide to the Thousand Islands / Shawn Thompson 1996
Seaforth beginnings / by Dean Robinson.1987
St. Clair Tunnel / Clare Gilbert. 1991
The steamboat era in the Muskokas / by Richard Tatley.1984
A Stratford album : memories of the Festival City / by Mary Jane Lennon.1985
Stratford / photography by Richard Bain 1998
Travel Ontario : Ontario's 50 most popular tourist attractions. 1987
Trees of the Carolinian forest : a guide to species, their ecology, and uses / Gerry Waldron.
Up the creek : a paddler's guide to Ontario / Kevin Callan.1996
Windermere House: The Tradition Continues, Susan Pryke

Sources:
The old website for Boston Mills.
The list of Boston Mills titles on Firefly Books
Among the useful titles for those who are staying at home.


Post Script
The book about logging in Parry Sound is an oral history and one learns from the old timers, two words from the glossary that will be useful when you are around the camp fire or at the cottage on Georgian Bay. You can tell them that Booyaw is an "impromptu feast, usually boiled fowl, sometimes stolen" and that Raganooter Lake is probably named that because Raganooter refers to "a fallen tree which lies partly in the water of a lake or river."

'American Rivers' Day

Canadian Rivers Day

    For most of this century there has been a "Canadian Rivers Day" held on the 2nd Sunday of June. I don't think there is an official "American Rivers Day", but I will inaugurate one here since I intend to discuss a few 'local' rivers, some of which are located in the United States. It was my intention to have 'rivers' be a frequent topic in this blog, but I have failed to deliver, just as I have been unable to offer much about anything over the past few weeks.  Here, quickly, I will attempt to catch up by providing mercifully short entries (for a change).

The Cuyahoga River

If you look closely at the label above you will see that it is branded as the Burning River Pale Ale which is, it seems to me, an odd choice for the marketing people to make. It was 50 years ago that the Cuyahoga caught fire and for that reason there have been many anniversary articles about the event. 1959 was the year of the last fire on the Cuyahoga so the news is generally good. The marketing people who are attempting to sell Cleveland now have a much easier job.

Sources:

"A Gleaming Cuyahoga River Helps Tourists Flow to Cleveland," Scott Suttell, Cleveland.com June 7, 2019. "Jim Ridge, the founder of Share the River, a nonprofit group that heightens awareness about the Cleveland waterfront, said the Cuyahoga River has achieved something that few could have imagined decades ago. It's a destination. Seeing recreational aspects on the body of water that ignited the environmental movement is a game-changer for locals, but also for folks well beyond our ZIP code who are going, 'Wait, that's not the Cuyahoga River I had in mind,' " he said.

"From 5 Rowers to 1,500, How the Cleveland Rowing Foundation Shares the Cuyahoga River with the City," Laura Johnston, cleveland.com ,June 11, 2019.

"Rough (but clean) Water Ahead: Cuyahoga Falls Embraces Cuyahoga River's Return to Nature," Grant Segall, The Plain Dealer, June 12, 2019.
"Just upstream, high schoolers are sitting along a boardwalk, sketching the scenic river. Fifty years ago on June 22, Cleveland’s stretch of a gunky, stinky Cuyahoga had its best-known fire, spurring the Clean Water Act and a half-century of cleanup. Now a resurging river and its corridor teem with fish, turtles, herons, paddlers, hikers, diners and more."

"A Cleveland River Once Oozed and Burned. It’s Now a Hot Spot." By Erik Piepenburg June 7, 2019, New York Times.

"Then there's this striking example of how a river that once was so toxic that it bubbled and oozed like a caldron is producing edible marine life: the Ohio E. P. A. announced in March that fish from the Cuyahoga River, including catfish and common carp, are safe to eat."

The Thames River

The riparian situation here in London is rather murkier, both above and below the forks of the Thames. The failure of a dam downriver has reduced the more robust activities of rowing and boating, although the fishing may have improved. The promotion of a waterfront promenade is rather difficult given that it will overlook not much more than a muddy stream because of the dam upriver. In terms of the health of the river it can be said that: "While combined efforts in the watershed have been great over the past two decades, the outcome has shown only small environmental improvement."

Sources:

You locals will not need any. For the quote above see the report card offered by The Upper Thames River Conservation Society,

The Chicago River

 

The recent reviews about the Chicago River are somewhat mixed. Reports from upstream are better, which is usually the case. The river is green in the above picture because it was taken around Saint Patrick's Day when the water is dyed that colour. The good news here is that everyone everywhere agrees that that holiday is one that should be celebrated.

Sources:

"In Chicago, A River Revitalized — But Not for Everyone," Kari Lydersen June 22, 2019, Washington Post.

"The river’s water is cleaner than it has been in decades. New amenities, including four new boat houses, riverside restaurants and the Riverwalk, a pedestrian promenade downtown, line its banks. Revitalizing the river was a major priority of Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D), who left office May 20. The spot in the river where the rowers launch could be seen as the dividing point between the two sides of the Chicago River system. Just upstream is a lush park with a Chinese pagoda, and beyond that, the skyscrapers of downtown. Downstream, the river becomes increasingly industrial and filled with detritus...[it gets worse].

The Buffalo River

The situation in Buffalo is so good along the rivers that some Canadian beer marketing folks obviously thought old industrial silos were perfect platforms for their brand. The city promoters say that Buffalo should be your "Port of Call" and that Canalside is a good place to kayak and party. They can also say "Sail Into Summer" and "Make a Splash in Buffalo" because there is another river - the Niagara River - and Lake Erie is close by as is the Canal. The water resources so important for trade and industrialization are being revitalized for recreational purposes.

Sources:

See: The Buffalo Touring Guide.

Fishing (!/?)

We were in Buffalo in early May, allured by the arts not the water. It was still a little chilly for waterfront wandering, but I did notice in the Buffalo paper an entire page devoted to fishing and the major headline was: "WNY[Western New York] Fisheries Show Off for National Media" and apart from two pictures of huge fish (a lake trout and a king salmon) there were remarks such as these: "Outdoor media from around the country arrive every spring to take advantage of the world class bass and walleye fishing on Lake Erie. The Niagara River spring trout fishery is outstanding too...." "Being from Michigan, I was a little slow to discover the world class trout and salmon fishery Lake Ontario offers...." "Lake Erie's Eastern Basin is well known as a walleye destination...." Year end and year out, spring offers some of the best multi-species fishing in the Lower 48 in and around the Niagara River." Buffalo News, May 9, 2019.

I was surprised by the extent of the fish coverage and the apparent success of the fisherpeople. I live on a river between Lake Erie and Lake Huron and don't read much about fishing and I don't think one reads much about the subject in the Toronto press. A quick search of Toronto-area papers didn't catch much. A short one for the Cleveland area landed:"If You Aren’t Catching Walleye on Lake Erie, You Aren’t Trying:" June 14 Fishing Report, Cleveland.com May 14 and "Anglers Eager for 2019 Lake Erie Fishing Season: Ohio Anglers, Get Ready for Another Phenomenal Lake Erie Fishing Year." Laura Johnston, Jan. 25, 2019.

   My impression about the fish coverage may be incorrect, but, if not, among the questions that could be asked are these two: Is the fishing better below the invisible border line in the lakes or are the Americans just better at fishing (or marketing)?

Post Script:

   Near the end of the 19th century the flow of the Chicago River was reversed and no longer emptied into Lake Michigan which provides Chicagoans with their drinking water. The sewage is now sent south. 

  Not all the news is good. The Maumee River which empties into Lake Erie at Toledo is a major reason for the algae bloom the develops in that lake. The Cleveland slogan "A Green City on a Blue Lake" may soon need a slight change.

  Bonus tourist tip. If you are going to Buffalo I recommend that you stay in the insane asylum, now known as The Richardson Hotel (formerly The Henry.) From there you can walk to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.