The Explorer lives on one of the six Great Lakes. Actually, Georgain Bay is an arm of Lake Huron and not and official Great Lake. But, like his hero – another Explorer, one named Champlain, – he thinks of it as La mer douce, the Sweetwater Sea. It got that name back in 1615 when Samuel de Champlain cupped his hands in Georgian Bay hoping to taste salt. Instead, he got a mouthful of clean, cold freshwater. Still, there is nothing minor about Georgian Bay. Larger than Lake Ontario and almost as large as Lake Erie, Georgian Bay can hold its own as one of the largest bodied of sweet water in the world.
Lake Huron itself is no slouch. Spreading out around us, it is 206 miles long and 183 miles wide with a surface area of 23,000 square miles. Now, before you start trying to translate those figures into metric, let us point out that it is the second largest of the Great Lakes and the fourth largest freshwater lake on earth. Like its sister lake, Michigan, it is deep, averaging 195 feet with a maximum depth of 750 feet. Only Lake Superior is deeper.
Huron’s most distinctive characteristics are its two enormous bays. Georgian Bay to the east is by far the largest bay in the Great Lakes. And what about that other bay? If you guessed Saginaw Bay, it is the third largest in the Great Lakes.
But who knows much about Saginaw Bay? This past year the Explorer found himself feeling a little to provincial. Although he has Lake Huron in his view each and every day, it was due time to go out and discover some of the other Great Lakes – Michigan and Superior. For several weeks, he travelled south, west and north on a gigantic 5,000-kilometre tour that began in Owen Sound and ended there.
Originally aired November 21st 2016
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