6th Anniversary of My Great Lakes Walk

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures: 

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach  [A Heartland Indie Bestseller]

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk   [Winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award] 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure  [Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize]

 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

October 20 is the 6th anniversary of my second Great Lakes Adventure. 

This 1,000-mile hike took me along portions of all five of our magnificent Great Lakes.

Yellow line is my route for this 1,000-mile hike

This journey allowed me to get to know the unique personalities of each Great Lake.

If I had to describe each lake in one word, I'd choose:

Lake Erie:  Fishy

Lake Erie has the most fish of any Great Lake. It is shallow and warm and teeming with life.

My sisters dropped me off at the beginning of this adventure

Along the shore of Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Huron: Limestone!

The edge of northern Lake Huron is rimmed with limestone and is the site of several large limestone mines.

Blue Water Bridge

Massive truck at the Calcite Limestone Mine north of Rogers City

40-Mile Point Lighthouse

Hiking the rocky edge of Lake Huron

Puddingstone

 Lake Superior:  Wild!

 Lake Superior is the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, and WILDEST Great Lake.

Hiking the middle of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

My son, Ben, joined me along Lake Superior

Ben at the tip of the Keewenaw Peninsula

Lake Ontario: Friendly!

I hiked Lake Ontario on the Canadian side. The weather was mild and the people were welcoming.

Lake Ontario

Hiking the Waterfront Trail along Lake Ontario

Lake Michigan: Home

I live at the edge of this Great Lake, so hiking its shores always feels like home to me.

Sunset at tip of Leelanau Peninsula

Along Lake Michigan

Sanderlings along Lake Michigan

The finale of this hike took place along the Niagara River. My finish line for this 1,000-mile hike was Niagara Falls.

The enthusiastic group that hiked the final miles with me!

The magnificent finish line

Niagara Falls in motion:

The book about this adventure!

[Available wherever books are sold.

Find the audiobook HERE.]

Great Lakes Walk Anniversary

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

Five years ago today I completed my 1,000-mile hike exploring all five Great Lakes.

The yellow line in the map below traces the route of this adventure. I spent time on each Great Lake and also hiked some of the watery connections between the lakes.

The yellow route is my Great Lakes Walk

 Here are some highlights from this journey:

Pictured Rocks along Lake Superior

Hiking along limestone-strewn Lake Huron

Niagara Falls

St. Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge

Hiking along Lake Erie

Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake St. Clair

Hiking the Waterfront Trail along Lake Ontario

Group that hiked final miles with me to finish line of Niagara Falls

  I learned so much about our Great Lakes on this adventure. Each lake has a unique "personality." The geology differs in each basin. And each lake has unique conditions for aquatic life.

The full story of this walk is in my second book (also available as an audiobook):

Six Year Anniversary

Six years ago, I began my first hike on Chicago's Navy Pier. The completion of that first 1,000-mile hike led me to undertake two more 

Great Lake Adventures.

Chicago's Navy Pier reaches out into Lake Michigan

Now, I've hiked, kayaked, biked or boated over 3,000 miles exploring the Great Lakes basin, the shoreline, cities and towns on the edges of the lakes, wild areas, and dozens of the islands afloat in their waters.

In this video, I take a moment to look back to where this all began.

Ice on the Great Lakes

 This has been a frigid winter with polar vortices, snowfall breaking decades-old records, and widespread ice formation on the Great Lakes.

Lake Michigan was just over 93% covered with ice on March 8, setting a new record.

Ice near Chicago

Overall, the Great Lakes were just over 

92% iced over on March 6, 

not quite breaking the record.

Windrow ice near Chicago

The lakes are dynamic, so the ice breaks up, gets pushed around, and then stacked near the shore making elaborate formations.

 Close shot of windrow ice

Peak ice coverage for each Great Lake this year:

1. Lake Erie – 96.40% on March 6, 2014
2. Lake Huron – 96.30% on March 6, 2014
3. Lake Superior – 95.74% on March 5, 2014
4. Lake Michigan – 93.29% on March 8, 2014
5. Lake Ontario – 61.52% on March 6, 2014

Some reports stated that Lake Ontario has less ice coverage due to its volume-to-surface-area ratio, but this ratio is similar to Lake Michigan's which had higher ice coverage. I think it's more likely that the inflow from the Niagara River disrupts ice formation at the western end of the lake. The river also carries dissolved minerals from upstream into Lake Ontario which depresses the freezing point of the water. Another consideration is the effect of industrial and municipal usage and return of water at the western edge of the lake which may increase the temperature of the water. One additional factor may be the retention time for Lake Ontario which is only 6 years compared to Lake Michigan's 99 years. This means that the water in Lake Ontario is moving much faster than in Lake Michigan.

More information on ice on the

Great Lakes HERE.

Walk with Me...

This video takes you along on my Great Lakes Walk with a boot-on-the-trail perspective!

This should give you a sense of the variation of the shorelines of the five Great Lakes.

In this video, you'll see bits of each lake and the finale at Niagara Falls, ON, Canada.

Toronto!

My Lake Ontario hike ended in Toronto, the second-largest city on the edge of the Great Lakes.  

(Chicago is the largest.)

First view of the Toronto skyline in distance

Toronto skyline from beach

Along this stretch of pathway, hundreds of people biked and skated, jogged and strolled.

French makes everything sound classier, even the Hockey Hall of Fame

CN Tower

Sunrise in Toronto over Union Station

Canada borders 4 of the 5 Great Lakes. Only Lake Michigan is completely within the borders of the U.S. I thought it was important to experience how Canada relates to these vast, inland seas. There are 8 states bordering the lakes. Can you name them? 

Waterfront Trail Part 2

Here are some more images from the Waterfront Trail in Ontario.  These photos span the distance between the cities of Port Hope and Scarborough.

Port Hope, Ontario

Old meets new along the waterfront trail

Not exactly the most scenic part of the trail...

That's right, the trail goes through the nuclear power plant's land!

It may seem odd to put the trail through these industrial areas, but part of the purpose of the trail is to bring attention to the waterfront and to make people aware of what is going on along the shoreline and to assist in the protection and regeneration of Lake Ontario. 

And underneath high voltage wires!

All power plants have a "buffer zone" around them to minimize their impact on surrounding populations. The trail winds through some of these areas giving bikers and hikers a close-up look at these installations.

And right up to GM's Canadian headquarters

There are also some natural areas

The Pickering Nuclear power plant

View from the overlook near Scarborough