Chasing trains and fall colors in Sault St. Marie, Canada on the north shore of Lake Superior

We wake up at 5am in downtown Toronto to beat the morning rush hour out of the city. It is pouring rain outside and chilly, but we are in our cozy tracksuits, camera bags ready, few pairs of clothes and essential road snacks for a 7 hour drive ahead.

Our destination is Sault Ste. Marie, a small town on the St. Mary’s River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, and famous for its Soo Locks where some 80 million tons of iron ore pass every year.

Now the region has become known for its early fall colors, whereupon the first sightings of the maple leafs turning spark an influx of travellers and photographers looking to capture the otherworldly explosion of color as it slowly makes its way south, typically from the last week of September to the first week of October.

7 hours, 3 Tim Hortons stops, and 1 power nap later we arrive in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. We walk the city, getting a sense of its history and culture, glad to have a few locals playing tour guide who could expand our knowledge beyond what we could research online, and could share a few local, hidden gems.

The following morning we wake at 7 am to overcast skies and drizzle, and after an obligatory stop at Tim Hortons for a double double, we meet Brad and Amanda from Thrive Tours to pickup our canoe for a morning paddle on Lake Superior.

After a series of turns on unmarked roads we arrive at a small clearing on the lakeshore surrounded by brightly colored trees.

Brad beats a small drum and recites a prayer in Ojibwe while clutching onto some loose tobacco leaves. He then places some in each of our left hand symbolizing the closeness to heart and asks us to leave our prayers into the water quietly, helping to ensure our safe return.

Despite the storm of the previous day, the water is calm, and we spend the next two hours quietly paddling along the shoreline and under birch, red oak, and sugar maples that hang out over the water in a rainbow canopy.

When we return to shore we make a small fire, and have a lunch of hotdogs and chocolate.

On our return to town, Brad suggested we join the Ojibwe tribe for the start of the sweat lodge build at Agawa Canyon Station. The Agawa Canyon train into Agawa Canyon is an iconic, 114 mile train ride that sadly was closed for the past year due to COVID and the first official ride was scheduled to depart for tomorrow, and the sweat lodge is an exciting symbol of the original inhabitants of the land.

That night we stay up late, plotting the route of the train and nearby roads to pick the ideal spots for photos, and the following morning we find ourselves racing along backroads to overlooks marked on our map.

At one point we turn into a long driveway situation across the street from the traintracks, quickly exciting and attempting to set up our cameras as they owner walked over, laughing, and gesturing to a better spot. This becomes our routine for the rest of the day: chasing trains, meeting locals, and laughing.

That evening, just before, a combination of hustle and luck yields my favorite photo from the trip as we arrive at a spot a good 15 minutes before the train passes on its return to the Station. We laugh and smile and feel joy.

That evening we met up with a few friends at a local brewery called Northern Superior which features a fireplace and a great selection of locally-brewed beers. For food they have partnered with local restaurants to create an exclusive menu each week.

The next morning started off with a visit to the Canadian Bush Plane Heritage Centre. This museum has over 30 heritage planes from various time periods. There are always a few that are being restored and the community gets to take a part in the restoration process. There is a large glass wall on one side of the centre facing the canal.

For lunch we stop at Georgie’s Shawarma. Georgie is a refugee immigrant success story that is widely celebrated across town. Ask someone where to eat and if they do not mention Georgie’s they are probably not from the Soo.

Georgie is a very busy man only open Monday’s to Friday’s until 5pm as he values spending time with the family as much as he loves cooking up a great shawarma. We chat with him about his upbringing, and he humbly states that he owes his success to the community around him while taking a deep pride in the authenticity of his cuisine, importing essential ingredients while making everything in house, including the pickled vegetables.

That evening we meet with Mark, the Sault Cycling Club’s president and some of his fellow riders for a ride on the ever-expanding cycling trail network. Mark is an avid rider and skier, loving that he can enjoy both in Soo and that there is such great community support for growing the trail system.

The following day we head to the Goulais River, a narrow but meandering river that flows into Lake Superior that was once used to transport logs to local sawmills before being turned into a large provincial park. We meet with Brad and Amanda again, hoping to capture the reflection of our canoe and the fall colors in the glass-like waters.

As we pause from paddling, I look down to see brook trout swimming lazily in the deep, dark water, before looking over to see our new friends stand on shore, smiling and framed by a bright canopy of colors.