Who would have ever thought you could paddle your kayak through the Soo Locks? Well, Jeff and Chris Dennis did, that’s who. They had reservations with a guide to take them on this adventure, but at the last minute the guide canceled on them. So instead of scrapping the adventure, Jeff and Chris sat down and did plenty of research and planning on their own to make this happen. They had agreed that they would take the adventure one step at a time and if they ran into problems they would turn around.

The day of the adventure, the water was very calm, so they started out and right away saw a big Salty coming down bound towards them, not wanting to take any chances, they waited for it to pass, then they crossed over to Canadian waters and eventually entered the Canadian Lock Channel. Incidentally, that’s the only Lock you can kayak through. Jeff said he knew they had to get to the “blue zone” and wait for permission to enter the Lock. There was a phone number listed, along with red lights. After making the call, the lock master said he knew they were there and in about 10 minutes the lights changed to green and it was clear for Jeff and Chris to enter the Lock. Jeff said there were a few people working there and one of them told him to use his kayak rope to hold the cables in the Lock, but to just hold the rope, don’t tie it to the cable and that Chris should then hold onto Jeff’s kayak. They weren’t expecting any other boats for a while, so they lowered the water, along with Jeff & Chris, 21 feet in the Lock which took about 10 minutes.

When the Lock gates opened back up they were on their way. Jeff said the water was a bit more turbulent there as they crossed in front of the Soo rapids and they noticed that the Salty ship they had waited for earlier was just leaving the American Locks at the same time as them. They stayed along the Canadian shore until the were directly across from the Valley Camp on the American side and after checking for others boats they paddled across. They then followed the American shore to a boat launch near Clyde’s Drive-In. They called a taxi to take them back to their truck at their starting point, which was about 5 miles away. Jeff added that even though they were extremely disappointed that their guide had canceled, they were actually quite thankful that it worked out that way, because going solo like they did, just made the adventure that much sweeter. That’s quite an accomplishment, I’d say! And in case you’re wondering where Fritz was, they had decided to leave him behind for this adventure since they would be crossing over to Canadian waters and back again.

To wrap up this unique adventure, we have a video from Under the Radar Michigan, when they did a Soo Lock Kayak Tour last year in Sault Ste. Marie, with Birds Eye Outfitters.

Hi
It looks like Jeff and Chris followed the same route as
the crew from Under the Radar. I & some friends took
the Soo Locks tour boat on Labor Day weekend. We went
up on the American side and came back on the Canadian.
I was struck by how much smaller the Canadian lock was.

As one with Canadian descent, I liked the trip through the Canadian
lock.

What an adventure! This must have been so much fun!
Nice they had such calm waters. Great pictures!
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

WOW!!! Now THERE is an adventure!! Do you need a
passport to get to Canadian waters??? Just WOW!!!

So much for the days of PORTAGE.

Really nice pics, Jeff & Chris!! Did the big Salty
give you a blast of the horn to say hello?

One question though.... How mad was Fritz when you
got back to him!!?? :=)) I hope you at least
brought him a Big C, from Clyde's!!

Just another once in a lifetime adventure
for Jeff and Chris - you guys ROCK !!