Hi Jake,
Read about your adventure in The News and spent the day and night until 2 am reading your entire blog, always with a thought to the history of the areas and the people who came long before you. Here's a bit of our's:

309 years ago today, Antoine de LaMothe Cadillac and 100 men paddled out of Georgian Bay, down through Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, through Lake St. Clair and settled at the narrowest part of the Detroit River, just below Belle Isle, and on July 24, 1701, started building the stockade of Fort Pontchartrain and St. Anne's Church, the beginnings of Detroit, or as the French say, Day-twa. For four years prior, Mr. Cadillac had been the Commander at Fort Mackinac, which you will be paddling by in a few days (look to your left as you go under the Big Bridge) and the long boat traffic between the two forts over the next 100+ years would have gone past right where you are! Fort Mackinac serviced the fur traders paddling their way to Green Bay, the gateway to the interior, and your route undoubtedly!

Happy Birthday Detroit, and Jake, keep up your strength! You are the best reality show!

Sue S.,
Thanks for sharing the fascinating history. I know a part of the appeal of Portage and its rivers, for Jake was a similar history involving Marquette and Joliet, and the American Indians before them. These waterways centuries ago were a lifeline to many communities, and how great it is that we (mostly Jake ;p ) can follow in their ‘footsteps’.