There is so much more to Sault Ste Marie than just big boats. And Ken and Wilda want you to experience it. Birds Eye Outfitters was created to get people outside and enjoy the beautiful nature that permeates every inch of Sault Ste Marie. From hiking to lantern snow-shoeing, from Kayaking to Paddle Boarding, Ken and Wilda created some amazing experiences that will expand your love for all things Sault.
Links:
Birds Eye Outfitters Website: https://www.birdseyeoutfitters.com/
OUTHouse Consortium: https://www.outhouseconsortium.org/
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Transcript
We're always trying to celebrate the uniqueness of this town What we want them to understand is that we've got freighters. But we are way more than big boats. We've got a playground up here.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:And the great thing about bringing groups of people together like hiking groups or, paddle groups, whatever the case may be, is that you bring people from different areas that bring different experiences and educate others to create new experiences with what we have locally. So you can celebrate what we have.
Cliff Duvernois:Hello everyone, and welcome back to Total Michigan. I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois. I'm continuing my series up in Sault Ste Marie. And with it being summertime and it's Michigan and all we can think about is getting outdoors and enjoying nature, and there's two people that if you come to Sault Ste Marie, that you absolutely have to meet and put on your list of places to go. Today we're talking with Ken and Wilda Hopper from Bird's Eye Outfitters in Sault Ste Marie. Ken Wila, how are you?
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:wonderful. Thank you. Feeling great.
Cliff Duvernois:Excellent. Yeah, doing great. Ken, tell us a little bit about where you're from and where you grew up.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:I am native to Sault Ste Marie. I grew up here, born and raised here, moved away, went to college, traveled a little bit, traveled a lot. got a, where'd you go to college? 11 miles. I went to Central Michigan University. Oh, okay. And they would expect me at that point in time to say, fire up. So fire up. Nice. What did you study? Oh God, I think I walked away with, a couple of undergrad degrees and master's degree in, field biology, outdoor recreation, oh, okay. It works out
Cliff Duvernois:well. I know you got a love for nature and we're definitely gonna explore that. Wilda, why don't you tell us where you're from, where you grew up.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Okay, so well, born in New York City, Long Island, and moved to Fort Myers, Florida. Okay. And then moved up to Michigan. So through my college, I guess in my high school years, I was a nanny up here, would come up for the summers, fell in love with this area, and, came to college up here. So it was awesome.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Loved it. nice.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah. So when you said did, do you got a nanny position up here, were you looking to come to the up or were you just no, I want the exact opposite of Long Island?
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:No, actually no, actually. Okay. So the nanny position came about because, I went to church with a couple who had kids and they had a cabin up here and needed someone to help out with kids in the summer, so I was absolutely ready to adventure up north. So
Cliff Duvernois:beautiful. Yeah. And then of course, I'm gonna assume that you guys met here.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Yes.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Yep, we did. How did you guys meet? Not at Birdseye. We created that. Yes. Yeah, we, we both worked for the same organization, Bay Mills Indian Community. Okay. which is 20 miles west of here. I was running a Boys and Girls Club and she was working in human resources. And I don't know, somebody probably reported me to human resources and No, I'm kidding. I think we had an interaction about, gymnastics program that we wanted to start out there. Okay. So that was the first initial one. And then I asked her if she wanted to buy my car. And then, oh, there's a first date.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Yeah. I worked with the legal department Risk manager management out there. yeah, it was an interesting meetup and we just started chatting.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:There you go. She's very influential.
Cliff Duvernois:And the rest is history. The rest is history. Yes. So let's talk a little bit about the creation of Bird's Eye. What was your initial thought like coming into it? What is Bird's Eye?
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Yes. Wow. That's a great question.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:okay, here's something interesting. So Ken did a lot of, west Coast adventuring before I met him, and I did a lot of East coast adventuring before I met him.
Cliff Duvernois:so when you're talking about adventuring, what does that mean?
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:So he, I think, I guess he can speak to his experiences, but he went to Colorado, California, like hiking, I think and all kinds of, fun outdoorsy adventures and was very, avid kayaker. I've a lot of backpacking. Yeah. And I'm more of like paddle boarding and being on the beach and, the Adirondacks like hiking the Adirondacks. So I did a lot of east coast adventures through my, experiences with college friends and Right family. And so when we came together In Sault Ste Marie, like one of the things I know I noticed when I first came here is like there aren't a lot of people like getting outside. So a lot of people would talk about Marquette and Petoskey and all the other places that they could go. Or even like Sault Ontario, like in Canada cuz they're space is incredible over there as well. The realization was that people weren't comfortable getting outside on their own and they didn't know what to do. What to pack, how to experience an outdoor adventure. What do I, what kind of backpack? What type of, gear do I have? What type of, it would seem apparel.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:It would seem so simple to some people like, you just go Just pair tennis shoes. And what we learn through observation as well as research is people as a whole are apprehensive, to participate in something they are not familiar with, right? So you've gotta find a way to bridge that, that chasm. do you gotta educate, right? So that's one piece. And then another one would be in order for them to have a good experience, you have to make 'em comfortable, So we wanted to provide good gear for people. We wanted to provide those one-on-one opportunities and also the guided experiences. So there is some handholding, we wanna see people take it upon themselves to get the initiative to go. And one thing that we found out that we'll probably delve into later is you need the infrastructure in a community. In order to have these outdoor opportunities, not a lot of people are into bush whacking, which is going in just, uncharted areas of the woods where they have to fight through branches and whatnot. They want, recreational facilities provided for them to get them outside and get them Start off close. Yes.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Start off small. You start off small like in, yes.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:And we, we started seeing. that in the area, that there was this lack of infrastructure for these specific recreational opportunities. And so in combination with the store, how were we gonna get there? And so that's when we decided to develop a non-for-profit. That was to develop, maintain, and promote non-motorized trails in our area, whether they be water trails or cross country ski trails, or snowshoe or hiking or biking or whatever it is. So you're doing all those sports, right?
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Yeah. And bring bringing groups of people together that are like-minded to to feed off of each other, to educate each other, to help each other out. You
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:sure's strength and that's what we see. So we started forming clubs too. Like we've got a running club that comes outta here, hiking club. We're gonna get another biking, a paddling club. Cause we're not all the same. There are people that are more comfortable doing these activities on their own. But I think a majority of us like to have a shared experience. Let's go for a paddle. And then afterwards, let's not just split off, let's go to Bird's Eye and have a beer and talk about, today's activities or what we saw, look at our selfies. Debrief,
Cliff Duvernois:right?
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Debrief. And the great thing about bringing groups of people together or bringing, like sending it out there, that we're gonna have hiking groups or running groups or, Paddle groups, whatever the case may be, is that you bring people from different competencies, from different areas that bring different experiences and educate others to create new experiences with what we have locally. So you can celebrate what we have.
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, this is beautiful. So let's run down the list of outdoor activities that you guys are currently involved in.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Let's see, mowing the lawn. I did that last night. All right. I walked into that one. I totally admitted 11:00 PM no. So we, we participate in whatever avenue we can. Like we work with the university. I teach backpacking right up there. I teach, we teach paddle sports. Cross country skiing, snowshoeing. So we have that involvement with the local university.
Cliff Duvernois:And you actually have that gear here available? Available, yeah.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:At Bird's Eye. and we've, we've really, people have come out of the woodwork, like-minded people that want, they see our passion and they wanna be involved in it and share their knowledge with people too. Organically, a couple people we know just said, Hey, we're going to, promote women hiking, women backpacking, right? And we wanna do a class here and do a progressive, hiking series or something like that. I know I'm going away from your original question, but when these things come up, I think it's important to talk about it, right? Cuz it isn't just Wilda and I, there's a show here, but it takes a lot more people to have a paradigm shift within a community. And I think we're, just in the midst of it right now.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:so definitely like hiking. So hiking and then in the wintertime organically that transforms into snowshoeing. So we, we've actually been doing for the past like three years, lantern lit, snowshoe hikes, which are, that brings families out. That would be cool. Oh yeah. It brings, it's beautiful, brings family, it brings families out, right? yes. It brings, it, it creates a night for an adventure with kids and people are getting outdoors, they're moving.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:All the snow hung up in the trees is like a great insulator, which, if you probably couldn't even hear a blender in the background in the woods in the winter.
Cliff Duvernois:Speaking of which, yeah. So let me ask you this question here. I get that, that you wanna get people out and get them to experience nature and that there was this, this void in Sault Ste marie to make that happen. But why is that important to you? Why not just sit there and say, you know what, let's just enjoy this ourselves. Why is it important for you to get people out health to enjoy it? Health.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Health there. Health in every aspect. Mental health. Spiritual emotional health? physical health. Yeah, physical health because we, so aside from just, bringing people out on adventures and we actually also, are certified to do standup paddleboard lessons, kayak lessons. Like we, we bring, we do hiking 1 0 1. Aside from that, we also are unique in our area that we, offer a lot of cleaner food options. And by cleaner we mean like non-dairy, non-gluten options, things that people are looking for. Things foods that are highly nutrient dense, right? That give you energy and, that are just all around healthy for you. we have that love, that passion for health and wellness.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Ultimately, it's for, it has to be about other people. Mm-hmm. Like. Why would we do it? Like we all know McDon. Can I say that there's a certain fast food restaurant, other fast food that shall remain nameless? Yeah. All of them. like they're in the business of making money, right? Yeah. They don't really care about you and what you put in your system. Your health. Yeah. And your health, right? And there's different mindsets, yeah, it's your choice whether you go there or not. But a lot of it's budget based. So we could be delving into other waters here, but we want people to care about themselves and their physical and mental and spiritual health and it isn't through just experimentation in our experiences like we we researched these things like she is a volume of knowledge when it comes to gut health and how what goes into your body affects all of everything that's connected. And I,
Cliff Duvernois:which I imagine impacts your menu.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:It does. That's here. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. And I'm concerned about, Wilda and I have six kids together, We're watching them, we're gonna have a lot of grandkids.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes, you are. Be fruitful and multiply.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:watching them grow up and thinking about yourself and you're younger and the struggles they go through and watching them try to handle life and everything that's thrown at 'em. If you have a safe place that you can go to. there, there are research papers showing that we're losing our connection with nature and it's having some mental health effects to us as a community
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:and physical, like physical and mental. Yeah.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:We need to get people back in touch with something that we need to be in touch with, like we, I'm an ecologist at heart. It's all, everything working together. there's a symbiosis that has to happen and we're trying to separate ourselves from that. Why? To make things convenient. we don't, it, it's watching a sunset or hiking to the woods and not hearing the noise of a city is, it's, it's a spiritual experience,
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:it's disconnecting from the things that you don't have to always stay connected to or be connected to.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:We're disconnecting from mode, airplane mode, disconnecting from the wrong things.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Yes. Airplane mode. Airplane mode. This is what we need. Airplane mode.
Cliff Duvernois:yes. I love that. I was just thinking, disconnect from your phone. Connect with nature. Yes.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Yes. We're disconnecting with the wrong things. That's my opinion, but, Awesome. I think it's backed up with some research,
Cliff Duvernois:Certainly. For our audience, we're gonna take a quick break to thank our sponsors, and when we come back we're gonna talk to Ken and Wila about how you can make the most out of your experience with BirdEye. We'll see you after the break. Are you enjoying these amazing stories? Michigan is full of people that are doing some pretty extraordinary things. If you want these amazing stories sent directly to your inbox, head over to total michigan.com. Enter your email address and get them today. What are you going to get? I'm glad you asked. First, you're gonna join our awesome Michigan community and it is quite awesome. Second, you will get an email that includes the top five interviews from the show sent directly to your inbox. This is going to include the powerful lessons that we've learned from these amazing people. Third, you're gonna get exclusive behind the scenes information about the show. There's a lot of things that are happening to grow this movement beyond the confines of just a radio show and a podcast. You'll get advanced notice of upcoming guests and early access to their interviews. You'll also get a link to our Facebook group. Now to get all these goodies, just head over to total michigan.com/join. Enter your email address and join our awesome community today. Hello everyone and welcome back to Total Michigan. I'm your host Cliff DuVernois. Today I'm sitting with Ken and Wila Hopper from Bird's Eye Outfitters in Sault Ste Marie. And we are talking about all kinds of activities outdoors that they do. Now, before you were mentioning about kayaking and snowshoeing and hiking and stuff. One of the events that we did today before we filmed this, is we went kayaking through the Soo locks, which I didn't even know you could do. Oh yeah. So kudos to that. So talk to us, where did that idea come from?
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:When I worked in Bay Mills, I would take teenagers out that, on adventures. So these are teenagers that were needing something to do. we, I'd bring 'em backpacking and I'd bring 'em on all these different opportunities that they wouldn't normally have. So we had the equipment and then from that we started a Boys and Girls Club. And it's still running operation couple sites today, And one of the trips, I found out that the Canadian lock took pleasure craft through, and I just called over there and said, can I bring a canoe through? Yeah. And so we had a fleet of canoes. And where At the club, or We called it Adventure camp at that time, I think, wasn't it? Okay. So then, we left from the airport on the Canadian side and paddled our canoes all along the coastline. All the way to Bellevue Park on the Canadian side. And we started on the Canadian side, went through the lock, and then it was a great experience. Like kids talked about it, the other chaperones talked about it, said, oh my God, what a great thing. and so we started looking at maps and how we could leave from American side and end up on the American side. And then we brought some professionals that teach kayaking all over the world. And they happen to be in Lansing, Michigan. They're called the Power of Water. Trey, shout out to Trey, right? They came up trained guides and went through the trip with us to, to, see how it would work out. And they brought some really trained people and just really went through the whole trip with a fine tooth comb and came back with their recommendations and, deemed it as a trip that would be doable. And it ended up, you went on it today, it was a, and it was pretty incredible.
Cliff Duvernois:And I love kayaking, so that was really great. For our audience, why don't you walk us through what the kayak trip would entail? Like how do we go into the locks? what are some things that you can expect when you get in there?
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Sure. I like to, we'll get a booking and I'll personally reach out and say, weather looks good, weather looks bad. We err to the side of safety, dimension. She was a risk manager in the past and, we wanna keep people safe, yes. So definitely. Yeah. Yes. As you increase your skills in the kayaking community, it becomes a pretty small group of people that talk about the industry. And there are groups of, there's kayaking organizations that, businesses that like to pump people through and they get criticized. And we're not one of those, we look out for your safety. So you know from, and we appreciate that at the start. I'm saying, this is why we use these boats. This is why you have to wear this. This is what this is for. And we go through a little one-on-one before we take anybody out. And when I reach out, I ask if anybody has any kayaking experience, usually via text. And they'll feedback. So this feedback for all
Cliff Duvernois:levels. You don't even have to be an experience guy.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Yeah, we, I think we prefer that you have some experience.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Some experience. Okay. Yeah. you can see, so we're talking about, five miles, of paddling. So we could be out for three hours depending on the speed of. the paddler, you only go as fast as your slowest paddler in any right group. there's been situations where I've not gone on a trip and, we had talked today about like, when do you not try? And I look at wind speed and direction and the current of the water and how much the dams that control the rapids are open, right? So there's a lot into our decision making. And ultimately, if we cancel a trip, you should be disappointed you didn't get to go on the trip, but least some flexibility in your schedule. Because from day to day in the Upper Peninsula or any Michigander knows the weather can change on the weather. Yeah. Yes, definitely. and it has. And so we've, people have been disappointed and I brought 'em out to like the launch point, and we've looked out at the water and they've felt the wind away from the city and the buildings and stuff, and they're like, okay, you're right. Yeah, because you wanna have a good experience, not an experience where, you're skydiving basically, and worried about what might happen and trying to correct yourself and just not focus on points of interest, but on your own wellbeing, right?
Cliff Duvernois:So the. So we launch off the kayaks, we're out into the water. Then when we come up to the locks, what happens next?
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:So we, the first part of the tour is the launch point, and we talk about some, local highlights, historical aspects, and there's usually some bird life. And I'm a bird nerd. So when we first start out, I like to talk about what's there and history of the place, and then get a feel for the customer and how comfortable they are in their kayak. I'm not gonna take 'em out if they're not 100% ready to go and comfortable. Sure. So then c, because the first part of the trip could end up being the most treacherous because we're going out, a across the river that you've got a flow of water coming from, a lake that's 31,000 square miles. Yes. So there's a lot of water there. And you gotta cut across that. So you're cutting across the current and the current feeds, the canal, the manmade canal that runs through the middle of our downtown and makes our downtown an island, which is very unique. And we got a, 5k, 10 k coming up to celebrate that aspect of our downtown. And then you're right after that, you're cutting across the face of the locks, the American locks. Sure. And there's hazards. There's boat traffic. There's you gotta keep your eyes peeled. You, we don't play chicken with thousand foot freighters, cuz Yeah. Let's not, you're not gonna win that one. Yeah. and their braking systems aren't as good and their turning radius is really large also. So we watch out for them. And then you make your way across all that and you're in what was formerly the rapids area, and historically, if the locks weren't there on either side, the rapids would stretch from the Canadian shore to the American shore. We saw what's the remains of the rapids and it's just awesome to look at. So we're on the upper end of the of that. And then we approach the Canadian lock. We call ahead, let 'em know that we're coming. and their lock system is not so much for commerce where the American lock system is. The Canadian lock system is for recreational craft and people that wanna travel from the upper river to the lower river or vice versa. So then we enter the canal, we let 'em know we're coming. They give us feedback, say, okay, it'll be whatever, 15 minutes to fill the lock. And then we enter it. And then we deck our boats together, tie off, and we lower 21 feet. What did it take today, lake? Eight minutes or something. Yeah, it was super fast. Yeah. Cuz both
Cliff Duvernois:you talking about have both valves are working. Yeah. You're talking about going into the actual lock, right? Yeah. So they open up the doors, you go inside.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:They open up the gates, and at one point in time, this was the longest lock in the world. So it's not like your clamshell locks you'll see in smaller river systems. It's, and to even say we're on the St. Mary's River and once you get out in the open water, It's a lake. it seems like a lake. Yes, it's a very large river. So we get into the Canadian lock. And then we get lowered down and then, it's a great experience. You, at one minute you're talking to the guy on the edge of the lock wall, and then the next minute you, because you're up high. Yep.
Cliff Duvernois:So you can, then you can see them and then within, like you said, it's, it felt like 10 minutes. It, you could feel the level. Yep. going down inside the kayak
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:they had pulled, they pulled the plug out of the bathtub Yeah. So to speak. Yeah. So then you're, you dropped down and, the 21 feet, it's 21 feet. Yep. It, so you're talking about two different lake levels. Lake Superior is 21 feet higher than Lake here on Lake Michigan. And then you've got the whole St. Mary's river to make that up. But 21 feet gets made up right here at Sault Ste Marie. So then when we're on the lower river, you see the gates open up in front of you and then everybody makes the universal sound that angels make, or we assume they do cuz it happens on every trip and it remained the case today. so then we exit the lock and we're still in, what would be known as Canadian waters. And we skirt the Canadian shoreline and then we cut across the base of the rapids and you can. Feel the force of the water when you're cutting across it and it's just you. You know how small you are. And then we cut across there over to, the American side, going across the lower part of the locks and we go by the, museum ship Valley Camp. And we'll get some snapshots on the rudder of that. this is how close we got to a freighter on our trip. Yes. And then, at that today it was cool cuz you were over there and then. In the backdrop, you had a freighter going upbound, and then a thousand foot freighter that was moving at a pretty good pace right behind you going down river. And so after the valley camp, we go in front of what would be the end of the manmade canal that cuts through the city. And so you've got a confluence of waters there, the current that goes downstream and the current that cuts in there. And you've got swirling waters. But this, hydroelectric plant that we have in town is very impressive. It's a quarter mile long, hand cut sandstone. At one point in time, the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, and in the backdrop you've got Canada, Sugar Islands and it's a great backdrop. It ends up being a really nice trip.
Cliff Duvernois:One of the things that I would like to explore with you, you mentioned before about nonprofit. And you were actually talking a little bit about it too during the break. Why don't you talk to us about this nonprofit, what it is, what
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:do you hope to do with it? I'm gonna let Wilda do that cuz I'm tired of talking right now.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Our nonprofit is called, outhouse Consortium. So OUT is an acronym for Outdoor Use of Trails. And the reason why we put it together is because we wanted to create trail systems. Like we looked at the Sault and we're like, we're lacking a little bit of infrastructure. So we wanted to get people outdoors and hiking and doing all kinds of fun things. But we didn't have the infrastructure. So I think, so initially we have to like, help develop the infrastructure so that we can really promote the activities that we're wanting to have, like right in the Sault system. So we did create a trail behind, buff, a local trail, behind Buffalo Wild Wings in our Ashman Creek area, which is about 300 acres of land. Wow. City owned property. Yeah. And we've, we partnered with Little Traverses Conservancy to help us secure some land within that area so we can create trail systems. Now the trail systems that we are gonna create, there are, are, we actually have already created a couple of, hiking trails and we're looking to create biking, a biking trail system. And then we're also looking to create bike trails like within the city. And then water trail systems within our, or own our shores so that we have, people can get out in safely in different areas of the St. Mary's river. We already do guided trips like, around road, rotary. So Rotary Island Park. There's a little cluster of islands that are fantastic. And one of the islands is called Voyager Island. And we actually created, helped to create a trail system on Voyager Island. But you can only get there by Kayak. Oh, wonderful. it makes it really, yeah. Awesome and unique. And yeah, that's, the, getting people moving
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:The 300 acre project. I think we're dancing around it a little bit because it's not there. It's just in creation. But if we could paint a picture, we have, a company out of Houghton called Rock Solid. And Rock Solid. We come to find out works all over the nation, He was talking about jobs he was doing in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and all, and we walked this property last week, so everything's really fresh right now. But they're gonna be doing our conceptual drawings so that we can better communicate to the public the potential of this piece of property that is gonna serve as a hub. So it's not only gonna be recreation, it's gonna be transit. So you talk about benefits of trail systems, and you're going back to talking about mental health and physical health and keeping people safe so they're not on the shoulder of the road and they can still get from point A to point B. Beyond that, the recreational aspect is, walking with a guy, John from Rock Solid. He is thinking that we'll probably end up with, over 10 miles of mountain bike trail within our city limits Oh, wow. With our university, as one of the trail heads.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:So it's wild to know that you have that topography here within the city, I would've never known,
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:but it's fantastic. we love, our situation. We're always trying to celebrate the uniqueness of this town and what we're, what we want people that come visit to, what we want them to understand is that we've got freighters. But we are way more than big boats. We've got a playground up here. We've got a national forest with thousands of acres. We've got, sister Cities, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, the population of around 80,000 people. And then you drive an hour north there and you're in such a different environment because the Canadian Shields, some of the oldest exposed rock formations on the planet are right there and they've got these beautiful vistas overlooking Lake Superior and sunsets. And I know I explained the mentality before people are gonna be mad at me for telling everybody how beautiful and great this place is, because that means we're gonna get flooded with people. And some of the mentality around here, which I may share is you, we like it. We like the space. We like having, not crowded roads and being able to jump off into the woods or get away from people in five minutes,
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:We are surrounded in Chippewa County. We are surrounded by fantastic trail systems. So it's not just like within the our city limit. We've got like Round Island Point, which is just west of us. that's like a short, like 10, 15 minute drive.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Bay Mills you've got to overlook for, yep. Monaco, you're overlooking two inland lakes. The, basically the funnel of where the east end of Lake Superior is and the St. Mary's river starts and you're looking at, cliffsides of grow cap over in Ontario from this overlook that not many people know about. Yeah. So there's hidden gems all over here and,
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:And then, and right beyond that is the North Country Trail system. So you can connect so many different trail systems just from Sault Ste Marie.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:The longest. So it's the longest trail in the United States. cuts right through here. Yeah. The North Country Trail is longer than the Appalachian. It's longer than the Pacific Crest. So it's the longest one. It goes from, Maine to Montana or New York to North Dakota. It's one of those two.
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:So when we were talking about the, lantern lit snowshoe hikes Yes. Earlier. So we started those to get people, to see the trail systems within the Ashman Creek area. So to promote that right area. So we actually, we created our own trail system. We blazed it. this summer we'll have a trailhead up so that people can access it or, A little more readily than just pointing at Yes, go it that way. But that in and of itself, like the, the land snowshoe hikes are what helped create awareness for what we have here. So that gained a lot of momentum to the point where, the city actually started paying attention and now they are huge advocates and partners with our organization to help make the Ashman Creek project come to fruition.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:I think, it's just a special group of people. Our board is very involved, very dynamic, and they understand the value of their volunteer time. They know that it's going towards a project that is A, feasible, and B, pretty awesome, right? So in our mantra, over the last few months because a lot of things are, we're moving forward and we're seeing that progress in a shorter timeframe than we expected. So the mantra we've had over the last few months has been, our purpose of this whole trail system and this effort at Ashman Creek is to connect the community. So connecting the community, in different aspects. So physically we're connecting the community through the trail systems. And if I want to get from one part of town to the other, eventually that's gonna be the case, right? You're gonna have, all the parks will be connected. You can make a loop around the whole city, eventually via hiking. And then hop in a kayak and complete the loop on the St. Mary's river. Nice.
Cliff Duvernois:That's wonderful. And I do wanna circle back cuz you, this caught my attention when you said it, the biking part. So is this something that you're currently doing or is it something that's like in the works you're getting ready to release? When is that?
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:Okay, so we part, we actually, we in our business, yeah, we we brought in, Box Hole bike and ski. So they are another business within our business. God bless you. Thank you. Within our business. And they are, they have the same mindset as us. So they actually jumped on our outhouse board, and we're, they're gonna have bike bikes that are gonna be available to rent. They obviously, right now, as you look around our store, they're selling their bikes. Yes, they are. We have bat bikes. We have gravel grinders, mountain bikes, road bikes, kid chi, like kid. Kid bikes. family friendly. Everything family friend friendly. We are gonna start a, a biking club. So that we can, families can bring their kids out, like every, like maybe on a Saturday morning or a Sunday morning. And then actually once a week as well, to also create awareness for the safety of cycling because many people, especially young kids, don't know the safety aspects of cycling, especially in the city. And then we're also going, we're, they're actually in partnership with us to help create these bike lanes and these bike routes. Wonderful. And on top of that, we have this Sault area Arts Center who is looking at getting these, this funding, these grant fundings for like asphalt art where we can highlight the bicycle lanes and routes, locally so that it keeps people safe. Because what we're seeing is as you're driving down the road, you'll see, vehicles like, like driving in bicycle lane areas and it's just, that's not safe. we wanted, we thought, how could we highlight that these are biking, bicycle lanes. And so Sault Area Art Center is partnering with us and we will have like asphalt art that will highlight our bicycle lanes to keep people
Cliff Duvernois:safe. Ken Wila, I, we could talk about this all afternoon. So the question now I got for you is that if somebody's listening to this interview, they want to check out what it is that you're doing, check out more about your business, maybe they're planning to trip up here to the S and they want to connect with you, what's the best place to send them to?
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Oh, we've got, you mean via web? Sure. birds Eye Outfitters. Do com. Yeah. Birds happy. and then we've, there's a website for the nonprofit as well. It's outhouse consortium.org. Yeah. Consortium is spelled. Outhouses everybody. Most people got that. Consortium is C O N S O R T I U M. Outhouse Consortium. That's why. That's why there's Google out there. Yeah. Otherwise, send 'em to 1 0 7 East Portage Birdseye Outfitters. Nice. Nice. You can't
Cliff Duvernois:miss it. Yeah. Downtown. Perfect. Ken Wila, thank you so much for taking time to be with us today and talking about the great things you're doing. I love that kayak experience.
Ken Hopper, Birds Eye:Great. That is awesome. Next time
Wilda Hopper, Birds Eye:we're gonna do it on a paddle board.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes, paddle board. Definitely have to do that. For our audience, you can always roll on over to total michigan.com. Click on Ken and Wilder's interview and you'll get all the links that they mentioned above. We'll see you next week when we have another story of a, ordinary Michiganders doing some pretty extraordinary things. We'll see you then.
