Mohawk Island is a small, mysterious island which lay 2km off the coast of Lake Erie.

I visited this island for the first time in 2008 after staring in wonder at the island from the shore for many years.

One beautiful, calm morning I set-sail in my old aluminium canoe in hopes to make the 2km paddle from shore to the island, which was shrouded in morning fog.

The trip down from the car to the shore was fairly simple. Hard, cool asphalt stood between myself and the steep bank. The asphalt was very rocky as it is on country roads. The stones were fairly sharp, but easy to navigate with my tough, weathered feet.

Struggling with the canoe, and all the gear, I made my way down a very steep, muddy hill. The mud at the bottom was really deep. I sank past my ankles in the grainy mud. It made loading the canoe a challenge to keep everything clean.

Setting sail from the shore, the island looked very close. I figured it would be an easy paddle as the water was smooth as glass.

Over the few hours it took to navigate the open water in the canoe, and deal with wind gusts, the canoe started to take on water. The foam lining of the canoe was squishy underfoot. Thankfully I had no shoes to get soaked.

Coming close to the island, I could hear the scream of the birds, it was deafening.  The island seemed to look smooth.

Landing the canoe on the North Side of the island, I stepped out of the canoe. The island was a smooth rock, with loose gravel scattered all over it. It was fairly easy to walk on, but there were quite a few sharp rocks in the gravel.

As I walked along the island, there was bird excrement everywhere.  I had no choice but to step through it. I could feel the ground crunch under my bare feet as I navigated through the excrement. Birds flew around and scattered as I walked. There were several baby birds wandering around, I was careful to keep my distance from them.

There were fossils embedded in the rock everywhere. They felt very smooth to walk on.  Small worms, coral, and even some fish bones could be seen peering through the rock.

Approaching the old lighthouse, I could see it was made of old stone. The doorway was partially bricked up and I had to climb to gain access to the interior. The limestone was porous and my skin stuck to the walls and made for an easy climb.

The wind-swept island had no use for plant life. Anything that took hold would quickly be ripped away by the cold winds and relentless storms which pass through the area. Winter was particularly vicious in stripping the island down to the rock.

The inside of the old building, however was a haven for plant life. There were all forms of tall grasses and plants growing in the confines of the light-keepers home.

Stepping off the stone window was not a very pleasant experience. The tall grasses held the skeletons of dead birds, debris, and deep layers of bird excrement. I tip-toed through the mess toward the lighthouse tower. The Hope was to investigate the old limestone tower.

Climbing into the tower, I was met by a thick layer of undisturbed bird excrement The layer of poop least 30 cm thick. Not something I was interested in walking through. The smell was over-powering and burned my eyes. To make it worse the noise was deafening.

The house itself was incredible. The view of the mainland was breath-taking. When in operation, this house must have been magnificent.

Sadly, this home has been let go and now lay in ruins. The relentless Lake Erie storms batter this island constantly. It won’t be very many years before this building will be lost to time.

Thankfully there is an organisation who wants to restore this building to its former glory.

The video itself was taken on whim, using a mobile phone camera

Visiting this island completely barefoot was a great challenge. I enjoyed the trip but would never recommend anyone visit this island by canoe. It was a very dangerous thing to canoe 2km over open water in an antique aluminum canoe.

©2009 Wolfmaan.com

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