Tag Archives: Lake Superior

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U.S. 41 West to Copper Harbor

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Another crummy day in Paradise the Upper Peninsula: partly sunny and 70.

I slept like a rock waking up late at 8 a.m.  I fed and walked Henry, ate my blueberry muffin from the Big Bay farmers market, cleaned up, got unhooked and emptied out, and we were on the road by 10.

The route to Copper Harbor from Marquette and Ispheming is U.S. 41 West.  However, it only actually goes west until you are directly south of the enormous Keweenaw Bay then you head north the rest of the way to Copper Harbor.

The Baraga State Park day-use area on Keweenaw Bay was my first stop.  You get a glimpse of its beauty and surprising size as you pass through L’Anse.  Because it forms a large 30-mile long sheltered bay off of Lake Superior, sailors over the centuries must have loved it.  Here’s the best map that gives you a sense of its size that I could find on Google images (look mid-map for “Keweenaw Bay”):

Below is one of my photographs of Keweenaw Bay.  As you can see, yesterday’s winds have calmed and the Bay was near motionless.

Keweenaw Bay from Baraga State Park

We got back in Ecovision and headed further north through Chassell (which looks very nice) to Houghton and Hancock.

When you get to Houghton you drive right into and through the campus of Michigan Tech.  I only stopped in Houghton long enough to mail some postcards.  After being unable to find even one post office or mailbox in Marquette or Ispheming, I was happy to find one in Houghton and right on 41 West.  It was one of the large, stately, old-fashioned ones, when post offices were esteemed government institutions and a linchpin of their community.  I actually took this photo mostly for my Mom.  Mom has gathered photos of post offices ever since my sister Wendy moved to the small “town” of Casanova, Virginia, and gets her mail from what must be the tiniest post office in America.

Post Office in Houghton, Michigan

I was tempted to stop at the Isle Royale National Park office , but I felt a need to keep heading north.  There should be an office of some kind in Grand Portage, MN, where I plan a half-day trip to the Island.  So I crossed the metal bridge north into the smaller city of Hancock.  I spotted a post office there, too, right on 41 West and also Finlandia University.  The area was largely settled by Finnish and Cornish immigrants drawn to work in the mines.

Quickly the road was twisting and uphill and driving a motorhome meant I just kept going even though I spotted a sign for the Keweenaw Coop.  As the hill started to level off I came to a Keweenaw Waterway view site and pulled off for a few photos.

It was a little disturbing to see a pretty red Buddy scooter sitting there with keys in the ignition and no one in sight.  Hope nothing dramatic had happened.

Then to uphold the theme of this trip, I went again went backward!  This time down the twisty road until I saw the Keweenaw Coop sign again.  I turned right and kept going until I saw their wall of gorgeous murals.  Since I am now working part time doing education and outreach for the People’s Food Cooperative of Ann Arbor, I am having fun stopping at all of the food coops on the Lake Superior Circle Tour.  The first one was in Marquette, and I’ll add details and photographs of my stop there on August 10th soon. But for now here are some from the Keweenaw Co-op in Hancock:

Keweenaw Co-op walls of murals

Food co-ops always post community happenings.

Co-ops always have the freshest foods! And many are organic!

I had nice chat with Matt who started a month ago. Matt lived in Ann Arbor for five years and loves our very own People’s Food Co-op!

I was lucky to meet Ken Steiner who I learned was one of the founders of the Co-op in 1973. Plus he served on the board for many years and worked there for ten.

I bought a few goodies then back into Ecovision to continue on.  I stopped in Calumet to have lunch at Cafe Rosetta on the recommendation of Natasha of the Marquette Food Co-op.  She was so right, a welcoming charming cafe with delicious healthy food.  I also highly recommend this cafe.

Back to U.S. 41 West and the next stop was Fort Wilkins State Park.  The east and west campgrounds are actually on the inland Lake Fanny Hooe.  Lake Superior is on the other side of U.S. 41.  I picked out a site with view of Lake Fanny Hooe in the east campground.  It was also the campground with wifi :-).  Can you believe there is absolutely no cell phone service (at least not AT&T), but I have fairly strong wifi near the very tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula?

I met people who were snorkeling and canoeing on Lake Fanny Hooe.  It’s an ideal lake for quiet water sports.  Henry and I enjoyed some campfire time (and he enjoyed lots of cuddles and pets) with a lovely couple from Traverse City.  Below I’ll post a few photos from this campground and then it’s time to turn out the light.  Tomorrow I have a five-hour drive to Bayfield, Wisconsin, and the Apostle Islands.  I’ll stay there two nights like I did for Grand Island.

Viewing deck across from my campsite.

The essence of Lake Fanny Hooe.

Family fun on the lake.

Henry is still avoiding getting his feet wet, but has found his own way to enjoy a lake.
He says good night!

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The big lake

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Love peek-a-boo looks at the world’s largest lake at the end of a sandy path. Invites the imagination to soar with memories of dipping one’s toes in the lake’s crisp, frothy waves.

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Heading north on Monday!

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My first morning with Ecovision was glorious. Since I’ve learned there is much pleasure balanced with much work to the RV lifestyle.

Amazingly this cold is just about gone after just 4 days so I’m in the midst of packing for nearly a month on the road.

When I first got my RV I was stunned to hear my friends say they needed a week to get their RV ready for the season. Well, this is my third summer with a RV and I now completely understand. I’ve been out already this summer so the basics like pots and pans, atlases, cleaning products, dinnerware, CB radio, and RV essentials like hoses and power cords are in place. Yet what needs to be added is still extensive: a couple weeks of clothing, food for up to 30 days, electronics, condiments, paper products, fresh sheets and towels, my dog Henry’s food and supplies, medical kit, bug juice, sunscreen, toiletries, etc. You get the idea. With a RV you are truly taking your home with you on the road. It’s an amazing amount of work.

I’ve made progress, but I’m glad I have another day. I cook and freeze meals ahead plus my friend Rachel introduced me to these yummy canned meals from France. I take cans of chicken, tuna, and roast beef plus load the refrigerator with fresh organic vegetables and fruits and condiments. I replenish the fresh food along the way looking for roadside stands, farmers markets, and food co-ops. I always have lots of peanut butter and a big jug of water in a special BPA-free container with a spigot that sits in my sink as I travel. I use this water for cooking, drinking, and filling Henry’s water bowl.

All of these things need to be loaded plus all the clothing and things like laundry detergent and a gad-zillion books about Lake Superior and her islands. Yes, I have a Kindle, but few of my collection of books collected over the last 25 years are available as ebooks. Sigh. As you can see, it is a huge task to get a RV on the road. This is made more challenging because I keep my motorhome six or seven miles south of my home so many trips back and forth are needed. But somehow it will all be done in time for Henry and me to head north Monday morning.

I’m hoping to get as close to Whitefish Point Bird Observatory as possible by late afternoon Monday.  Leaving a couple days later than I planned is pushing me to have a long first day. Weather should cooperate. That’s another thing I’ve learned about RVing: bad weather means staying put. Try driving a big box RV on a windy day or through driving rain and storms just once and you’ll not do it again.

I can hardly wait to smell and feel the north air! Is there anything better?! I may stop on either the south or north side of the bridge just to enjoy the Straits and the several lovely islands in that area. The Big Mac. What a bridge. Michiganders have called the Mackinac Bridge the Big Mac long before there was a hamburger with that name. I still remember going across the bridge for the first time as a child soon after it was built in the 1950s. Have loved it ever since.

North of the bridge it will be straight north although I do want to stop at Tahquamenonn Falls. But for now it is time to get back to packing enough clothes to keep me away from a laundromat a couple weeks. Perhaps until I reach Thunder Bay?

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Upper Peninsula Authors Book Tour

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Featured authors

Ellen Airgood–author of the novel, South of Superior, and the newly released young-adult novel, Prairie Evers–posted a link to the UP Book Tour 2012 on her Facebook page.  I would love to get to at least a couple of the authors’ talks during my August circling of Lake Superior, but they take place in June and July.  Darn.  In case you are interested, here’s the UP Book Tour 2012 calendar.

I loved Ellen’s South of Superior and plan to buy Prairie Evers for my granddaughter, Ella.  I follow Ellen’s blog, too.  One of my RV friend, Rachel Brett Harley, introduced me to Ellen, Ellen’s West Bay Diner, and South of Superior last year when we caravanned in our motorhomes to Grand Marais, Michigan.  All treasures.
Grand Marais is a sweet little town on the south shore of Lake Superior at the end of M-77.  We stayed in the lakeside Woodland Park Campground operated by the county.  The town is just a few blocks away so just about everyday we enjoyed at least one meal at the diner.  I bought the novel from Ellen, who graciously signed it, and enjoyed reading it at my campsite.  Months later, Rachel and I went to Ellen’s book signing in Ann Arbor at Nicola’s Bookstore.

If you want to visit Grand Marais, check out this page of nearby awesome attractions like Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with Grand Sable Dunes.  My first backpacking trip was to Pictured Rocks many years ago on the first weekend in May.  My then stepdaughter, Katie, two others, and I hiked in and set up base camp at Mosquito campground (click here for map PDF).  Fortunately it was too early for mosquitoes.  The weather was actually quite strange.  We were prepared for cold weather so were shocked when the  temperature reached 80.

It was a gorgeous place to camp with a small cold stream, spring wildflowers and wild leeks, and, of course, the big lake stretched out in front of us.  Katie threw a snowball while dressed in shorts, and every day she bravely dove in (and right out of) the cold blue lake.  Brrr.  At night in the campground we could hear loud splashes as massive chunks of ice fell off the sides of the pictured rocks.  I imagined that must be what the calving of glaciers in Alaska sounds like.

Chapel Falls

One day we hiked to Chapel Falls taking a lunch of apples, peanut butter, and pita bread.  While sitting in the wilderness by the falls enjoying our lunch, the beauty and silence was shattered by a jet ski.  The jet skiers had come from Munising, took one look at the falls, and back they went.  Wow.  We all felt a little sick about the intrusion by folks there to just check “Chapel Falls” off a list rather than really experiencing the beauty and holiness of the falls and surrounding nature.  And, of course, I couldn’t help but think of the petroleum pollutants spewing out of the jet ski in addition to the noise pollution.

Here’s an official link to backpacking at Pictured Rocks and here’s an article in Backpacker Magazine from May 2010.  Hope you get to enjoy this gorgeous area!  And on foot!