Houghton, MI - Keweenaw Peninsula

My next stop was in Houghton, Michigan.  I stayed at the City of Houghton RV park, which is right on the river.  This is a great place to stay, but I would strongly suggest reservations.  This is one of the few places that I have seen recently that was completely full.

The above picture was taken looking out my RV window.  The boat is the Ranger, which is a National Park service boat that goes to Isle Royal National Park.  The headquarters/boat dock is about 1.5 miles from my campground. 

There was a great paved walking/running trail that went beside the river, from the campground, under Portage Bridge, thru town and beyond.  I walked 3 – 5 miles most mornings on this trail.

Portage Bridge, taken with my new phone on a morning walk -

Another view of the river and Portage Bridge -

An interesting tree/bush beside the trail -

 

While in Houghton, I went to Quincy Mine.  This is a National Historical Park.  At the mine I saw the world’s largest steam hoist, went into a copper mine and learned about copper mining. 

A huge piece of copper -

People on my tour in the mine -

Above is a “man-car” that was used to carry up to 30 people down into the mine.  The mine shaft had a depth of 6,225 feet with 92 working levels.  That’s deep underground!  Most of the levels are now flooded.

On another day, I was driving by the mine and saw a bunch of old cars (I think Model A’s).  With these parked beside an old office at the mine it kind of looked like I had gone back in time!!

One day, I took a driving tour up the east side of the Keweenaw Peninsula.  There was a roadside park called Brunette Park, where I enjoyed my lunch.  The rock formations in Lake Superior were very interesting at this park.  In one direction the rocks were red and beige – almost bacon like and in the other gray shale-like rock.

Coming back down the peninsula, I stopped at the Snow Thermometer Park.  The “thermometer” shows how much it has snowed in the past. The most was 390.4 inches.  That’s more than 32 feet of snow!  I don’t think I would want to be here in the winter!!

I also went to F. J. Mclain State Park for a quick walk at the lake. 

In Houghton, I found a great Chinese restaurant – JJ’s Chinese Wok and Grill.  Their food was a bit different from the typical Chinese restaurant, but they had a dish called Chicken Hurricane that reminded me of a place that my sister and I used to go to a long time ago.  I ended up eating there twice in one week.  Yumm!!!

Next I head up the peninsula to Fort Wilkins State Park in Copper Harbor.