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.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park–part 2

Sometimes while at Lake Superior, I feel like I’m at the ocean. 

I went on a small hike that wasn’t that great, but saw one of the most imaginative signs at the trail head.

Maybe it’s just me, but I thought a huge shovel at a trail that is around an old mine was smart.

I read a couple of places that Lake of the Clouds was one of the most scenic areas in the park.  I liked it, but I liked other areas better.

I hiked down to the lake and would have gone further, but it was one of the hot days so I decided not to go to far since I had to hike back up the hill.

An area just outside of the Porkies is the Black River Harbor area in the Ottawa National Forest.  This area has more hikes and waterfalls, the first is Potawatomi Falls.

Gorge Falls -

While not the largest falls, my favorite in the area was Sandstone Falls.   I liked the falls and the area around the falls. 

Note the person on the rocks on the right side of the falls, that gives you an idea as to the size of the falls.

I found the conglomerate rock interesting, and the erosion here created a small arch. 

I read about another waterfall close to my campground, so I checked it out one afternoon.  When I got there I thought it was ok, but not too exciting compared to the others in the area.

But then I realized that you could walk out on the rocks  (the ones on the right of the picture above) and get a close-up view of the small falls.  I ended up enjoying my time here.

From here, I headed up into the Keweenaw Peninsula for a week.  I’ll stop in Houghton, Mi first and then head to the top of the Peninsula and camp in Fort Wilkins State Park in Copper Harbor, Mi.  More about that in my next blog. 

Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park–part 1

Once again, I am behind in my blogging.  Since getting my smart phone, I don’t sign on my PC very much.  I have actually gone more than a week without turning my PC on. 

Before my stay in Porcupine Mtn. State Park (known as the Porkies) I had a reservation in Ontonagon for a few days.  But while there the heat started again.  It was supposed to get to the low 90’s and I was headed to a place with no hookups.  Well, I guess I am a bit spoiled so I decided to stay in Ontonagon where I had electricity and air conditioning!! It was only a 20 minute drive to one side of the Porkies, but about an hour to the side I really liked.

Once again I took so many pictures I am going to post this in 2 blogs.  The first will focus on the western side of the park, around Presque Isle Scenic Area.  This is the side of the park that I was supposed to camp in. 

Probably my favorite hike in the area was the loop around the Presque Isle River.  I hiked it the first day I got into Ontonagon and about half way around it started thundering and raining.  Luckily I was prepared and had my rain jacket.  At least it wasn’t too many other people on the trail.  A few days later, I hiked this trail again with no rain and a few more people!

I walked out to the lake (Lake Superior) before heading back down the trail.  There were a lot of flies around, otherwise I would spent some time looking at the rocks.

Back to the trail -

Notice the circles in the picture above, the water swirled around in them to create the circles.  Nature’s Whirl Pools!!

I loved this area, you could walk all around the rocks and up to some of the small falls.  I predict on nice weather days, this is a very popular area. I also like how the rocks are layered.

There are several major waterfalls on this trail.  The one below is Manido falls. 

Manabezho Falls -

On the way back from this area, I saw this sign.  I thought it was a bit obvious that you had to turn, but I guess “they” thought somebody might try to keep going straight – right into Lake Superior!

Cooper Falls State Park–Mellen, WI

I came to this area because of all the waterfalls in the area.  If you don’t like waterfalls, you might not like this blog!

After setting up in the park, I noticed a weird looking contraption across the road from my camp site.  I didn’t know what it was until I saw the sign on the back of it --

A “Problem Black Bear” in this area, this could make for an interesting trip!  I wasn’t too far from the trash receptacles so I am guessing that some bear was trying to get into the trash.  Luckily it didn’t happen while I was there.

About 1/2 mile from my campsite was a 1.7 mile hike around several waterfalls and a gorge.  I enjoyed it so much that it became my morning walk. 

Copper Falls -

Brownstone Falls -

Tyler Cascades -

An interesting tree stump seen on the trail--

During one of my morning walks on this trail,  I saw a Bald Eagle and during another I saw a deer and 2 fawn.

One day I visited 2 other state parks in Northern Wisconsin – Pattison and Amnicon.   At Amnicon, the river falls quite a bit in a short distance.  There are several waterfalls within just a few minutes walk.  I looked at the campground in this area and decided this would be a good place to camp.

Pattison State Park is also known for it’s waterfalls.

Pattison Waterfall -

To get an idea of the the size of this waterfall, note the overlook on the left side at the top of the waterfall.

Little Manitou waterfall is also at Pattison State Park -

From Copper Falls State Park, I made my way into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  This is where I am publishing my blogs as I have internet access.  While I don’t spend as much time on my PC as I used to, I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I couldn’t use it for almost a week. 

Bayfield, WI

My reason for going to Bayfield was I wanted Full hookups for a change.  Also, I wanted to take a boat trip around the Apostle Islands.

The first day I was in Bayfield, I went into town and enjoyed lunch on a bench beside Lake Superior.   The view from my lunch spot -

The rest of the pictures are from the cruise around the Apostle Islands. 

This was a nice, quick stop before I head to Copper Falls State Park in Mellen, WI.  I did discover a great jewelry shop called Donalee Designs, I bought too much!!  Jewelry doesn’t take up too much room in the RV, so that’s one of the few things I buy these days.