Aug 12, Tuesday
Lake Gogebic State Park
We arrived at Lake Gogebic State Park around 12:30. The trip was pretty hilly, with steep grades up and down. Lisa was not able to use the cruise control much. We had to fill it with fresh water again before going to our site.
The State Park is located on Lake Gogebic, Michigan’s largest inland lake. We were near the Wisconsin border and on the time zone line between Eastern and Central time.
Our campsite was not much more than a grassy spot between two painted markings on the road. There was a slightly downhill grade with the rear of the trailer sticking up high, but we got it level side-to-side, which was nice. The sites were so wide that I could have parked my truck and trailer sideways there.
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
After setting up, we headed to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, about an hour away. On our way out of the campground, the Ranger asked us if we were touring the waterfalls in the area and gave us several maps to help us find them.
The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is the largest in Michigan. It sits along Lake Superior and the small Porcupine Mountains, or Porkies. The Porcupine Mountains were named by the native Ojibwa people, supposedly because their silhouette had the shape of a crouching porcupine. The Park is home to over 35,000 acres of old-growth northern hardwood forest which is the most in North America west of the Adirondack Mountains, These old-growth trees were designated a wilderness area in 1972 which comes with special protections such as not allowing motorized equipment and infrastructure projects in these areas.
Our first stop was the visitor center, which had a small exhibit hall featuring some stuffed wildlife and displays on the history of the Porcupine Mountains, from prehistoric copper miners to the lumber camps of the early 1900s. We picked up a map and headed to the Lake of the Clouds Overlook.
A scenic drive took us to the Lake of the Clouds Overlook on one of the highest points in the park. A short handicap-accessible boardwalk took us to the overlook from the parking lot. We were able to look down over a cliff into a valley where a large blue lake is surrounded by the shadows of the Porcupine Mountains and the emerald-green of the old-growth forest. A boardwalk follows the cliff for several hundred yards and there are several places where you can walk out on the rocks to peer down the cliff face.
Ontonagon
The road to the Overlook was a dead end, so we headed back east along Lake Superior into Ontonagon,, hoping to see the lighthouse there.
We learned that the word “Ontonagon” in the Chippewa dialect means “my bowl is gone.” According to local myths, a little girl of the Chippewa Nation came to the river with her little wooden bowl to get a drink. It slipped from her hand while playing with it in the water, and she yelled, “On-to-na-gon!” — “Oh, my bowl’s gone!” The name stuck and is now used for the name of the city, the county, and the main rivers through the area.
We had trouble locating the lighthouse and then discovered after pulling over and searching the internet that the lighthouse is surrounded by private property, and the only way to see it was to book a tour at the County Historical Museum which took you to the site by bus.
Victoria Falls and Old Victoria
We then decided to visit some waterfalls using the Ranger’s maps. Our first destination was Victoria Falls. The route took us to the city of Rockford, where we turned off onto a long, winding dirt road for several miles.
Along the way, we passed the site of Old Victoria, which has some restored 100-year-old hand-hewn log cabins that once served as housing for the miners at the Victoria Copper Mine in the mid-1800s. The site was unmanned so if we had wanted to tour the inside of the cabins, we would have had to call ahead.
When we got to the waterfall location, we only found a concrete dam and an overflow channel that rarely flowed. The dam had been there since the 1930s, so I am not sure why it was listed on the waterfall map. Seeing the cliff walls downstream from the dame and the large pipes that carried the water through their hydroelectric plant was interesting.
Ontonagon River
Disappointed again, we headed south to try to find another waterfall. Along the way, we stopped at Military Hills Roadside Park at the confluence of the East and Middle Branches of the Ontonagon River. It was a very muddy brown, which we learned was caused by the red clay and sandstone beneath it.
Bond Falls Scenic Site
We continued on to Bond Falls Scenic Site, where we were not disappointed. These large falls are created as the middle branch of the Ontonagon River drops over a thick belt of fractured rock for approximately 50 feet. The base of the waterfalls is only a five-minute walk from the parking lot, which was great. We took a bridge over to a small island at the bottom of the falls, allowing us to look straight at the falls. I then took the mixed concrete, metal, rock, and wood pathways that took me to the cascades above the falls.
Since it was difficult for Lisa to climb up the trail, we drove the truck to the top of the cascade so she could walk down the trail for a long time. We both enjoyed watching the ducks easily swimming around in the water above the falls.
Agate Falls Scenic Site
Five miles downstream was Agate Falls. We took some backroads to the parking lot and then followed a scenic trail down the river gorge to the site of the falls. The trail did not get very close to the falls, though, and the trees obstructed our view. The old railroad bridge that crossed the gorge near the falls was interesting.
It was getting late, so we returned to the campground and arrived at the camper around 8 pm.
Aug 13, Wednesday
We took off from our campsite around 8:30 and headed toward the Black River waterfalls.
Nee-Gaw-Nee-Gaw-Bow
Along the way, we stopped at the Nee-Gaw-Nee-Gaw-Bow statue in Wakefield. The artist made this wooden statue, Peter “Wolf” Toth, to honor the Chippewa Indians. The Indian statue was carved from one piece of pine donated by the Ottawa National Forest and was completed in 1988.
Peter Toth donated a different Indian carving to all 50 states and Canada from 1971 to 1988, collectively called the “Trail of the Whispering Giants.” This was his 59th statue. We had seen some of his other statues on previous trips.
Gabbro Falls
Our next stop was trying to find Gabbro Falls near Blackjack Ski Resort. Unfortunately, the path to the falls was unmarked, and we did not have clear instructions on how to find it. We learned later that we should follow a power line clearing toward the river.
National Black River Scenic Byway
We then took the Black River Scenic Byway north through the Ottawa National Forest toward Lake Superior. It was very scenic but we rarely saw the river.
Copper Peak Ski Jump
The Scenic Byway veered away from the river near Copper Peak, so I took a side road to stay along the river and drove into Copper Peak.
Copper Peak is the largest artificial ski jump in the world. It was constructed in 1969 for 1 million dollars and is 489 feet long with a 35-degree slope. There have been no flights at Copper Peak since 1994, though, so now it is used as an observation platform where tourists can take the 810-foot chairlift up 365 feet to the crest of the hill, then take the 18-story elevator up the tower and then walk the final eight stories of stairs to take in the 26-story view of the surrounding area.
They were open, and the gift shop advertised that they had restrooms, so we stopped to look. Though I was tempted to go, we decided to continue on.
Black River Waterfalls
We connected with the Black River Scenic Byway and continued north until we reached the parking lot for the Great Conglomerate Waterfall. The trail to the falls was only a ¾-mile hike. Here, the river slides down 20 feet around a large chunk of conglomerate rock, hence the name of the falls,
When we returned to the truck, we moved it about a half-mile to the next parking lot, where a boardwalk took us to the Potawatomi waterfall a short distance away. The boardwalk to the viewing area for Gorge Falls was closed, so we could only see them from a distance through the trees.
We continued down the byway and skipped the Sandstone Falls because the parking lot was full, so we drove down to Rainbow Falls instead.
Black River Harbor
The road ended at Lake Superior, with a harbor and a large picnic area. We had lunch at one of the picnic tables overlooking the bay. After lunch, we walked along the shore and across a 210-foot suspension bridge built by the CCC to the opposite bank of the Black River. It swayed when you walked on it, so Lisa was not thrilled. It also had a sign that said the max occupancy on the bridge was two people, though you could tell it once said 20. I was not sure if this was a prank or legitimate.
Ironwood
We then decided to head over to the Porcupine Mountains, but we first drove through Ironwood so I could get a quick picture of the giant Stormy Kromer cap outside their manufacturing plant. The Stormy Kromer cap is a wool cap with a unique shape that is popular in the Upper Peninsula. It is named after the inventor George “Stormy” Kromer (1876-1970), who designed the cap while a train engineer was more warm and secure when he stuck his head out the train window.
While driving through town, we saw several murals honoring the city’s iron mining heritage.
Presque Isle River Waterfalls
We then headed over to the west side of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park to see the Presque Isle River waterfalls: Manabezho Falls, Manido Falls, and Nawadaha Falls. There were boardwalks and trails on the west side of the river that enabled me to follow the river to Lake Superior. I found the riverbed formations to be as interesting as the waterfalls.
Summit Peak Scenic Area
We then drove through the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on the South Boundary Road, the only east-west road that goes completely through the park. At the halfway point, we stopped at the Summit Peak Scenic Area. The 50-foot Summit Peak Observation Tower is the highest point in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park at nearly 2,000 feet above sea level. The trail to the peak was fairly steep and even steeper when you got close to the tower, but there was a nice observation platform with benches for those who did not want to climb the tower. Lisa stayed on the observation platform while I climbed the tower. I had the tower all to myself, so listening to the wind and leaves rustling was very enjoyable. I even think I heard a deer scampering.
Konteka Black Bear Resort in White Pines
We decided to go to the Konteka Black Bear Resort restaurant for dinner. The Konteka Resort is a sprawling complex with a bowling alley, restaurant, bar, hotel, gas station, and several abandoned buildings surrounding a large weather-worn parking lot. They are best known for the wild bears that they bait to come to a feeding area at the back of the restaurant. Of course, when I researched this place, I found lots of mixed opinions about the ethics of feeding wild animals for commercial reasons.
We walked into the restaurant around 7:30 and were given a nice corner table next to a large window overlooking the back area. The only thing in the back was a carved wooden bear and piles of food scraps, so I was unsure when or if we would see any bears. Near the end of our meal, though, I looked out, and there was a bear! Over the next 30 minutes, we saw over a half dozen bears emerge from the woods and eat from the food piles. They were so much fun to watch. There must have been a lot of regulars there because few seemed to be as excited as we were at seeing the bears.
Aug 14, Thursday
I left about 8:30 am and headed west toward the Apostle Island area in Wisconsin.
Ironwood
Lisa wanted to get a Stormy Kromer cap as a souvenir the previous evening, so we stopped at the Stormy Kromer Mercantile factory on the way through Ironwood. The factory store had a lot of caps in various colors and designs, as well as many other outdoor clothing items. Lisa finally settled on a traditional red flannel design with an embroidered “Upper Peninsula” on the flap,
Next, we saw Hiawatha, the World’s Largest Indian Statue. Hiawatha is about 52 feet tall on the base, weighs nine tons, and is made of fiberglass on a steel frame. In 1964, an Ironwood auto dealer had it built in Minneapolis, trucked to Ironwood, and erected on the Old Norrie Iron Mine site as a tourist attraction. In the same park, we saw an old iron ore train car and a large billboard that showed a historical picture of the town if you had looked at it from the park.
We also stopped and got a better picture of the Downtown Miners Mural. Over one hundred real miners (their names are below the mural on the bricks) were painted in an imagined group photo to represent the thousands that used to work the iron mines within the city.
Ashland
Our next stop was Ashland. It was lunchtime, so we pulled over to eat at Bayview Park, which was right on Lake Superior. Afterward, we walked around the park and onto the dock, where they had a nice swimming area. We could tell it got really deep because they even had a diving board on the pier. On the side of the non-swimming area, you could see the piers of an old dock just under the surface going far out into the bay. It was probably an old iron ore loading dock.
As we took off, we noticed a lot of murals on the walls downtown, so we pulled off the highway and drove through the downtown area admiring them. We then spotted a farmer’s market taking place, so we stopped. It was quite small, but I ordered a tasty pork chop sandwich grilled on the spot and served with “Window Licker” jam from another vendor there. We also entered the Ashland Baking Co. and bought some pastries for breakfast later.
On our way out of town, we spotted a Nail Salon that had been built in a church building. We both found that a strange use for an old church.
Washburn
As we turned and headed up the Bayfield Peninsula which was adjacent to the Apostle Islands, we stopped at the Washburn Marina for looks back across Chequamegon Bay back toward Ashland.
Just north of Washburn, we stopped at the small and crowded parking area for Houghton Falls, hoping to see some waterfalls. After walking about ½ mile down the trail, we were told by a hiker coming back the other way that the waterfall wasn’t flowing because of the drought. We decided to go back to the truck and continue north.
Adventure Club Brewing
As we continued north and approached Bayfield, we saw a sizeable wolf-like statue that appeared to be moving. Upon closer examination, we saw it was in front of a brewery, and young children were pedaling and pulling ropes to manipulate it. We pulled into Adventure Club Brewing, which claims to be the northernmost brewery in the state and has a large outdoor bar next to an adventure gear store. We sat outside and ordered beers while watching the young children play with the animated statue. The biting flies soon sent us on our way again.
Bayfield
We continued north and stopped at the Apostle Island National Lakeshore Visitor Center in Bayfield. They had blocked off the gift shop entrance and set up a counter with a plexiglass protective shield. They acknowledged that nothing could be done to see or experience the Apostle Islands except to kayak or boat to them.
From there, we drove to the waterfront area to look around and continued north, trying to follow the coastline as much as possible.
Sand Bay
We continued north until we reached Little Sand Bay Recreation Area. This was a very crowded campground area with an NPS visitor center and a restored tugboat sitting in front of it. It was so crowded that we could not find any place to park, so we decided to leave.
Cornucopia
As we continued west around the top of the peninsula into Cornucopia, we ran into their Cornucopia Day festival at their marina, so we decided to pull over and walk around it. The festival was scattered all over the marina, primarily a fundraiser for their local fire department. We walked around past the various booths and around their dock area. Old decaying fishing trawlers were scattered all over the grounds. Since we were in Wisconsin, we decided to enjoy some fried cheese curds while we were there, and they were delicious.
A small historical museum was in the marina, and it was open during the festival, so we took a stroll through it and learned a little about the history of this small town.
Homeward bound
Instead of heading home on the same route, we decided to go directly across the peninsula to Ashland and then to the campground. We did stop briefly at a Bait Shop to take a picture of its large fish in front. We were back at the campground for dinner at around 5:30 pm.
Aug 15, Friday
Left for Red Pine Campground in Saginaw, MN, around 9 am.