2010-07 Soo Locks

From 2010-07 Soo Locks

(Aerial photo of Soo Locks seen in the Visitor Center)

Our son Ward drove up to Mackinaw City from Chicago and stayed almost a week. It was great to spend time with him. We primarily stayed around the campground, but did take a day trip to Sault Ste. Marie, MI to tour the Soo Locks.

It was just over an hour’s drive across the Mackinaw Bridge and up through the Upper Peninsula. This is a sparsely populated area of forests and some farmland until you reach Sault Ste. Marie, which is pronounce “Soo Saint Marie” and comes from a French translation that means “the falls of St Mary’s (river)".

We had a very enjoyable stay two years ago at Aune Osborne campground which sits right on the bank of the St Mary’s river just south of the Soo Locks. Our campsite was next to the river, and I was frequently stepping out to take close-up pictures of the Great Lakes freighters (“Lakers”) as they passed. Here is one of those photos:

From 08-08 Sault Ste Marie

Looking at the Soo Locks visitor center web site I learned that freighters passed through the locks on average every 1 1/2 hours.  So based upon that information and our prior experience, we assumed we would be able to watch a ship pass through. Well we were wrong. Six ships had passed through that morning, but none were in the St Mary’s river channel from the south or in Lake Superior from the north. The visitor center has a computer display that shows the location of ships in those areas, but no incoming ships were visible. We learned that traffic had been way down in 2009 due to the economy, but had picked back up so far this year. However a recent visitor came in from Duluth, Minnesota who works at the huge grain elevators on Lake Superior. He said their elevators were empty because there had been too much rain and the crops had failed (I assume winter wheat.) So he said no international ships nor “Lakers” would be coming through the locks with grain anytime soon.  I imagine that is a key reason we did not see any ships.

We did watch a tour boat go through the locks.

From 2010-07 Soo Locks

And just enjoyed looking at the locks and entrance way.

From 2010-07 Soo Locks

2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petoskey, MI

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

Tuesday July 13th we headed on a day trip toward Petoskey, Michigan.   On the way we took a short detour after we saw a sign for the McGulpins Point Lighthouse. 

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

This lighthouse went into service in 1869, but was only used for 37 years.  It became redundant when a lighthouse was built in Mackinaw City that provided a better light for both the west and east entrances to the Straits of Mackinac.  The local county bought the property a few years back and began restoration.  The iron top was rebuilt and installed just a year again in April 2009.  I read that many lighthouses still owned by the Federal Government are being decommissioned and will be sold over the next few years.  Wouldn’t it be neat to buy and live in one?  (But perhaps not that far north)

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

Before we had left, we had chosen a route that was marked scenic.  Since this road is along Lake Michigan, we thought we would have great views of the lake.

The route is known as “The Tunnel of Trees”,  It is a beautiful drive through a heavy canopy of trees. 

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

The road is winding, narrow and a bit of a challenge to drive.  We only had some occasional views of the lake.

Along the way, we spotted this group of people practicing polo.  Wish it had been a real match.  We would have stopped to watch having never seen one before.

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

We also drove past a golf course that is quite a distance from anywhere.  It was appropriately named The Wilderness Golf Course. 

The lovely town of Harbor Springs was our next stop.  We enjoyed lunch, a stroll through the town, and going into some of the shops.

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

The town was very clean and all the buildings were so well maintained.  We asked one shop keeper if there was a town ordinance about how frequently they needed to paint.  She said no it was just the pride of the town and shop owners.

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

Almost all shops had beautiful window boxes of flowers.

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

There were lovely homes

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

and this one is the town museum.

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

In Petoskey, we stopped at a park and enjoyed the beautiful view.

From 2010-07 Harbor Springs and Petosky

After a short drive through Petoskey, we headed back to the RV.  This time by a more direct route

Gladstone Michigan

We moved from Sault Ste. Marie to Gladstone, Michigan. Gladstone is located on the southwest shore of the Michigan UP (Upper Peninsula). We stayed at the Gladstone City Campground which sits on the shore of Little Bay de Noc. This long bay connects to Green Bay. In the far distance is Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula where we stayed in July.

We had a decent view looking out to the bay but were about 100 yards from the water. The sites vary greatly in size. Some were pretty large, but we were packed in very close to our two neighbors. As a result we really got smoked and had to keep windows closed each evening when one or both of our neighbors had their camp fires. So this was not nearly as nice a location as we had in Houghton or Sault Ste Marie. Still we had a nice time there. We enjoyed talking with our neighbors and others we met there. Plus we toured some more beautiful sites in the UP.

One day we took a long drive. First we went to the peninsula across from us on the other side of the bay. We went to the tip hoping to see Monarch butterflies. We had read that the Monarchs gather there waiting for favorable winds to cross Green Bay. We were told that the cedar trees at the tip can be covered in butterflies. Unfortunately our timing was not good. We were either too late or too early. We only saw a dozen or so Monarchs fluttering around the goldenrod. (There are beautiful masses of goldenrod all along the roads in the UP.) Yet the views from the lighthouse located on the tip were magnificent, but just as we arrived I realized I had forgotten my camera. I was so disappointed.

We then went to the next peninsula to visit Fayette State Park. This is a really interesting and beautiful historical site. It is an old ghost town with a lovely natural harbor. The town was built and occupied from about 1867 to 1890 for iron smelting. The town had a relatively short life because of changes in the way iron was processed and a decline in the iron market. Better methods were developed elsewhere to process iron plus much of the timber had been harvested that was used to produce the charcoal necessary for the smelting process. The town remained as a fishing village for a while but was finally abandoned. In the 1950’s the state bought the property and restored and protected the remaining buildings. I would estimate 30 or more buildings remain including the iron blast furnaces, charcoal kilns, large hotel, office building, workshops, and a number of individual houses. We only stayed an hour or so because we arrived late in the day, and we had Clay with us. We could tour the outside areas with Clay, but could not take him inside any buildings. We would definitely like to go back and spend a full day touring the buildings and just enjoying the beauty of the harbor and surrounding area.

Another trip we made was north across the UP to Pictured Rocks National Park. The name comes from the colors in the rocks that form bluffs along the edge of Lake Superior. Various minerals in the soil stain the rocks different colors. We went to Miners Castle and Miners Beach.

From 8-08 Gladstone

From 8-08 Gladstone

The “Miners” Castle name was given to a rock formation by early explorers/miners coming along the shore looking for locations to locate mines for the minerals rumored to be in the area. While many mines were ultimately located in the UP, none are in this area. Instead there is a lovely National Park that stretches 50 miles along the shore. We again brought Clay with us hoping to take some walks in the woods. However dogs are only allowed in certain public areas and are not allowed on any trails. That surprised us. However that may have been a blessing because we ran into some nasty biting flies at one stop as we walked from the parking lot to the beach. A sign said to wear long sleeves and long pants if you go hiking because insect repellent does not work on these flies. Fortunately we were able to enjoy a nice picnic in another area without being bothered by the flies.

On our way back to Gladstone we took a different route in to go to Palms Book State Park to tour the “Big Spring”. One of our campground neighbors highly recommended this site, and we were glad they did. It is a gorgeous site. The Big Spring is a large sinkhole with a fast flowing underground spring (10,000 gallons/minute). This results in a large pool of crystal clear water with a lovely emerald green tint. There is a self propelled raft that visitors steer across the pool. A cable is stretched across the pool and a large wheel is turned to move the raft. As you move across you can easily see the bottom which is about 30 feet deep. In several places you can see the water bubbling up through the sand. We also saw a few fish lazily swimming around. I have a few pictures, but they really do not display the beauty of the water and surrounding area.

From 8-08 Gladstone

From 8-08 Gladstone

The last thing we did in Gladstone was to attend an antique steam engine and tractor show in nearby Escanaba on Labor Day. We had a great time looking at all the old machines. I had never seen steam driven tractors nor a lot of the other older kerosene and gas powered tractors. On the other hand, I was reminded of tractors I had seen on my Uncle Vernon’s and Uncle Ralph’s farms. One I particularly recall is a John Deere tractor either my Grandfather Rone or Uncle Ralph owned when I was very young. I remember its distinctive ‘tuck-a-tuck-a-tuck-a’ sound. I think Uncle Ralph may still be using that tractor.

From 8-08 Gladstone

From 8-08 Gladstone

We had a pleasant nine day stay in Gladstone before going back to Wisconsin, heading to Lake Delton near the Wisconsin Dells in the southwestern portion of the state.

Sault Ste Marie, Michigan #2

While in Sault Ste. Marie, we toured a museum inside a retired Great Lakes freighter, the Valley Camp. It was really interesting to see the cargo holds, engine room, pilot house, and especially the rooms where the crew slept and ate.

From Sault Ste Marie

When buying tickets for the Valley Camp, we went ahead and bought tickets for the nearby “Tower of History” since it did not cost much more for the extra tour. I had not planned to go to the Tower since I had read there was not much “history” in the museum portion. I am really glad we did though because the views from the three viewing platforms were great.

From Sault Ste Marie

From Sault Ste Marie

We could see down one side to the area our RV was parked.

From Sault Ste Marie

On the other side we could see ships out in Lake Superior approaching the locks. In between were the locks, the St Mary’s River, the city of Sault Ste, Marie, Michigan and across the way a portion of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada.

From Sault Ste Marie

Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

We have moved to yet another beautiful campsite at the water’s edge -this time in Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie), Michigan. We look out onto the Saint Mary's River, which connects Lake Superior with Lakes Huron and Michigan by way of the SOO Locks. We are just a mile or so south of the locks. We have been fascinated watching the large freighters pass in front of our RV. We can sit inside and watch them out the front window but usually run outside for a better view and to take pictures.

From Sault Ste Marie

We went down to the locks late one evening and watched two ships pass through.

From Sault Ste Marie

Most ships are around 720 feet, the former maximum size that could pass through the SOO locks, and are still the only ones that can go all the way to the Atlantic. The ones that go to the ocean are "Salties". In 1968 a larger lock was added and now there are 13 larger 1000 foot "Lakers" that can traverse the SOO Locks. All the freighters are bulk carriers. They transport iron ore, wheat, soy beans, various type of rocks, cement, etc. Some are "self-loaders" with on board cranes and conveyor belts. Others rely upon shore based loading equipment. All are interesting to see passing by. They come by day and night. Fortunately they are relatively quiet as they pass. On the other hand a small ferry just down from us, seems to blow its horn every 30 minutes most of the day and well into the night as it goes back and forth to a small Island in the river between the US and Canada. (We look across at Canada from our campsite).

We toured another lighthouse - Iroquois Point.

From Sault Ste Marie

I had great fun there "rock hounding". Up here instead of looking for sea shells, folks look for interesting rocks along the shore, especially agates.

From Sault Ste Marie

This area was covered by glaciers in the ice age. These pushed many different kinds of rocks and minerals over the land. Many small rocks have been smoothed by wave action. I have now gotten the bug to get a rock polisher. Actually this is an old desire resurfacing. As a child I lived near a gravel company. They had rock shipped in via the Mississippi River and stockpiled it for use by various construction companies. While in College, I worked for a road construction company and would sometimes carry loads of these rocks in my dump truck back to the asphalt plant. As a young child I often played atop the huge piles of gravel. I spent time looking through the rocks and would occasionally find some small fossils. So I have always been interested in rocks, though I know very little about the different types. After hunting around the beach and picking up several pocketfuls, I want to learn more and perhaps get a polisher. Of course Monique points out that collecting rocks is probably not the smartest hobby for someone living in a confined space and worried about the weight we carry in our house on wheels. She is right so I doubt I will continue.

Houghton Michigan on the Keweenaw Penninsula

From 8-08 Houghton Campground

We moved to a great campground in Houghton, Michigan - our new favorite. Houghton is located midway up the Keweenaw (pronounced key-we-nah) Peninsula. This is a peninsula on a peninsula - the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. Our camp site was right on the water with full hook-ups, cable TV, and a paved pad with a covered picnic table and park bench facing the river/canal.

From Houghton Campground

(Click link to see more pictures)

Houghton sits across the river from Hancock. The cities are separated by a river/canal that connects with lakes further across the peninsula. This provides a waterway across the peninsula that allows freighters to shorten the route from the upper portion of Lake Superior. It was primarily used in the past to allow freighters to come to the copper smelters that were on the waters edge. From the mid 1800's to the mid 1900's, this area was one of the main producers of copper in the US if not the world. Copper mining started in the 1840's and continued until the 1990's, although most mines closed in 1968 when copper prices were very low and no settlement could be reached in a labor strike.

We continued to have great weather, especially for August. Highs were usually in the mid 70's and lows in the mid 50's. I was glad to have nice weather the first two days, because I spent much of those days washing the RV and Honda. We drove through road construction where the old highway had been stripped down to bare earth. They were putting water on the dirt to keep down the dust and to keep it hard packed. As a result both the car and the RV looked like we had been out "mudding" with the 4-wheelers. I've never had one vehicle much less two covered with so much mud. That is my only complaint about the UP. Many of the roads are very bad and, where they are making repairs, you must often drive long stretches on dirt.

This is another beautiful area to tour. The views along the shores of Lake Superior are gorgeous. The water is crystal clear and very blue along the horizon. Much of the area is covered in forests. We went to two different places where we could see long distances with nothing but trees and lakes in the distance. One of these was Porcupine Mountain State Park near Ontonagon (pronounced ahn-two-nog-n) in the southern portion of the peninsula. At the top of a ridge, we looked down on "Lake of the Clouds" and green trees as far as we see.

From Keweenaw Peninsula

The other high spot was along Brockway Mountain Drive at the opposite end of the peninsula near Copper Harbor. At the high point of the drive, we could look out to Lake Superior in one direction and in the other direction were miles of green treetops. Further along the drive was an overlook looking down on Copper Harbor which is near the tip of the peninsula.

We toured another lovely lighthouse in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

From Keweenaw Peninsula

Nearby we stopped at a waterfall along the road. It was next to the "Jampot" operated by a Monastery. The Monks make great jams and baked goods. I wanted to go back after trying some of their cookies but they were closed by the time we came back through. Too bad.

One of my favorite places was Calumet, Michigan. It is about 12 miles north of Houghton. At one time it was one of the richest cities in America because of the wealth generated by the Copper Mines that created the town. It looks like everything was built around the turn of the century. Due to the closing of the copper mines, there is significant deterioration in some places. Fortunately the National Park Service is working to help preserve this historic slice of America. We toured the Calumet Theater which opened in 1900 and was a stopping point for many of the top stars of the day - John Phillips Sousa, Sarah Bernhardt, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., etc. It has been nicely restored and is very beautiful inside and out. There are many other old churches and buildings I would love to go back and tour.

From Keweenaw Peninsula

Another highlight from Calumet was the Country Kitchen which makes great Pasties (pronounced past-e). These were the meals made by the Cornish wives for their miner husbands. They are a pastry filled with diced potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, onions and beef. I was not too sure about the rutabagas, but they turned out not to have a strong flavor or much flavor at all. We both loved the Pasties and have several in the freezer for future enjoyment.

I hope we work our way back to Houghton. We could easily have stayed several months in this area, especially with such a great campground.