TRAGIC HISTORY AMID SPECTACULAR GRANDEUR ALONG THE SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR

Lyrics from the “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot 

Carol writes:  Three years ago we traveled extensively along both coasts of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.  Sadly, our travel schedule at the time did not allow the days we needed to check out the Upper Peninsula; however, it was always in the back of our minds that we might get a chance to come back…

On leaving Minnesota, our route took us quickly across the very tip of Wisconsin, where we had only a brief stop on Wisconsin soil to gas up the motorhome.  In no time at all, we crossed into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.   

The state of Michigan touches 4 of the 5 Great Lakes.  The Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula are linked together by the stately Mackinac Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world.

The residents of the Upper Peninsula have a reputation for being extremely nice and welcoming, and we found that to be true.  The joke is that the residents of the UP are a special people that love the UP’s  “9 months of winter and 3 months of poor sledding.”

The Upper Peninsula is commonly abbreviated as U.P. thus giving rise to the shortened form of “Yooper” (UPer) when referring to its residents.  If you listen closely, you can hear a subtle Yooper dialect that tends to add the syllable “eh” to the end of sentences.  In the town of Munising, we even saw a restaurant called “Eh Burger!”

Our first of two stops in the UP was in Ishpeming, an Objibwe word with the general meaning of “above,” reflecting the fact that Ishpeming is 800 feet higher than nearby Lake Superior.

The largest city in the UP is Marquette, which is known as the Queen City.  Marquette was delightfully pleasing to the eyes.  Near the top of its hilly streets was an impressive cathedral dating back to the 1880s.

Along the water, Marquette condos and townhomes had lots of character.

Marquette’s large-domed neo-classical style county courthouse was featured in the 1959 courtroom drama movie Anatomy of a Murder, based on a novel of the same name written by a Michigan author.

Lunch in Marquette introduced us to the exquisite pleasure of dining on Lake Superior whitefish.

Our second stop in the UP was in Newberry, an excellent central point from which to explore some of the UP’s most popular sites, such as:

PICTURED ROCKS NATIONAL LAKESHORE

The only way to see the “pictured rocks” formations of brilliantly colored cliffs, sea caves and pristine beaches along Lake Superior was by means of a boat cruise out of Munising, Michigan.

Even before we reached the pictured rocks area, the raw beauty of the shoreline scenery along Lake Superior was clearly evident.

Kayakers were out in force.

TAHQUAMENON FALLS STATE PARK

For multiple reasons, one of the most iconic locations in the UP is the tip of land called Whitefish Point at the extreme northeastern tip of the Upper Peninsula.  The state park of Tahquamenon Falls is located just below Whitefish Point.  The centerpiece of the park was its waterfalls.

The most spectacular waterfall was the Upper Falls, with a span of 200 feet and a drop of nearly 50 feet.

Four miles downstream, the Lower Falls consisted of a series of waterfalls cascading around an island in the Tahquamenon River, which empties into Whitefish Bay.

At Whitefish Bay, we visited the purely picturesque Coast Guard lifeboat station complex.

The waters off Whitefish Point will forever live on in sad tales of maritime history.  A fully loaded ore freighter named the Edmund Fitzgerald vanished and sunk seventeen miles off Whitefish Point in a monstrous storm on November 10, 1975, killing the entire ship’s crew of 29.  It is a poignant point of fact that this trip was to be the ship captain’s final voyage before retirement.  The most famous shipwreck in Great Lakes history now lies broken in two at a depth of 535 feet in the frigid waters of Lake Superior. 

The memorial to the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald at Whitefish Point was lovely, simple and serene… 

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Lightfoot’s most celebrated song.  The haunting poetry of the words captures perfectly the last hours of the doomed ship and its crew.  Strangely, more than four decades after the most famous shipwreck in Great Lakes history, the cause of the wreck is still somewhat of a mystery, although terrible weather undoubtedly played a part.

SOO LOCKS

On the day that she was lost, the Edmund Fitzgerald had been headed to the locks at Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced soo-saint-marie) enroute to the lower Great Lakes for its home port of Cleveland, where the plan was to wait out the winter.  

A visit to the so-called “Soo Locks” at Canal Park in Sault Ste. Marie provided a fascinating day for us as we watched some of the world’s largest freighters slowly ease their way through the lock system between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.  We were mesmerized as the Tadoussac of the Canada Steamship Lines slowly entered the big Poe Lock from Lake Superior,

then halted patiently for the water to lower 21 feet to bring it down to the level of Lake Huron.

It was eerie to watch this massive ship and its superstructure lower in the water right before our very eyes.  After a single blast of the ship’s horn, the Tadoussac continued on its way in the lower waters of Lake Huron…

We had a fascinating conversation during lunch one day with a 90-year-old woman who was eating alone at the table next to us.  She told us a story about the day she went camping with her family at the Sault Ste. Marie locks at the outbreak of WW II.  She said her family witnessed the passage of the last ship before the locks were closed to all private vessels for the duration of the war.  This firsthand account really hit home to us just how strategic the locks were for shipping the raw materials needed in a wartime economy.  Our interesting lunch companion also mentioned that several thousand troops were stationed in Sault Ste. Marie for defense purposes during WW II.  

We stuck around the lock area after lunch when we learned that two 1000-ft freighters (the largest on the Great Lakes) would be transiting through Poe Lock.  These steel giants of the Great Lakes play an essential role in keeping the raw materials of our economy moving.  Iron ore, followed by coal, is the most valuable cargo carried through the locks. 

A few hours ago, the 730-ft Tadoussac seemed pretty big to us; however, the 1000-ft Edwin H. Gott was colossal!  I found it impossible to capture the entire ship in one camera shot without distorting the foreground in my camera’s panoramic function.  What a captivating excursion we had at Soo Locks!

The Edwin H. Gott in Poe Lock

After an interesting six days in the UP, we were happy that we had made the effort to come back to Michigan for the Upper Peninsula experience.  The unusual careers, leisure activities, and lifestyles of its inhabitants were fascinating, making it one of the more unique places we have visited in the United States thus far.

Carol Galus

Photo-Blogger

Sault Ste. Marie Locks between Lake Huron and Lake Superior

ROLLING THROUGH THE LAND OF LAKES IN MINNESOTA

                                                                                                                                                                      Photography by Al Galus

Carol writes:  On leaving the Dakotas, we embarked on a quick two-week breeze across southern Minnesota, with stops in three small towns.  The state of Minnesota has been called the land of 10,000 lakes, and to our eyes that fact was no exaggeration…  We noticed a stark change of scenery as the view outside our motorhome windows changed from treeless Dakota prairies to a very green land that was lush with trees and lakes in a rolling landscape shaped by ancient glaciers.  For three days, we stayed in a campground in the resort town of Detroit Lakes,

where we had plans to meet up with good Colorado friends Barb and Jim, who had recently relocated back to Minnesota to be closer to family.  With campsites almost across from one another, 

we caught up on key life events since last seeing Barb and Jim in their former home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Barb wanted to show us the headwaters of the Mississippi River, the great American river that touches 10 states as it flows south to drain half our continent.  

At the headwaters of the Mississippi River

The four of us took a day trip 70 miles north to Lake Itasca State Park to a spot that the Dakota and Ojibwe Tribes had known about long before explorers like Zebulon Pike undertook relentless searches for the river’s all-important source.  It wasn’t until 1832 when an Ojibwe chief guided explorer Henry Schoolcraft to the headwaters at Lake Itasca.

Barb and I participated in the local “wet your toes” ritual at a relatively small pool of headwaters partially walled off along the shore of Lake Itasca. 

For good measure, we all took turns “walking across the Mississippi River” on a handy half-log bridge.

On the way back to camp, we took a detour to visit an old abandoned farmhouse where Barb’s hearty Minnesota grandparents used to live and farm the land.

Along the way, we also caught up with Barb’s Uncle Donald.

Garfield, Minnesota campground

Our next brief stay was in Garfield, Minnesota, only a few miles from Barb and Jim’s lot on Turtle Lake.  Barb has dubbed this spot their little “piece of Paradise.”  A deluxe garage and workshop has already been built.

As soon as Mother Nature cooperates by sending drier weather, construction on a new home is set to begin.  The dock at Turtle Lake appeared ready for summer action.

Sunday brunch at Arrowwood Resort, followed by a tour of the waterpark, was a great way to wind up our visit with ole friends who are just beginning their own new adventure in life…

We have always considered crossing the Mississippi River a watershed moment in any road trip back East.  Like much of Minnesota this past spring, we also had a rainy day for our official river crossing.

For a week over the Fourth of July holiday, we hunkered down in a large casino campground in the small town of Hinckley, Minnesota.  The Fourth of July “parade” consisted of a dozen or so decorated golf carts, 

with enthusiastic riders who had plenty of patriotic spirit.  And that was small-town America for us on the Fourth…  

The tiny town of Hinckley was no different than thousands of small towns in Minnesota, except for the fact that this old logging town was front and center in a firestorm that killed 418 people as it destroyed several villages in East Central Minnesota on September 1, 1894.  The Hinckley Fire Museum, located in the old train depot, did a fantastic job of retelling the incredible saga of the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894, the greatest tragedy in Minnesota history.

There was a treasure trove of old photographs, such as this one of the Hinckley Fire Department that was taken the year before the great fire.

A restaurant called the “Beanery” was captured in this remarkable instant in time at the old train depot.  “Beanery” customers picked their seat in front of the piece of pie that most caught their fancy.

Miraculously, over 1000 Hinckley residents survived the firestorm by scrambling aboard hastily assembled passenger and freight cars headed north out of town.  Others cowered in lakes and swamps around town to escape the ferocious flames.

Over a century down the road, Hinckley has long been rebuilt.  Not surprisingly, we noticed that Hinckley’s modern-day fire department is one that would be the envy of any small town…

Since we had a week in Hinckley, we decided to check out St. Croix State Park along the St. Croix River, which forms the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Our plans for the day changed drastically when we discovered that the mosquitos were vicious!  Our first clue was when we spotted a fisherman dressed head to toe in the heat, including mosquito netting over his hat.  

This family that was headed out for a day of fishing on the river was similarly covered up.

Even campground hammocks had mosquito netting!

At St. Croix State Park, ice fishing camper units were something we had never seen before.  

On the internet, we discovered that these typically bold-colored campers have a bathroom, sleeping area, kitchen, and even TVs… along with strategically placed holes in the floor for winter fishing through the ice in comfort.

We stuck it out at the park long enough to take a short walk along the St. Croix river.

However, the humidity and the experience of sharing the park with mosquitos and ticks eventually took its toll.  Pamphlets about mosquito and tick-borne diseases didn't help the situation either.  In more ways than one, Minnesotans sure are tough people… 

For us, that was a bit of a speed run through Minnesota.  Along the way, it was great catching up with ole Colorado friends who are just in the early phase of their new life in Minnesota.  We thank them for showing us around and playing Carbles (it’s a Minnesota game) with us.  We wish them well as their dream unfolds in rural Minnesota… 

As for us, three summers ago when we were in in this area, we ran out of time to explore the mysterious Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so that is the direction we will head to investigate the rugged beauty of the shoreline of Lake Superior.

Carol Galus

Photo-Blogger