Independence Day in Paradise

Yea sun is out, wind is down and we are unloading the car so we can set up the Fold Cat. Packed lunch and launched into the river right from our camp site. We headed up the Tahquamenon River to see what the river was like and it was as spectacular as we had hoped. Threw in our fishing lines and we were happy! We floated and met some folks in a canoe and talked for a while. They told us about this place called Copper Harbor further west in the UP We may change our route and go across the UP instead of dropping south to the "Dells" in Wisconsin. We stopped in a cove on the river and had lunch. Suddenly on the opposite shore a beautiful deer appeared and was watching us. We all stared at each other for a while and then he moved away into the weeds. We left the cove and headed back down the river to camp. STOP! whispers Sandi - there in a pine tree on the opposite shore was a Bald Eagle. We have never seen one in the wild before. He was gorgeous and when he left the tree he flew right over us. Awesome!

Back at camp we started the camp fire and cooked steaks over the open fire pit.. our grill broke again so we improvised.

Ok now we are ready to celebrate. Went to Paradise for fireworks. The waitress where we had breakfast this morning told us that people come from all over for the fireworks. We kind of chuckled and wondered what "from all over" meant. Well let me tell you 1 hour before the display you could not find a place to park anywhere. We finally found a place to park and walked to where they were setting off the fireworks next to Whitefish Bay. What a crowd! They started at 10PM and went on for about an hour. They were fantastic and had fireworks we had never seen before. It was really special and it was a great day.

Nautical History and Natural Beauty

It's cold, windy, and showery as we drive through Paradise to Whitefish Point.There are a number of things to see here. This is the shore of Gichy Goome from the poem Hiawatha and has earned the ominous name "Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast". In all the Great Lakes there are 6,000 wrecks, but Lake Superior has the most.

First was The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. It is the only one of its kind dedicated to the perils of maritime transport on the Great Lakes. It is fittingly located at Whitefish Point, Michigan, site of the oldest active lighthouse on Lake Superior. As you enter the museum you hear the haunting legend of the Edmund Fitzgeral (sung by Gordon Lightfoot). Throughout the museum gallery visitors we saw dramatic shipwreck. Artifacts and exhibits tell stories of sailors and ships who braved the waters of Superior and those who were lost to her punishing waves.

One of these ships was the well known Edmund Fitzgerald. On November 9, 1975 in calm seas they left western Lake Superior out of Superior Wisconsin. With a full load of 29,000 tons of taconite pellets destined for Detroit. The 729 ft vessel with 29 crew had made their last port of call. On November 10 they encountered stronger than predicted winds. Less than 29 hours after leaving port they would be twisted and torn in the cold deep waters of Whitefish Bay.

The bell of the Edmund Fitzgerald is displayed in the museum as a memorial to her lost crew.

Walking by the Whitefish Point Lighthouse, which is one of the oldest on Lake Superior built in 1849, we headed for the Bird Observatory. This is one of the leading observatories in the country. During April - June they track migrating birds and see 15,000 - 25,000 raptor type birds during this time.

From here we walked the white sand beach back to the lighthouse and sat on an old piece of driftwood and enjoyed the rolling waves and thought about what we had seen in the museum.

Next stop was the Upper Tahquamenon Falls. The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. 50,000 gallons of water per minute rushes over the 200 ft long, 50 ft drop. We walked down the 95 steps to the viewing platform. The water actually looks golden when the sun shines on it due to the tannins leached from the Cedar, Spruce, and Hemlock in the swamps drained by the river. There is a large amount of foam in the falls due to the very soft water churned by the action of the falls. This has been it's trademark since the days of the pioneers. We walked back along the nature trail and stopped at Camp 33 named for an old logging camp that used to be on the river. Each camp had a number identifier.

Back at camp we talked about the day. We really enjoyed the nature trail hike and we wish the weather would break. Seems funny to be wearing Polar Fleece in July!

The Road Less Traveled

Breakfast at "The Antlers' before heading out this morning. If you are in the "SOO" you have to go! It is a little stone building across from the Hydro Plant. It is nothing special to look at until you get inside. There are numerous "stuffed" animals and it is very rustic as you can see. This is a taxidermy heaven!

Before we pulled out this morning we were stopped by 4 people asking about the coach. One woman said her husband had already been on line and took the phone number off the back to call them...so we did a tour (good thing we make the bed every morning.)

Off we go to spend the next 6 days in Tahquamenon Falls area in Paradise! We left the "Soo" on 6 mile road to Lakeshore Drive (Curley Lewis Hwy) to Rte 123 N. This route goes along the top of the UP and along the shorline of Lake Superior. Very few cars and the scenery is breathtaking.

Our first stop was Point Iroquois Light Station in the Hiawatha National Forest.The purpose of Point Iroquois was to guide freighters safely between the open waters of Whitefish Bay and the St. Mary's River. It served passing sailors by marking the narrow channel between the shallow sand bars and shoals off Point Iroquois and the rocky reefs of Gros Cap on the Canadian side of the bay. Keeping the light was demanding work. The lightkeeper had to be on duty throughout the night during the shipping season. Prior to electricity, a huge kerosene lamp provided the beacon's light source. keepers refilled the lamp with oil about every 4 hours and the wicks needed to be trimmed constantly.

Even with the aid of the light and fog horn, ships occaisonally foundered in the passage. Sixteen crewmen lost their lives in the freezing lake when the Steamer Myron went down in 1919 during one of the infamous November storms. Finding the bodies as they washed ashore, lightkeeper Elmer Byrnes (1920) took them to an undertaker in the neaby town. The undertaker would pay $10 a piece for "floaters". Because of heavy ship traffic , in 1902 the Lighthouse Service added to the building originaly built with the tower in 1870. The light station then had room for a head keeper, two assistants, and their families. In the 1950's , there were 3 families and eight children living at the lighthouse.

Driving along Ken spoted a place to pull off the road in a parking lot along a deserted beach. Nice thought but - ADVENTURE ALERT - he thought we had enough room to turn - we didn't as there was a big ditch we couldn't see under the grass. (We can't backup with the car attached) We pulled up as far as we could but the car was still crooked and we couldn't get the connecter bars loose from the towbar. We used a hammer and banged them out...don't want to do that again! Now we make very sure we have enough room to turn around (whew)!

Back on the road we stopped again at a pull through and walked down to a beach. Even though it was cloudy it was beautiful. No sign of anything human as far as you can see. Felt like Crusoe. We finally pulled into the Rivermouth Campground in Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We have a spot right on the river and there are very few people in the park right now.

Time to drive into Paradise to shop (another adventure). Paradise is the Wild Blueberry Capital of Michigan. We saw lots of bushes but too early for berries. Drive down main street and you will see small market (vintage 1950's), 2 restaurants, ice cream parlor, bake shop, and the deputy sheriffs house. This place is also rich with nautical folklore and it is truly a unique experience. It is the closest community to Tahquamenon Falls. We shopped at the little market and picked up enough food for a few days. We thought we would try the Youkon Inn for dinner (there were lots of trucks parked there). Well it' s the local Bar & Burger place so we had drinks ($5) and moved on. Found the Fish House and had broiled Lake Trout (fantastic).

Back at camp we went for a hike along the Tahquamenon River. All of a sudden there are two weird looking and very large birds in front of us. They were just ambling down the path and not paying us any attention. They looked prehistoric. (Of course the camera was in the car!) We found out from the park ranger that they were Sandhill Cranes. These Cranes are tall, stately birds with a heavy body, long neck and long legs. Standing four to five feet high and possessing a wing span of six to seven feet, Sandhill Cranes are Michigan's largest bird. Long, skinny legs and neck give a false impression of size; the males weigh an average of about 12 pounds and the females around 9-1/2 pounds. Except for this size difference, both sexes look alike. They were fun to watch and eventually they flew to the other side of the river. (Look them up on line they are really neat looking birds.)

This will be a great place to spend the 4th of July!