Letter 14 Train, EUP Michigan

Monday July 5 we drove into Sault Ste Marie, Ontario and caught the Algoma Central Train through the Canadian Shield to the back country of Ontario. In a comfortable ride, we witnessed pristine northern lakes and rivers, crossing towering trestles and experiencing rugged landscapes and majestic views. This train is the only way to access these pretty fishing lakes and they really looked interesting. At the Montreal River we saw
saw the power plant for Sault Ste Marie Ontario. As the train rounded a bend we could see the engine and some flowering fireweed.

This is one of the most popular one day wilderness rail excursions in North America, it is a 114 mile narrated journey through mixed forests of maple, birch and pine and the rugged granite rock formations of the North America’s oldest mountain range, the Canadian Shield.

At the end of our track lay the Algoma Canyon where we had an hour and a half to view three waterfalls. The Otter Creek Falls, then a little walk along anice trail to Black Beaver Falls, we saw ferns and another falls. At Black Beaver falls Fred modeled his beautiful rugged floppy hat.

This train runs in the fall, which we think would be the best time, because we saw lots of trees. And they also have a snow run. Sounds exciting, but we don’t want to be here at that time of year.

At the end of the path was Bridal Veil Falls. The trip back was prettier as the sun had cleared up most of the overcast sky and the river and lakes were prettier.

The drive back was not as eventful and Olivia caught a reflection of Ralph while trying to get a little red house in the picture.

Fred really enjoyed his nap going back.

Ok, quiz time.
1. What does the acronym HOMES stand for? No, not the last name of the noted doctor and sometime poet Oliver Wendell.
2. What percent of the worlds freshwater supply is contained in the five great lakes? A) 25% B) 3% C) 5% D) 6%.

Tuesday, July 6 during much confusion leaving Sault Ste Marie, we got separated from the Jones for a time. After about 30 minutes we were linked up again.

We moved west into the EUP! Actually we were already in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. The surprise from last weeks blog is that John Pollard from Houston, a Santa Collector, answered the question immediately. Olivia told him not too many Texans would know that answer. People in this area are called “Yoopers!” No one else ventured a guess.

We cautiously stopped at thePoint Iroquois lighthouse west of Brimley and had a nice break from a shower. Ralph and Sandy were the only ones to walk on the boardwalk.

After setting up camp in the rain at Tahquamenon Falls State Park, near the Lower Falls, we waited out the rain then went to see the Lower Falls with a series of five falls. They offered a row boat to the island between the falls, but we declined.

Wednesday, July 7 we started the day seeing the Upper Falls of the Tahquamenon River. This is one of the largest waterfalls west of Niagara at 200 feet across and a 50 foot drop. The water is brownish looking from the tannin in the water. It is not polluted just colored.
We headed north to the Whitefish Point Lighthouse which is the oldest active light on Lake Superior.

Lake Superior is deceivingly beautiful but its unrelenting fury has earned the reputation of being the most treacherous of the Great Lakes.

The museum made legends come to life with divers, lights from lighthouses and the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald which was the latest shipwreck on Lake Superior, having sunk during a terrible storm in 1975.

We watched a film of the raising of the bell to honor the 29 men lost from a depth of 535 feet. This day produced wonders, both man-made and natural as we explored Whitefish point and the falls area.

A young lady gave us directions to a deserted beach to hunt for elusive Superior agates. We walked the beach for a while and think we only found pretty rocks. We did enjoy the

beach and the clear water.

From there we drove to the very unique Oswald’s Bear Ranch where we watched two cubs having a good time with the water and tank. Later families posed with one of the bears. This place has been a rescue shelter for bears since 1984, open to the public in 1997. They have several habitats to keep the males, females and youngsters separated.

Thursday, July 8 we moved further west to the town of Munising. On the way we stopped for a cappuccino break and a county employee following us stopped to tell Ralph and Sandy they were leaning, their trailer, that is. Sure enough a spring was broken on the trailer axel. We were in a very small town miles from any larger city. This man called a repair place around the corner. Believe it or not, they had a spring that fit! Miracles or miracles! Wow, a new one was installed for less than $100. We were only delayed about an hour.

Arriving in Munising we drove through this small town to a city RV park, but were turned away. They were full for the weekend. This owner called another RV park and they told him they did have three spots available for the weekend. We ended up parked close to their swimming pool and it took us back to the days of the Century Swim Club in Duncanville, Texas and all of those good memories we had while our girls were youngsters.

This was our last camping place with the Jones as they are heading back to Texas after this stop. We have really enjoyed having their company and sharing experiences and places with them. We have had lots of laughs with Ralph and Sandy and enjoyed hearing about some of their previous travels and stories. They have been very patient with our quirks and habits.

We drove out to see Munising falls and enjoyed it’s beauty

Friday, July 9 we took the Pictured Rocks boat cruise past Miner’s castle and another.Bridal Veil falls, one of the many waterfalls. There were miles of painted coves and pretty cliffs.

One area was called caves of the bloody chiefs and another wasrainbow cave. The minerals caused these colors on the rocks which are on the south shore of Lake Superior.

The crystal clear blue green waters of Lake Superior have created masterpieces of colors and rock formations found nowhere else in the world. These rampart cliffs are composed of 500 million year old Cambrian sandstone of the Munising Formation. This cruise allowed us to see these formations up close .
Streaks on the cliffs occur when groundwater oozes out of cracks. The dripping water contains iron (orange), manganese (pink ), limonite (rust), copper (blue and green), the black is tannin. Arched Lover’s leap was next with lots of good light on the back side, then Indian Head followed by a series of battleship rocks.
Indian Drums came before Chapel Rock where they headed the boat all the way into the cliff. We could really see the copper green on the rock here. Everywhere we went we were reminded of the poem "Hiawatha,"

“Once again in human figure,
Full in sight ran on before him,
Sped away in gust and whirlwind,
On the shores of Gitche Gumee,
Westward by the Big-Sea-Water,
Came unto the rocky headlands,
To the Pictured Rocks of sandstone,
Looking over lake and landscape.”
From “Hiawatha”, by Henry W. Longfellow -1855

The last point of interest was the flower vase where the tree was actually getting it’s nourishment across the gap from the left of the vase. Maybe you can make out the roots bridging from the vase to the main land. At some time the old land bridge had crumbled. Heading back we saw the arch better than before and as we came into the harbor we saw the East Channel Lighthouse on Grand Island which protects the town of Munising. Grand Island was home to the Anishnabed Indians for many generations, documented to 4,500 years ago.

Saturday, July 10 we took the Glass Bottom Shipwreck tour where we saw and heard how the Bermuda, the Scow Schooner and the Herman H. Hettler met their demise in the clear waters of Lake Superior. We viewed them through the
glass bottom viewing area and over the side. Departing the ship we drove out to see the Miner’s Castle from above. We were just in time to see kayakers admiring it from the water. On down to another view we saw the Picture Rock tour boat like we had taken the day before. This view showed us where another turret had crumbled to the water several years ago.

In case we haven’t told you yet, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world, measured by surface area. It is 350 miles long, 160 miles across at its widest, and over 1,300 feet at its deepest spot.

This natural vessel holds so much liquid that, if drained, the water would fill a swimming pool the size of the lower 48 states to a depth of nearly five feet after filling the Grand Canyon! WOW!

Another short drive away and a 1.2 mile walk took us to
Miner’s Falls. This was our last day with
Sandy & Ralph and this month has been very enjoyable. We will be lonesome without them and wish them a safe trip home to the HEAT! We tried to convince them to stay a while longer, but home is calling to them, so we reluctantly let them go.

Sunday, July 11 we were up early and told the Jones goodbye and watched them drive out of the campground heading west. We were heading east and back to St Ignace on the north side of Mackinac, yet still in the EUP.

We were too early for church in Munising so we hoped to stop along the way, but it didn’t work as we drove through Manistique. From there we followed the upper coast of Lake Michigan all the way to St Ignace, which is just north of Mackinaw. After settling in we went to the Laundromat which had the best view of any of the Laundromats we have visited. That’s Mackinac Island across the water. We ended this day feasting on Frank Meyer’s delicious CoqCoVin.

Quiz answers:

HOMES is an acronym for the five great lakes. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. Many teachers of North American geography use and teach this acronym as a way of remembering the names of the great lakes.

Incredibly, the five great lakes hold about 25 percent of the worlds freshwater supply.

We were preparing to cross into Canada and go around the north side of Lake Superior so we are taking care of as much business as possible because we will not have cell service and only have internet when we can get WiFi. So please don’t call us and don’t expect a quick response to our emails. We anticipate being about a week so don’t give up on us.

Please email your comments to Olivia@bobheck.com or Fredharrington@yahoo.com

Next Letter will be about the Ontario side of Lake Superior.