The Upper Peninsula of Michigan
A Different World
By John Pelley and Maggie Pelley
An official welcome to the UP and a hearty hello from all of the Yoopers. Go to Paradise, twice. Paradise is at the junction of M123 and the road which goes to Whitefish Point, the Graveyard of the Great Lakes. Many ships, including the great Edmund Fitzgerald, lay at the bottom of Kitchee Gummee, Lake Superior. They sank either from sheer stupidity, i.e., running into each other, or from the gale force storms, which are common on this greatest of all the Great Lakes. Put all of the water from Lake Superior on the USA and you will cover it to a depth of five feet.
At Whitefish Point is the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Superior. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum seems to be a reverential memorial to the ships and men who gave their lives to the great waters. A hushed atmosphere surrounds the exhibits depicting the stories of some of the wrecks and some of the salvaged artifacts from the ships. The bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald centers as the place of honor, memorializing the men who lay at the bottom of the lake.. In another building a video shows the fateful tale of this mightiest ship to ever sail the Great Lakes.
The tour also includes the lighthouse keepers quarters, where for ten dollars a month, he and his family lived in total isolation tending the flame of the light and rescuing the sailors shipwrecked on the shores. This area was called the Alcatraz of the Lighthouse Service, because the keepers of the flame were effectively cut off from the rest of the world for much of the year.
Return to Paradise. Doesn't that sound neat? Off to Tahquamenon Falls: Upper and Lower. The lower falls is really two steep rapids separated by an island. The upper falls, four miles down the road, is two hundred feet wide and fifty feet in height. It is the second highest falls east of the Mississippi. Guess which one is the largest? Paved trails take you to the falls and ninety-four steps lead to the summit of the upper falls. When you reach your journey back to the parking lot, dripping with perspiration, legs wobbling from exertion, you are greeted by a microbrewery with restaurant. All sing the Hallelujah Chorus. On tap is a stout, an amber ale, and a blueberry ale. The stout is especially memorable.
Take a circle tour to Grand Marais on Lake Superior. Drive along a unpaved road on the shore of Superior, come across the North Country Scenic Hiking Trail, which extends from Vermont to North Dakota, linking up with the Lewis and Clark Trail. Grand Marais is a picturesque fishing village at the Eastern terminus of Pictured Rock State Park. Five miles from town is the Sable Falls. Over one hundred fifty steps take you to the bottom of these falls, which have suffered with an abundance detritus from the harsh spring.
Munising, MI is the port which offers two different boat tours on Lake Superior. One explores the sunken ships in the area via a glass bottomed boat. The other is a two and a half hour cruise along the Pictured Rocks State Park on the northern shore of Lake Superior. On a 90 plus degree day, a rarity in the UP, you will be very comfortable on Lake Superior, which averages a water temperature of between 38 and 44 degrees. The geological formations and variegated colors of the rock strata is the result of both wind and water erosion and the loss of over three hundred feet of water depth over the eons. After the trip on the lake go see one of the formations up close from land. Go to Miner's Castle. You will not be disappointed by the shore view.
Drive through Marquette, Negaunee and Ishpeming to Van Riper State Park on Lake Michigamme. This is moose country. However, the moose, at this time, were keeping cool in the swampy areas of the region. Smart Moose.
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