Wisconsin and Northern Michigan

Bob the UP is a special place. Westermost counties are Central Time, rest Eastern. UP has more than 150 waterfalls. Check out Bond Falls near Watersmeet (three way watershed point, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Mississippi). Best thin crust pizza anywhere is Riverside Bar in Iron River. So many campgrounds on lovely inland Lakes. Fortune Lake near Crystal Falls has a state park campground. Chicaugon Lake is large, cool, over 100 feet deep with lake trout. If you can get the rig into the Michigamee Resevoir area you will see typical Canadian Shield beauty. At the Soo eat at Antlers Restaurant, just across street from riverfront campgrounds. Engineers day at the Soo is usually the last Saturday of June. The locks are open for egress to center section with much info, also the 1/4 mile long, temple like, power plant is partially open to tours. Check out Soo engineers day and the waterfalls on the internet. If you detour a bit off the main road south when you leave the UP, I will take you fishing or just for a boat ride.

Mark
 
Thanks Mark,
We brought all sorts of bad weather with us to Bayfield! Rained about 4" last night, campground road is washed out and owners spent the entire day with a tractor repairing them. We were glad we had 4 x 4 in the SUV--needed it on some mud/dirt roads as we explored. Several culverts washed out. Went thru several "closed" roads..all lots of adventure. Oh yes, Fog and 15 to 20 knots of wind early, so we nixed the boat trip--maybe better tomorrow.

Met up with a friend, whose son was at Pomona College the same time my son was here in Bayfield.
 
I got up early (relative) to try and get the Apostile Isle cruise. Stood in line for half an hour-and it was cancled because of fog. At 1:30 we both came came back and got tickets for the cruise and "glass bottom boat" to see the wrecks....there was about 5 miles visablity on the deck. By the time we got out a couple of miles the fog had clamped down, and the skipper turned around to give complete refunds to the passengers. Great crew and new boat--but the weather never co-operated, and we didn't get to see the islands.

To offset that we did meet Brian Kerr who owns an art gallery started by his father on the waterfront at Bayfield! (Brian has a 1986 classic 22 and is a real artist and artisan! He let me see his shop, and I am impressed!
I didn't realize that he and his father were responsible for the memorial to fisherman in the harbor!
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Here is a photo of the memorial:

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His gallery and studio:

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We left for lunch, when Marie suggested that we talk to Brain about making "C Dory art". I will start another thread about this looking for suggestions.
 
Well we gave up on Bayfield--it was cold and foggy again this AM--of course as we left the visability improved, and by the time we were at Ashland we could see about 10 miles! By the time we got to Houghton MI the sun was out and it was close to 80 degrees. We had a mid Sunday afternoon meal, down town, walked the streets--some really great camping outfitters there! By the time we got back to the RV (at the Houghton City RV park, right on the waterway which cuts the peninsula in half, with cable TV and 50 amp power etc for $30 a night!) it was pouring rain. Now the sun is out again, and we are planing a day excursion to Copper Harbor with less than 10% chance of rain! This is a great area!
 
Sunbeam":2yl7dkcy said:
I always enjoy spending time on the Keweenaw Peninsula of the UP. Lots of mining history and that faded, slightly bittersweet atmosphere of land where you can tell there used to be more houses and goings-on (lilacs where the dooryard used to be, mining equipment and artifacts, apple trees, etc.). There are also some really nice/huge pines, and of course the big lake, lighthouses, etc. Has the feeling of an open-air museum you can just wander around in, without every patch of land or road having lines or rules. Calumet is a neat town to drive through (Italian Hall was there [1913 Massacre/Arlo Guthrie], and they have a historic opera house, etc.).

Of course the UP in general is a neat place to wander around (as is the rest of the area you plan to traverse).
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This is one of the best descriptions I've ever read about this part of the world. I keep my boat in Washburn, Wisconsin during the summer--the best access to the apostle islands available If you're a fisherman, the "flats" just south of big bay on Madaline island is a sure bet. Put your riggers right on the bottom (about a 100 feet) with a flasher and spinner or some sort and you WILL catch big lakers.
 
We took in the upper part of the Peninsula, including the full Quincy mine tour. We have extended our stay. Truly a magical area. (of course the sunshine and perfect 70's temperature helps!). I'll post some photos later--some are in RAW format, and I have to do some post processing...
 
Sault Ste Marie--rain! It cleared for a tour of the locks--the large one was down, giving a 4 hour wait for the ships,but it was repaired (apparently some large rocks jammed under one of the gates) just before we were going to down lock in the Canadian lock we had up locked in. Thus we did down lock in the largest of the locks. The US operates 2 locks, the Canadians operate one for yachts and tour boats only. No charge for any of the locks. There is need for a second 1000 foot lock--shovel ready for a number of years -- but no funds. What's new?

The most impressive thing we saw was the steel mill in Canada--owned by a company from India, using US Mined Ore! Only one of the furnaces was working, and the supply of ore was very low. There apparently is some issue with the quality, and not enough from the current supplier to allow the mill to operate thru the winter.

One the way back, we saw a single Boarder petrol boat. We wondered who was going to swim across the St. Mary's river? There are about 100 unused Boarder Patrol cars in a lot across from the camp ground...

We have a much better appreciation about Lake Superior after spending a few hours aboard the museum ship (bulk carrier) Valley Camp. Certainly a very worthwhile site to understand the life of crew of the shippers on the lakes!

Heading home--stoping by Mackinaw for a couple of days.
 
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