Iron Mountain Michigan

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We had one more stop planned in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Lake Antoine Campground is in the town of Iron Mountain on the southern end of the UP less than 4 miles from the Wisconsin border. It is a fairly easy drive of 115 miles. Even though it is the middle of July and we are coming in on a Friday, the place wasn’t very busy.

The site we had reserved was in an area with quite a few large trees and none of the sites were very well marked so it did take us some amount of effort to determine where we should park the rig and then how to get it reasonably level given all the tree roots. After we accomplished that and started to hook up water and electric, I noticed something unusual several feet in front of the rig. There was a hole in the ground that was a foot or so in diameter with a one inch root spanning the hole. From the tracks in the dirt, I could see that the front tire of the motorhome had driven right over the hole. It wasn’t until I got up close did I realize this wasn’t just a small divot but was rather deep. I reached in with my arm and couldn’t touch the bottom! I grabbed a tape measure and discovered the hole was 34 inches deep and looked to be wider around than the surface opening was. The reason for the hole was unclear but given its size and depth, we were quite lucky that the one tire hadn’t dropped in.

The Hole Almost Swallowed the Motorhome

We didn’t have much planned for the three nights we had reserved. This stop was simply one that split the distance up nicely as we worked our way into Wisconsin for the Oshkosh Airshow in about a week. Plus it was in a part of the country we hadn’t really explored much previously. For our first full day, we picked out some geocaches hidden around some of the northern counties in Wisconsin. One of the stops was to hike out to LaSalle Falls. The drive to the trailhead was a few miles of gravel road that were fairly narrow but in reasonable shape. The good news was that we didn’t come across a logging truck trying to pass. There was a small lot at the trailhead and two other cars already there which surprised us given how remote this place seemed.

LaSalle Falls Trailhead

It was late morning and already rather hot and sticky but sunny. We head out the trail for the nearly one mile walk to the falls and the geocache. It was a pleasant hike in the woods. As we got several hundred feet from the falls we could definitely hear the rush of water and even started to feel water in the air.

LaSalle Falls

Unfortunately, it turned out the water we felt was not mist from the falls but rain. Being in the deep woods, we hadn’t noticed that the skies had darkened and a shower was passing by. We hoped it would be a short lived event but the rain got heavier and by the time we made it to where the cache was hidden, we were very wet. There wasn’t a whole lot we could do at this point other than start back to the car like a couple of wet dogs. The good news was it did stop raining for most of the hike out.

Wet Lily of the Valley

One of our stops was in search of cheese curds. Since we were in the state that is famous for cheese, we decided to see if we could find fresh cheese curds. As I drove to our next county, Chris searched for a cheese shop that might fit the bill. Her search brought us to Scottie’s Bait and Tackle in the town of Three Lakes Wisconsin.  We were both highly skeptical that a fishing shop would also carry fresh cheese curds but as we pulled into the parking lot at Scotties, there was a sign for “Fresh Squeaky Cheese Curds” on the front of the building. We head in and ask the guy at the counter where the curds are. He had them, sitting in a basket right on the counter. Apparently the freshest curds haven’t even been refrigerated yet. He had several flavored packages but no plain. He gave us directions to an Ace Hardware store in Eagle River where his buddy has a tent setup selling cheese in the parking lot. He tried calling the guy to see if he still had plain fresh curds but got no response. Even though it sounded a bit sketchy, we were actually planning to drive through Eagle River for another geocache, so it wasn’t out of our way.

We find the small trailer and tent setup in the corner of the lot and head over to see what cheese curds options he had. As we walk up, he asks if we are the people from Florida that Scottie had called him about. Yep, that was us. He was out of fresh cheese curds but had plenty of refrigerated ones which would be good enough for us since they would be much fresher than ones we find in the grocery store. Eagle River is a cute little town with a fairly vibrant downtown area. We stop at a smaller sporting goods store in search of new shoes for Chris. She didn’t find shoes she liked but we did add four more counties to our geocaching list and more importantly - we found cheese curds!

The next day we decide to do another mine tour. This one is about 10 miles east of camp in the town of Vulcan Michigan. Unlike the Keweenaw Peninsula where copper was king, this part of the state is back to iron ore country. We hadn’t taken the time when we were in Marquette a few weeks ago to try one of the iron mine tours but now we have some free time to give one a try. Iron Mountain Iron Mine offers tours hourly through much of the summertime. The place is hard to miss when driving on US Route 2 through Vulcan since there is a 40 foot tall miner - Big John - waiting to greet visitors.

Big John at Mine Tour

We arrive to sign up for the 10:30 tour. While we wait for the tour to begin, we wander around the rather large gift shop with the usual hats and shirts as well as a huge collection of rocks. There is a large assortment of different sizes and colors if souvenir rocks are your thing.

Anybody Need Some Rocks?

When the time arrives, we are instructed to pick out a hard hat and rain coat before heading out. All along the walkway to the mine entrance are a lot of old equipment that was used in iron mines. Surprisingly, a fair amount of them actually still work so we can see how the loader and drills function and sound.

Underground Loader

Drilling Machine

After getting a brief orientation, we are asked to board the sideways tram cars to begin the 2600 foot ride into the side of a mountain. There is just enough lighting to see some of the surroundings on our way in.

Mine Entrance

Tight Fit

Tram Cars

At the end of the track, we all follow the tour leader down one of the side shafts. There is more than enough headroom to walk comfortably but it was clear why we were provided jackets. It is fairly cool in the mine and we do occasionally get dripped on by water. There are a few stops along the way where we learn about how the drills were used to form the proper hole pattern for the explosive charges to clear a small section of rock at a time.

A Drilling Tutorial

Overhead Drilling Looks Dangerous

At the end of the shaft, we come into the edge of a huge room that was created by years of mining. It is an impressive sight. Measuring 600 feet long by 300 feet wide and 180 feet tall, it is tough to get a true sense of just how big the opening is.

Large Mine Room

Mine Mushrooms

The time went pretty quickly and before we knew it we were back on the tram and heading out. We felt it was worth the $20 per person admission price.

Safely Back Outside

On the way back to camp, we stopped in the small town of Norway to check out the small town square with a Viking to greet us to town.

Viking Square

In researching what there was to do in this area, we had stumbled upon the Badwater Ski-ters Waterski Show Team. They are located in the small town of Spread Eagle Wisconsin only about 5 miles from camp. During the summer months, they put on two shows a week - typically Tuesday and Sunday at 6 PM. Just our luck, we are only in town for a few nights but we happened to be there for one of the shows. We didn’t know it at the time, but Wisconsin has a large number of water skiing teams. In fact, the show we were to watch was going to be the last one before they head off to the state championship in Wisconsin Rapids next week so this show was a bit of a practice for the big event.

The show takes place at Vagabond Park on the shore of Badwater Lake. This works out to be a very nice viewing location. There aren’t bleachers but there is a large, gently slopping grassy area that provides plenty of space to setup your blanket or chairs and have nice unobstructed view of the lake and ski jump ramp just 150 feet off shore. There are docks to the left and right sides where the ski team members can get positioned for their various acts. The schedule had something called the WIP show to start at 5:30 so we had arrived early to get setup before that show. It turns out that WIP stands for Work In Progress which is basically a chance for the very young members of the ski team to show off their skills.

Short Skier

Xmas Theme Outfit

Some of the youngest team members were quite cute and did very well for being only 4 or 5 years old. As the WIP show continued, the older kids were given a chance to wow the crowd.

A Young Pair of Skiers

One group consisted of four dads with their young daughters performing some ballet type moves. Another young girl showed off here gymnastics skills by performing headstands while being towed by a boat. After each group did a couple passes in front of the audience, they were “dropped off” in front of the stage where they were brought up to introduce themselves and tell a joke if they had one.

Father / Daughter Teams

That's Using Your Head

Given how young many of them were, we were rather impressed with their skiing skills. One group of four teenage boys wearing helmets started to do more elaborate moves. They would weave in and out of each other ducking below the other tow ropes trying to not decapitate themselves in the process.

Exuberant Skiers

Over / Under

And the Crowd Goes Wild

Ready For Launch

The team consists of nearly 3 dozen members and several boats. Each boat has a driver and a safety person that is responsible for releasing the tow lines if someone gets tangled up performing some stunt. There was also a safety boat that would pick up any skier that happened to fall too far away from the shore. An announcer would give a description of what was taking place and which way to look since sometimes there were multiple things occurring concurrently especially once the real show started.

The Women Ready to Go

Coming In to Shore

After a few acts, some of the “older” guys (if you consider being in your 20’s as older) started to show off their jumping skills. It was fun to watch them attempt elaborate flips while high above the water. They would often “stick” the landing, but not always.

Jump

Flip

Land

The women’s team was comprised of 7 young ladies that went through multiple costume changes as the show moved on. They did all sorts of moves including skiing backwards with foot straps.

New Costumes

One Legged Skiing

Hanging On by a Foot

Then the show started with some of the pairs teams. One man and one woman doing moves more like I would expect in pairs figure skating but on skis. The guy has some sort of waist strap to the boat so that he has both of his hands available to lift the girl above his head. The more amazing thing to me is that he would already be skiing and pass by the edge of one dock to pick up his partner!

Picking Up His Partner

Another boat was pulling two pairs teams doing synchronized moves as they passed by the audience.

Synchronized Skiers

The ladies came back out to do some more acrobatic moves with skis that have some sort of swivel binding allowing them to turn forwards or backwards. On occasion, one member would make a slight error and would drop off going from a team of 7 down to 4.

One About to Fall

The show definitely has a lot going on behind the scenes as they try to get setup for each skier or team. Often the team members would run past us on their way to one dock or another. One guy even started his act from the grass along the shore. He was doing some barefoot skiing but started out being towed off the grass, into the water on his back before getting up onto his feet. It looked to me like each stage had to hurt!

Barefoot and Backwards

Launch

Coming in for Landing

They did a good job of keeping things moving. They even had a group of the team that pulled up on a boat and performed a kitschy comedy routine to stall while the other did their costume changes or while the boats got in position with all the tow ropes needed for the various acts.

Graceful

Were all the performers perfect? More often than not, yes, but not always.

On Her Way Down

The last two acts alternated between ski jumping and what seemed like the most complicated performance - the pyramid. The pyramid team starts with 7 guys on skis sitting on the dock while five ladies climb aboard the shoulders of the center five. The boat takes off and the hope is that all 12 members are still upright after launch. In this attempt one of the pairs bailed while another one looked like they were in trouble but managed to recover.

Pyramid Team Ready to Go

One Team Goes Down

Happy To Have Survived

While the pyramid team goes way out onto the lake to figure out how they need to adjust their performance based on which members survived the start, a group of guys do some impressive jumps.

Takeoff

It takes the pyramid team a bit to work their way up from sitting on their partner’s shoulders to standing on them, but by the time they make it back to the audience, they have a nice formation to end the show.

Pyramid in Progress

Good Formation

Given that we have never been to a show like this before, we don’t really have any context to judge how good the team is. But we can say that the show they put on was quite enjoyable and they were definitely the best ski team we have ever seen. I would later check to see how this team performed in the state championship and found they won the Division 3 ski trophy and their comedy act won first prize as well.

When we got back to camp, the place was very busy. There was a free concert in progress at the nearby stage. We walked over for the last couple of show tunes by a fifty plus member chorus. They were pretty good and had there not been the ski show, we likely would have enjoyed this too.

Big Crowd for Concert

Large Chorus

This was a short but action packed stop. By now, the staff at the campground had tried to fill in the hole in front of our rig as best they could. I drove the Jeep over the gravel a few times just to make sure it felt solid but when we left the next morning , I made sure to steer clear of the hole just to be on the safe side. Our plan is to stay a few days at the Elks Lodge in Sheboygan while assessing the weather for our arrival at the Oshkosh Air Show next week.