Keweenaw Peninsula Part 2

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We knew that we wanted to do a day trip further north up the peninsula to take in some of the sights. Our assumption was that we could tackle it all in one day since Fort  Wilkins, near the tip of the Keweenaw, was only 48 miles from camp. Our first stop was in the town of Calumet. This old copper mining town has several buildings that are now used by the National Park Service as a visitor center and administrative buildings for the Keweenaw National Historical Park. It looked like a cute town to explore. We figured it would be a good first stop to get a feel for what we should be checking out as we head further north. While talking with one of the rangers at the visitor center as well as another couple that had stopped at some of the places north yesterday, we realized that taking the time to see everything was more than a one day mission. Since Calumet is only 15 miles from camp and could be visited tomorrow easy enough, we decide to skip wandering around here and continue up the peninsula.

Our next stop was at the Eagle Harbor Light Station. Being on the edge of Lake Superior, it is a little off the main route of US Route 41 but worth the detour. As we approached, it was apparent that there was a fairly significant morning fog hanging around the area. We could tell the sun was attempting to burn it off but the views were a bit limited at first. We found the geocache hidden near the parking lot and then headed in to pay for our admission.

Entrance at Eagle Harbor Light

The Light House

A Foggy View

There are actually several buildings on the grounds to tour, but we start with the lighthouse itself. The first one was built in 1851 but the current one was built in 1871 - pretty impressive for a building over 150 years old in the harsh environment. There aren’t guided tours but there are lots of displays that document what life was like for the 21 keepers and their families over the years. The lighthouse isn’t in use anymore and was taken over by the local historical society in 1982.

Kitchen

Dining Room

Clock to Trigger Fog Horn

They no longer permit visitors to go up the spiral staircase all the way to the light room but since the fog was obscuring the views, it wasn’t a big issue. It was just after noon so we scoped out a place on the grounds to have lunch. By the time we had finished, the fog was starting to diminish and blue skies were showing up.

A Different Light House Angle

Skies Starting to Clear Up

We explored the other buildings and learned about commercial fishing in the area, copper mining as well as the ship wreck in 1926 of a boat carrying 258 brand new Chrysler vehicles. There were lots of photos of the salvage effort using the frozen lake to retrieve all but 18 of the cars. One of them is on display in the museum. This was a fun stop. As we were heading back out of Eagle Harbor, there was just a bit of fog hugging the shoreline.

Stained Glass Ship

Salvaged Chrysler

Just a Little Fog Remains

Next we head towards the end of US-41 past the town of Copper Harbor to Fort Wilkins. Built by the US Army in 1844, to help maintain peace during the Michigan copper rush. it has been restored and turned into a State Historic Park in 1923. A dozen or more buildings are still on the grounds and have lots of set up with furnishings to reflect life in the mid 19th century.

Row of Cabins at Fort Wilkins

Laundry Tutorial

There were a fair number of volunteers dressed in period clothing and actually performing chores. Many of them were kids that were really in to their roles. At one stop, we were talking with the children as they were washing laundry. When they asked where we were from and we explained we travel in our motorhome, we needed to give a detailed description of what a motorhome was since it wasn’t something they were familiar with - being from 1840’s.

Children Heading to Get Laundry

Laundry Drying in the Sun

Blacksmith Shop

Other buildings were the bakery, soldiers quarters and store as well as some of the fancier officer homes. The fort is located between a small inland lake and the harbor.  It was a pretty setting and nicely maintained. Worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Fort Wilkins

Powder Room

Field of Daisies

Lake Fanny Hooe

Barracks

Supply Store

A little over a mile beyond the fort towards the east is the end (or beginning) of US Highway 41. We head there to check out the signs in order to complete the virtual geocache at that location. The road actually continues as a seasonal road (Mandan Road) that looked to be in good shape at this point but we heard the route gets pretty rough in the 13 mile loop that could bring us back into the town of Copper Harbor. Since we were on a bit of a time crunch, we passed on exploring farther.

Beginning of US-41

Beginning Of Mandan Road

We head back into Copper Harbor to look around the cute little town. There is a lot of mountain biking trails in this part of the peninsula and it was clear that many of the visitors were here for that purpose. While we were sitting at the visitors center looking over some brochures, we started to chat with a local. She described a short hike nearby that might be worth the look so we decide to take her advice and wander over to Hunter’s Point which is on a a very small peninsula between Lake Superior and the harbor. There is a 1 mile loop trail which goes along the lakeshore. The “beach” area has pea sized gravel that is very challenging to walk on.

Beach at Hunter's Point

Since the peninsula is less than 100 feet wide at points, it was confusing at times on which side of the loop we were hiking on. We made it to the point and worked our way back along the harbor. We could see the National Park ship that takes visitors out to Isle Royal National Park - an island closer to the northern end of shore of Minnesota but situated in the state of Michigan. We weren’t here long enough to get a true visit to this park since some advanced planning is required. Hunter’s Point was a nice walk with pretty views.

Nearing the Point

It was already 5 o’clock and we had a bit of a drive back to camp, but instead of taking the quicker route home on US 41, we opt for the more scenic route along Brockway Mountain Drive. It is a 9 mile road that goes along a ridge on the Keweenaw. The first 1.5  miles climbs over 500 feet with a couple of switchbacks but the first major pull off - Copper Harbor Overlook - is only half mile up and provides a nice view of town and the harbor.

Copper Harbor Overlook

Nice Views

There are a few more pullouts along the drive but the best views are near the 4 mile point at a large parking area at Brockway Mountain. From here, it is possible to see both to the north with views of Lake Superior as well as to the south and some of the more remote portions of the peninsula. We take our time and enjoy the views.

View of Lake Superior from Brockway Mountain

The drive off the other side of the ridge was much more gradual and we make our way to Michigan 26 and stop to check out Silver Falls and the geocache that pointed them out.

Other End of Brockway Mountain Drive

Silver Falls

Side View of Falls

We also stopped at Eagle Harbor again but this time on the opposite of the harbor from the lighthouse. The Eagle Harbor Lifesaving Station looked like an interesting place but we arrived half an hour after it had closed. We wandered the grounds and looked over the outside displays. By now we were rather hungry so we just made the rest of the drive back to Hancock without additional stops. We saw much of the sights near the tip of the Keweenaw but likely could have spent another day exploring up there if we had budgeted more time in the area.

Eagle Harbor Life Saving Station

Retired Lifeboat on Display

The next day was our last full day in the area. We wanted to head back to Calumet to look around. There was a ranger talk/walk but not until 11AM so we had some time in the morning to visit some of the stops we should have done yesterday on our drive north of Calumet. The first one is at the town of Kearsarge. There is a stone boat that was built in the 1930’s by the WPA. It is a model of the USS Kearsarge - apparently famous from the Civil War and the namesake of this town.

Boat of Stone

Quite a bit further north is a rest area called Snowgauge Park. Given the name of the park, it shouldn’t surprise you to discover that there is indeed a full size snow gauge in the center of the park. Being familiar with western New York winters, we tend to ask locals in snowy areas how much snowfall they get on average each winter. Rochester averages just under 100 inches in a season and most places tend to have less snow than we typically got. Well, I can safely say that the Keweenaw Peninsula has Rochester beat by quite a bit. They average almost 241 inches a year and even their low record from 1999-2000 of 161 inches beat us! But the amazing thing was that in the 1978-79 season, they recorded 390 inches! That’s a lot of snow.

Impressive Snowfall Totals by Month

Chris Cannot Imagine Over 32 Feet of Snow!

We made it to the Calumet Visitor Center before our walk and talk was to begin. It’s a rather large old building with several floors and many displays.

Stained Glass from Old Bank

Stage Upstairs at Visitor Center

Our ranger was quite knowledgeable about the old buildings and history of Calumet. We only walked a few blocks from the visitor center and stopped frequently to learn about the the heyday of town. It was definitely a prosperous place through the mid 1900’s.

St Anne's Church

Big Snow Plow

After the tour was over, we started to wander around town on our own. There are some very beautiful and ornate buildings. One thing that seemed unexpected to me was that there were not more copper roofs or other copper ornamentation similar to buildings we have seen in Boston for instance. I later asked a ranger about this and it turns out, copper is not a real good in this extreme of a winter environment. So even though it was abundant, it seldom was used on the exterior of buildings. Some of the old buildings have been acquired by the park service and converted into various administrative and archive buildings. The stonework on some of them is amazing.

Administration Building

Incredible Stonework

Another Old Building, Now Part of NPS

As we continued through the heart of town, it was clear that Calumet is no longer a very prosperous place with quite a few old, run down homes. But there was still lots of neat places to look at. The old theater is also run by the park service but requires purchasing tickets. As we passed by, we took a peek inside and were told we could stick our head in. It looked like they were getting set up for some event.

Calumet Fire House

Calumet Theater

A Quick Look Inside Theater

We had an Adventure Lab to help tour us to some of the spots we may have otherwise missed.

Arch from Old Italian Hall

Laurium Manor Inn

Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic Church was an impressive sandstone building. Originally built in 1903 as Saint Joseph’s but was renamed in 1966 when several local churches merged. We took a look inside before moving on.

St Paul the Apostle Church

Detailed Stonework

Beautiful Interior

Altar

We enjoyed our stay on the Keweenaw Peninsula and Hancock worked out well as a home base to explore the sights in the area. On our travel day, we had some time to kill in the morning so we decided to walk around the park we were camped in. It does seem odd, but often we stay at a campground because of its location to things we want to do in the area but completely miss what is in the campground. This one has a beach area that often seemed busy when we would drive by during our stay - although it was very quiet the morning we walked by.

Beach Area at Hancock

As we approached the boat ramp at the park, we saw a couple of workers getting off a boat tied up at the dock and picking up some surveying equipment. We started to chat with them and discovered they work for the Army Corps of Engineers and were mapping the bottom of the waterway to make sure it is deep enough for some of the larger vessels that pass through it from time to time.

Pier and Kayak Launch

Corps of Engineer's High Tech Boat

After talking for a few minutes, they could tell we were interested in just how their equipment worked to use land based equipment along with what they have on the boat and they asked if we wanted to come aboard to see things in person. We sure did! They took turns explaining how the equipment is able to map the bottom of the channel with extreme accuracy and with a large amount of detail. We definitely were geeking out trying to understand the systems that are in place to deal with the boat bobbing up and down in the water with the sensors moving all around yet being able to get very good accuracy. Looked like a very cool job.

Welcome Aboard

We head out around lunchtime for our last stop in Michigan near Iron Mountain, right on the border with Wisconsin.