Leaving Porkies, McClain State Park, Quincy Mine...next, Copper Harbor

Friday, September 23, 2011
It started raining during a hike on Wednesday, at Presque Isle, in the Porkies.  Just a light rain, nothing that keeps you from doing whatever you want.  Thursday, we had rain, off and on..  But, when it cleared, what a beautiful drive!  Up Hwy, 26 to Houghton and Hancock.   Here, the colors are spectacular, every shade of red, yellow, orange, and green, with the spiky dark green of spruce and hemlock sticking up over the rest of the hardwoods.  We toured the Quincy Mine just outside of Hancock - interesting, but underground isn't my favorite place to be - what a way to make a living!  We spent the night at McClain State Park, right on Lake Superior just outside of Hancock.
On Friday, we didn't get far:  just to Calumet, a surprisingly charming little town!  We spent the afternoon there.  The day was a bit gray and cool, but not bad. Below are some pictures from McClain, last pictures from the Porkies, and a few shots from Calumet. At one time they had 60,000 residents, with 33 churches and 60 bars - seems about right!?!  That was during the time of the big copper mines, before the strike in 1913, before the mines were finally closed down in the early 20th century due to increased costs of mining and drop off in prices of copper.  We understand that some Canadians have bought up mineral rights around here, so the mining might pick up again with more modern methods and with the price of copper being so high. 

this one belongs at the end - inside the coffee shop, nee gas station!

love this sign as you're entering the Porcupine Mountains area

the 'beach' on Superior in the Porkies - lovely plants making their way through cracks in the rock...

from our campsite to the beach

huge rock - this used to be a liquid!!

I love the look of these layers of rock...

looking down at a stream from a hike to the Union Mine site

I love this picnic table, way out in the woods, near nothing!!

crossing some boggy spots on the trail

entering the Quincy mine

inside - about 2,000 feet in....

riding behind a tractor to get in and out of the mine...

the cog wheel train car taking us up and down the mountain....

a little critter (squirrel?) had some leisure time on our tire overnight....

lovely spot on the cliff over the beach at the McClain State Park....

'God's little acre' in Calumet - 5 churches in a one block area....

really cool door on a gift shop in Calumet

some cool architecture in Calumet

this used to be a lovely building...now abandoned

more cool architecture

beautiful wall in Calumet

small town USA (Calumet)

staircase inside the bank on Main Street, Calumet

old fashioned teller windows

Coffee Shop, nee gas station!

tell tale sign of it's previous life!

We plan to spend the night in Ft. Wilkins State Park, outside Copper Harbor - almost as far north as you can go in Michigan.  The only spot more north is Isle Royale - not sure if we'll get there this trip.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

Tuesday, September 20 and Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011
We arrived at the camp site in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park yesterday evening.  We are just yards from Lake Superior, amid woods that are full of color. 
On the topic of "Small World", we talked to the couple parked at the next lot.  Turns out they live a few blocks from us in Royal Oak!  They are doing a tour of the UP in reverse from us:  they started on Mackinaw Island, went up to White Fish Point and around from the east.  So, they gave us some "must sees" for the rest of our trip, and we gave them some "must sees" that they will encounter as they return to the lower peninsula - cool!
The shore of Lake Superior, when we first saw it, was a reddish sand.  Farther west, where we are camped, it is totally flat, red, sandstone - big solid pieces, with layers that have broken away.  Later today, when we saw the Lake again, over by Presque Isle, it was sand with lots of lovely, rounded stones of all colors.  Amazing!
First we drove up to the Overlook for Lake in the Clouds.  Lovely, lovely!  Then, we decided to drive to the end of the park, by Presque Isle, where there are quite a few falls.  My favorite spot was on the suspension bridge over to the island - the patterns that the sand, water, and stones have made in the sandstone-bottomed river were truly amazing - perfect circles, looked like a series of hot tubs!
We had to leave the park and drive to Ontaganon for a while, so that Dan could connect to the internet and get his 2 hours of work done.  Later, we'll be back at the campsite, and I should be able to get some great
sunset pictures from the beach.

Colors are getting there!

At our campsite - lovely!

on the beach, at our campsite

near our campsite

awesome color!

Lake of the Clouds

lovely wall at the overlook

Lake of the Clouds

We're happy!

stream leading to the Lake of the Clouds

the ferns are beautiful, as they die!

Just above the suspension bridge over to Presque Isle - awesome sight!

the opposite side of the island, quiet, serene water

beautiful rocks hanging over the water - trees have almost no soil!

looking out towards Lake Superior

once again the intrepid climber!

here's why it's "presque" (almost) island - in the spring, it is an island.

Falls nearby - forget the name, but how pretty!!