Saturday and Sunday, 9/23 and 24, 2011
Spent two nights at Ft. Wilkins, in Copper Harbor. On Saturday, a volunteer organization sponsored a "geocaching" event with free food and prizes. Never having heard of "geocaching" we decided to give it a try. Turns out, our Jill (our name for the current Garmin) only knows roads. To be a successful geocacher(sp?), you need a handheld device that knows the topography. But, we met some nice people, who had come from miles away, all over the UP, to the event. One comment that I thought was hilarious was "Yes, we don't like to go below the bridge very often.." (He was talking about the bridge between Houghton and Hancock!!) We enjoyed the hotdogs, beans, and cake, and the comraderie, and we learned quite a bit about the geocaching. Sounds intriguing and we may give it a try.
Sunday was the first beautiful sunny day for quite a few days. Seems the trees have taken this opportunity, of gray days and some rain, to accelerate their color changes! We took the Brockway Mountain overlook road, on the way to Eagle Harbor. Breathtaking views from up there! It was very much worth the detour. Throughout the entire drive today, along M-26, then M-41, and now M-28, we have enjoyed the spectacular colors, the lakes, the mountains - wow! We stopped off briefly in Eagle Harbor to see the view and the lighthouse. We took a very minor road along the lake shore to see some very nice homes, right on the lake (Superior). Beautiful sandy beaches trees, sunny skies - fabulous.
In Marquette, Dan was interested to see the old iron ore piers there in the harbor. No longer in use, it is still standing there - a huge structure, and not unlovely! Marquette has done a nice job of developing the waterfront, with docks, newer apartments and lofts, and retail.
Tonight, we're camping in Munising, and tomorrow we plan to take the Pictured Rocks boat tour and the glass-bottomed boat tour of some ship wrecks, weather permitting. Should be fun!
Enjoy the pictures - believe it or not, I deleted a bunch - there's just so many beautiful sights!
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| from near top of Brockway mountain, near Copper Harbor |
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| in Copper Harbor |
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| at Ft. Wilkins..Lake Fannie Hooe in background |
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| Copper Harbor - Isle Royale boat in back right |
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| charming Copper Harbor |
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| this is a sauna in the making - cool building! |
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| view of Lake Fannie Hooe at campsite |
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| beautiful view of the lake |
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| local dude with his pet skunks.....?! |
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| go figure.... |
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| young woman is starting a new hair fashion...or is it from the 80's?? (I'm being catty, huh?) |
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| Lake Superior on left, Lake Fannie Hooe on right |
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| a golf course seen from Brockway Mountain! |
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| beautiful view from Brockway Mountain |
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| unusual rock formation on Brockway mountain |
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| from top of mountain, Lake Superior - now THAT's a big lake! |
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| more Lake Superior from top of Brockway mountain |
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| Eagle Harbor, looking out to Lake Superior |
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| by the Eagle Harbor lighthouse |
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| look how clear that water is at Eagle Harbor |
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| from campsite in Munising - Grand Island in the background |
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| lighthouse at Eagle Harbor |
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| more from Eagle Harbor |
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| coming back through Calumet, saw this HUGE stack - not sure what it was for... |
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| building in Calumet where the smoke stack stands. |
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| part of Marquette's waterfront |
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| huge pier, now not used - trains used to pull up on top, dump iron ore - big ships pulled alongside to get the ore |
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| another view |
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| more of Marquette's waterfront |
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| Marquette's waterfront |
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| more Marquette's waterfront |
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| footings of old docks at Marquette |
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| beach at Munising |
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| sun starting to go down.. |
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| and down |
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| and down..... |
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| Yowza! |
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| night night! |
