Maple Ridge Resort on Lake Michigamme, west of Marquette, was home for the week.
The view out front. This lake is 9 miles long and has an arm running south for 2 1/2 miles. It contains 24 islands. One of which is across from the resort. Very wild and uninhabitable in some places due to terrain.
View from the west end looking east. It’s 9 miles to the other end
These are some of the rocks on the resort beach. This area is known as the Michigamme Highlands. It is very unique in terms of its geological make up. The rocks and cliffs found in this area a are very diverse and it is actually the only place in the entire world where a make up of this type of rock formations are found. Anne, this area would be right up your alley as much of it and on up the Keweenaw is volcanic based.
Lake of the Clouds, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
View from the escarpment at Lake of the Clouds, looking north. This is the largest State Park in Michigan and the most rugged and remote one. Miles of hiking and backcountry backpacking trails, lakes, waterfalls etc. Very popular with those who want to get away from it all.
Sturgeon River, just above Canyon Falls at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula, that arm that juts out north into Lake Superior
Canyon Falls. This is a hard falls to photograph as it drops Into a Canyon, unless you are daring enough to go beyond the railing along the River and onto the edge of the cliff or scamper across the cliff farther beyond, both of which can be dangerous. I and many others have done it.
Bond Falls. This is actually a split waterfall.
Tioga Falls
This is Marquette’s Lower Harbor park. A beautiful park in downtown Marquette. The buildings you see, used to be an old run down and trashy industrial area that the city revitalized and turned into a crown jewel. You can walk right into downtown from there . You really have to be there to appreciate it. The structure in the last picture is the old ore dock. It used to be used for loading iron ore into ships, but is no longer used, the railroad to it has been removed. It is a much cherished, historical landmark in Marquette though. My cat is home to Northern Michigan University and is a very culturally diverse town. Very recreational oriented. Fromthis park you can drive for a few miles along the lakeshore to another park called Presque Isle. All along the lake shore there are cement bike and walking pathways and all through town there are many bike and walking pathways. Just a wonderful city.
This is the Upper Harbor dock which is still in use. You can see the ore cars up on top of the dock. A rail line extends out there. When a ship comes into the dock, the ore cars drop their loads into those chutes and the chutes are lowered one by one into the cargo holds of the ships. It is transported to the steel mills To be made into steel. There weren’t any ships load in when I was there so I couldn’t get a picture. I also cannot get into Presque Isle Park because the road was closed at the time I was there. They close it for a couple of hours during the day so that bikers can ride through there without worrying about vehicle traffic. It’s a one-way road and it is just wide enough for a vehicle to go through.
So that was my little three day touring adventure for this trip. It was mostly to see some of the waterfalls that I have not been to for a while. Hope you enjoyed it.
On the other side of Lake Superior along the North Shore in MN, there are several state parks along there and they all have rivers coming down into the lake with gorgeous waterfalls! The river water there is also a reddish "rootbeer" color.
