A Superior View from Keweenaw Peninsula

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Hi Blog!

Today is our first full day in Copper Harbor, Michigan. We are at the north end of the Keweenaw Peninsula, which juts out from the Upper Peninsula into Lake Superior.  Copper Harbor was used as a port for shipping copper mined from local deposits during the mid-19th century. By 1870, our nation's first copper boom came to an end. Mining activity no longer exists, and the town's harbor is mostly used for recreational purposes such as boating, fishing, snowmobiling and for a ferry that connects Isle Royale National Park to northern Michigan. Here's a view of Copper Harbor.

The weather the next few days is not promising, so we have to get our exploring in when we can. We are camped on the shores of Lake Fanny Hooe. Just down the road is Lake Manganese. The misty moisty weather has dampened the fall colors.

However, the extra water means we get a chance to see Manganese Falls.

The trail to Manganese Falls was full of surprises.

After stopping for lunch at The Pines Restaurant, a homey place in Copper Harbor, we drove out to the end of Highway 41. Our destination was Horseshoe Harbor. The Nature Conservancy manages the Mary MacDonald Preserve encompassing 1,200 acres, including Horseshoe Harbor, part of five miles of Lake Superior shoreline in the preserved area.

As we near our destination, we have to leave Dusty behind and hike the final half mile out to the beach.

While the rugged bedrock beach here supports only the toughest of plants, the preserve is home to 11 threatened or rare species. Just inland from the rock beaches, the forest thrives in this cool, moist climate. Balsam fir, white cedar, white spruce and white birch provide habitat for the black bear, snowshoe hare, peregrine falcon, ruffed grouse, golden-crown kinglet, black throated green warbler and yellow rumped warbler.

The beach was the perfect spot for a little rock hounding.

Geologists believe that these long fingers of Copper Harbor Conglomerate were once part of a large alluvial fan. Today, they serve to protect the coastal forest from the full brunt of Lake Superior's harsh weather.

The long ridges jut out into the Lake Superior creating the horseshoe-shaped harbor.

From high atop the ridge, we could see freighters working their way up and down the lake.

After exploring Horseshoe Harbor, we drove back into Copper Harbor. We stopped at the viewing deck for the Copper Harbor Lighthouse. The light is situated at the opening of the harbor. Nearby is Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, a restored 1844 frontier army base originally built to protect the port in the early years of the copper mining boom. The lighthouse can only be reached by boat, but the site is currently closed as the private contractor who ran the boat tours no longer works for the state park.

Our next destination, Hunter's Point, is a narrow finger of land that protects Copper Harbor from the storms of Lake Superior.

The north side of the peninsula, which is exposed to Lake Superior storms, has long stretches of rocky beaches, while on the protected south side, the forest grows right to the edge of the water.

From the point, we can look across to Porter's Island. Just beyond Porter Island is the entrance to Copper Harbor and the Copper Harbor Lighthouse.

The trail was either loose round wet beach stones or slippery wet roots. The more mucky parts of the trail were covered with long boardwalks.

There were several places along the south side of the trail where we saw evidence of beaver activity. The busy beaver did a great job of taking down this small tree and chomping it up into portable pieces. Try as we might, we couldn't figure out exactly where his lodge was located.

The loop hike was just over a mile. With all the exploring we did today, we built up a powerful thirst. Lucky for us, Copper Harbor has its very own brewery.

After a beer each, we returned to our rig where smoked salmon chowder was waiting in our crockpot. We are hunkered down waiting for the rain and wind to pass. While tomorrow will be considerably colder, we are hoping to get out and explore a little more of the Keweenaw.