June 7 Scenic byway to Whitefish Point, Mich.

Way at the top of the Upper Peninsula.  The first 30 miles or so was a 2 lane road and we never saw another car-only a couple of const. trucks.  Drove past another Indian casino-Bay Mill.  This one and some of the others are owned by the Ojibwe (we've seen several spellings of this name) - a branch of the Chippewas.  They have elder centers, instead of senior centers in their towns.
    Drove in Hiawatha Natl. Forest again-named after Longfellow's poem.  Two National fish hatcheries stock the Gr. Lks.
    Pt. Iroquois Light Station-built in 1870 and operated for 107 yrs.  Wonderful boardwalks to the beach where we watched the waves.  The day of our locks tour I bought a sweatshirt that has Great Lks lighthouses on it.  It is just like the Oregon/WA. one I have.
    Cute mailbox-about 12' high with a sign that said "Winter delivery".  This area is the cranberry capital of the world.  We drove 2 mi down a gravel road for a tour of the farm - to find that it was closed.  The tiny giftshop said it used to be the Whitefish Pt. Post office from 1892-1910.  A sign further down the highway told the hours of the tours.
    The North Country Trail crossed the highway.  When it is complete it will run from New York to North Dakota!
    Tahquamenon River -ryhmes with phenomenon.  Land of Longfellow's Hiawatha-who built his canoe by this river.  On it the extra soft water is churned by the action of the falls and causes its foam.  During spring runoff the river drains 50,000 gal of water per second-2nd most voluminous east of the Mississippi, behind Niagara.  The falls are nicknamed root beer falls because of the color, which is caused by the tannins in the water from the cedar roots.
    Lower Falls-we are really impressed with the Mich. state pks.  The trail to the lower falls was .3 mile long and was covered by an 8' boardwalk with railings.  They said they did it to protect the forest floor because 500,000 people visit the falls every year.  Their fees that I talked about yesterday enable them to make these wonderful improvements.  We've sure made good use of the $30 annual fee we paid.  There are 5 lower falls.  From the top lower fall it was a 4 mile hike to the Upper Falls and I offered to meet Tom up there with the truck, but he declined for today.  So we both rode in the truck.  Upper Falls- the 10' wide asphalt path was probably about .5 mile long and some of it was forked with double walks.  These falls are 200' across.  Parked there were 3 beautiful Vipers.  The license plates were cute:  maroon one - Zesty; blue one- Blew By U; green one- Grn B Gone.  Three baby boomer guys got out of them.
     Tahquamenon State Park- please see the pictures for a real phenomenon in it, besides the falls!
They had nice plaques describing various species of trees.  Sugar maples have provided sugar to animals and humans for centuries.  Never heard of them before our trip up in this area.
     Whitefish Point-the lighthouse is the oldest, still active, one on the Gr. Lks.  Built in 1849.  At one point 3100 ships worked Lk. Superior, but now there are 200.  There have been 6000 shipwrecks on the Gr. Lks. and 550 were  here at Whitefish Point.  The latest was the subject of Gordon Lightfoot's song, The Edmund Fitzgerald.  It sank in 1975 with all 29 crew members perishing.   A terrible November storm hit and the waves were as high as typhoon waves in the Atlantic.  A ship that was following them lost sight of them.  The maritime museum Tom went to 2 days ago had 1-1/2 life boats in it from this wreck.  That and some items in them are all they ever found floating.  We watched a good movie there about the wreck, which also memorialized the crew.  In 1995, a ship went to bring the bell from the ship up.  Many family members were aboard that ship.  A ceremony was held where a family member would ring the bell after the name of the missing crew member was called.  Then a bronze bell with all their names was taken down and put with the ship.  The divers who have studied that wreck wear newt suits, which enable them to be down there for many hours.
      Fire tower there-no one is allowed on it.  For $500 you can have a step with your name on it built.
Bathroom-  signs all over asking that diapers not be flushed down the toilet, which tells me someone did.  Good grief.  Raptors-the point is a geographical funnel for migrating falcons, eagles, hawks, etc.
A 1903 Springfield line rifle was on display (Tom's collection is Springfields).  It fired a lightweight line out to a lifeboat and then could pull a heavier line out with it and eventually pull the people to shore.
       It was another day where we were gone 8:00 - 4:30, but a heck of a lot more fun than working!  Did groc. and laundry tonite and tomorrow have an all day train ride and leave early Wed. a.m. for Wisconsin.  Choo choo!