A Celebration, a Hike up Brockway Mountain, and Snow Arrives

While we had most everything wrapped up this past Friday, I met up at the Trail 17 Bridge just after 9 a.m. on Saturday morning with Mark, Stan, and Wolf to move rocks to armor both the bridge and an area for potential washout just upstream along the creek, and to line the ditch coming down from Tomasi Road.

I stayed until 11:30 and then ran home to pick up Julie for our 1:00 p.m. pop-up celebration back at the bridge site to acknowledge the project’s completion. This was a spur of the moment idea and its immediacy was driven by a weather forecast calling for snow. Wolf brought pulled pork that he had recently smoked and the other volunteers brought food, snacks, and drinks. Getting there just ahead of 1:00, Julie and I set up tables and John assisted me with setting up a campfire.

For a last minute get together, we had really nice attendance. It was awesome to reflect upon the magnitude of the project along with those who helped carry it out and those who supported us while carrying it out!

If you would like to reflect up this effort as well, the following two links to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel will take you the building of the twenty-four-foot bridge over Swedetown Creek and the construction of the ninety-six-foot boardwalk over the wetland leading to the bridge.

It was only fitting that snow began falling on us as we enjoyed our celebration!

Sunday we met up with our hiking group in Calumet and then drove to Copper Harbor where we would hike up Brockway Mountain on the Berry Picker Trail and back down again on The Flow. We started our hike at the parking area for Hunters Point which is a narrow peninsula that protects Copper Harbor. The initial part of the hike would take us along the west end of the harbor.

After crossing over M-26 we would begin our ascent of Brockway Mountain on the Berry Picker Trail.

This trail provides a very steady climb of over 400 feet of elevation gain. We would make a stop at the overlook on the east end of Brockway Mountain.

From here you can get a decent look at the lighthouse overlooking the harbor’s entrance.

Unlike Berry Picker, The Flow made long switchbacks going down the northern face of Brockway Mountain which would obviously make it awesome for mountain biking. You might have noted everyone’s bright colors. This is because we were right in the middle of the firearm deer season.

You can see my GoPro video from this 4.56-mile hike at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:

Monday morning we would take a break from swimming since MTU was on holiday hours with no early swimming time available. I had a Houghton County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority meeting at 10:00, so no swim actually worked well for my schedule. It had snowed overnight and the view looking across toward the Quincy Mine with the towers of the Douglass House in the foreground was worth the stop for a photo from the top of the Episcopal Church parking lot.

The authority took up the application for the Skyline Commons project in Hancock and approved a waiver allowing the applicant to use a different (other than the one the authority contracts with) brownfield consultant for the development of the brownfield plan for the project.

That afternoon Mark Roberts, John Diebel, and I would meet up at the Tomasi Road Trailhead with Brad Barnett and Jesse Wiederhold from Visit Keweenaw and Todd Gast from the Hancock Downtown Development Authority to take all of them through the Trail 17 project. This was an opportunity for Visit Keweenaw to see first-hand what their $17,000 grant had supported through their Destination Development Program.

From left to right: Todd Gast, Jesse Wiederhold, John Diebel, Brad Barnett, and Mark Roberts.

My Dad, Julie, and I donated $10,000 toward the project to honor my Mom, Beatrice Nurmi Meyers who was a 1947 graduate of Hancock Central High School. In her memory, I have worked with Chris Schmidt at Studio 13 who has developed a design for the bridge sign which will be printed by Industrial Graphics. Three of my Finnish cousins, Reijo, Raija, and Sinikka, helped me with the brainstorming for the name which will be Kuparisilta (Copper Bridge). This seemed very appropriate as my Mom was quite the connector which was a skill I learned watching her and that served me well throughout my career. This is also a nice way to honor our Finnish heritage as well as the significant percentage of those living here in the Keweenaw who also have Finnish ancestry.

Tuesday would be a bit of a loss for me as I consumed some oat milk in my cereal that we must have left out for a prolonged period and became a science experiment. Fortunately, it would just take a day to run it through my system.

This morning our new Chassell Township Supervisor Lynn Gierke, Planning Commission Chair Brian Waters, and DPW staff members Cole Smith and Craig Austin and I would meet up with Chris Holmes from U.P. Engineers and Architects to review the final design and to discuss specifications for the Centennial Park pavilion restrooms renovation project which is part of our $495,000 MDNR Spark Grant program. These will now go forward to the MDNR for final approval and then the project will be bid.

Left to right: Brian Waters, Cole Smith, Craig Austin, Chris Holmes, and Lynn Gierke

The rest of my day has been spent blowing out water lines in the cabin and sauna and taking other winterizing steps. With five to ten inches of snow in the forecast between now and Friday, I am excited to have this out of the way in order to get out to do some cross country skiing! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Consider locating in the Keweenaw where you will find ubiquitous natural beauty, no congestion, and lower crime! Not sure? Come UP for a workcation to check it out! Learn how at Visit Keweenaw at https://www.visitkeweenaw.com/plan/trip-ideas-itineraries/workcations/ Visit Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com. Learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.