April Skiing!
I am going to take a quick break from the Finland recap to get you up to speed on what has been happening here in the Keweenaw.
I needed to run up to Calumet for a dental appointment last Tuesday morning and brought my skis along so I could squeeze in a ski afterwards on the Swedetown Ski Trails. The conditions were very good but would have been outstanding had I gone out ahead of my 10:30 appointment. The spring sun was warm enough to start softening up the areas not shaded by the trees as I was getting out onto Mama Bear during the noon hour which slowed things a bit on the way back up.
It’s really hard to complain about conditions this good during the month of April, particularly with the measuring stick showing just over two feet of base as I got started on the Valley Trail.
You can get a look at my GoPro video from the ski at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:
Wednesday morning, Julie and I would make it over to MTU to swim. As we were a little bit later than usual, I would only get in 2,800 yards. Returning home, my focus would be on pulling materials together for a Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission grant proposal I was preparing. As I have discussed previously, we are looking at taking steps to develop additional exhibit space in what was previously used as the shop classroom. Initially we have a couple of important preventive steps that need to be taken with bringing heat to the basement to reduce the heaving from below the building as well as making mortar repairs to the inside of the sandstone foundation in that part of the building.
Thursday I would complete writing that proposal and prepare for that evening’s Recreation Committee and Chassell Planning Commission meetings. The Recreation Committee would be focused on reviewing the list of assets in conjunction with the Keweenaw Water Trail. The committee would come up with some good additional feedback that I would share with the group that is working to reactivate this water trail and to append the Sturgeon River and Sturgeon River Sloughs to it. On a separate matter, the committee discussed pursuing a splash pad for Centennial Park as this is in our top five priorities in our 5-Year Recreation Plan for the township. I shared information that L’Anse Village Manager Bob LaFave provided me regarding the splash pad L’Anse put in which was very helpful. We will be seeking a Copper Shores Community Health Foundation recreation grant to help us fund this project.
The big news from the Planning Commission meeting would come from Dan Palosaari who indicated that site work is planned to begin on the Chassell Mercantile redevelopment project on April 20th.
Friday would start with a 3,000 yard swim at MTU. Back at home and over my second cup of coffee, I drafted the Letter of Intent to the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation regarding the township’s interest in completing a full proposal by the May deadline. I would stop by the township office to meet with Township Supervisor Lynn Gierke to review the LOI with her and get her sign-off. Julie and I had other errands to run in both Hancock and Calumet, so that afternoon I stopped by first to drop off the LOI at the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation. I ran into CEO Kevin Store and brought him a copy of our 5-Year Recreation Plan as we have not submitted any proposals to them since I produced the 58-page document plus appendices at the end of 2023 and the township received approval from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in March 2024. The plan provides a nice summary of several projects on which the foundation was a key funding partner in the previous five year plan including the ten-station fitness trail/south bridge, Centennial Park Playground, Sturgeon River Kayak Launch, and Disc Golf Course. We then ran up to Calumet so I could drop off the Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission grant proposal. The focus of this grant proposal is on securing 50% of the funding for an additional furnace and related infrastructure for the basement of the Chassell Heritage Center.
Saturday, Julie and I would drive down to the Baraga Plains to go for a ski on the North Country Trail. Before our ski, we would make a stop for a quick snowshoe to Ogemaw Falls.
A short distance west from there we parked on the Baraga Plains Road and skied in about a half of a mile to reach the trail. We initially skied eastward toward Plumbago Creek.
There was easily eighteen inches of base. When we got into the deeper woods, we would find ourselves on top of drifts that were between three and four feet in depth.
There appeared to be quite a bit more water than usual in Plumbago Creek which surely means the beavers have been busy downstream.
We would follow along the creek until we reached a fallen tree that was going to require some serious limbo to pass under. We made the decision to double-back and go westward. There is a cool black spruce forest followed by a nice pine forest in that stretch.
You can see my GoPro video from this ski at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:
Sunday we would meet up with our hiking/skiing group in Hubbell for a snowshoe hike to Hungarian Falls. We would follow Dover Creek upstream to get a peek at the lower falls.
The middle falls were not quite as interesting as the last time Julie, Sue, and I had snowshoed there, but still had an interesting character about it.
I did have the opportunity crawl in behind the ice and caught this video: https://youtube.com/shorts/j-outzEcSfw?si=H_EA3P-CbKhyfpz_
We would continue on to the upper falls, crossing the creek above the falls, and coming back downstream on the other side of the canyon. You can see my GoPro video from the entire adventure at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:
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