Birthday Hike to Tibbets Falls

Last Wednesday would start out with a 2,250-yard swim at MTU followed by celebratory breakfast burritos from Tactical Taco. Continuing to mark my 66th trip around the sun, Julie and I would drive down to just north of Watton to put in a 3.12-mile hike on the North Country Trail along the Sturgeon River to Tibbets Falls.

Waxy caps were starting to make their annual appearance along the trail.

We would find a significant need for brushing throughout the hike as the ferns and berry plants were thriving as a result of the recent rains.

We found the river level to be higher than we would expect for this point in July.

There are some nice sized white pine trees in the area around the falls which add nicely to the place’s ambience!

We came across oyster mushrooms as we neared the falls.

The higher water would discourage us from swimming but provided for a well charged view of the falls!

Normally when doing this hike, we typically make our turn at the Oren Krumm Shelter, but, needing to get back for a Chassell Township Board meeting, we made our turn a short distance below the falls. You can see my video from the hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:

At the Township Board meeting, I would report out on the planning commission’s recent discussion with members of the public about enforcement of the 8” grass standard and advised the board that the commission would bring revised language to the board’s August meeting. I also discussed recent contacts with the court system about we would proceed when dealing with individuals engaging in vandalism at the park and violations of motorized vehicles on the non-motorized rail-trail. I briefed the Board on having received the dredging permit for the notch in the Sturgeon River where we have our kayak launch as well as approval from the Corps of Engineers as well as contacting DP Construction about moving forward with the work. I advised the Board that we heard from a Boy Scout looking for an Eagle Project and that we were encouraging him toward a project at the off-leash dog park. After noting that we plan to give the planning commission’s annual report at the August meeting, I headed out for the pier in Houghton to meet up with Julie and our running friends where our neighbor JD was playing in the band providing entertainment along the waterfront.

Thursday morning, I would spend two hours pulling the remaining wetland grasses that had grown through the historic trail boardwalk to spiff it up for the coming weekend’s Strawberry Festival. I would complete that work just in time to get over to MTU to represent the Chassell Trails at a Keweenaw Trails meeting. From there, I was back to Chassell to provide a tour of the Chassell Heritage Center to the Keweenaw National Historic Park interpretation and education summer staff team. I then took them around the historic trail on the mill site.

I would have enough time to grab something to eat and then Julie and I would go to the Centennial Park pavilion to clean strawberries with the Lions Club and a large number of community volunteers who joined in on this major effort.

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.