Chasing Fall Color
With the fall color rapidly emerging now in the Keweenaw, we have taken full advantage of every opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the season! The last few days were no exception to that approach.
On Friday afternoon we drove out to McLain State Park to walk the dogs on the dog beach.
With just a light breeze out of the south, Lake Superior was calm allowing for this cool shot of the colorful minerals beneath its surface.
Close to the lake there had been only minimal leaf color change, but it was still a beautiful afternoon to be along Lake Superior!
On Saturday morning, Julie and Jennifer drove down to the Baraga Plains to hike over 8 miles on the North Country Trail. I headed over to Maasto Hiihto in Hancock where I met up with about a dozen Hancock Trails Club volunteers and spent 3 1/2 hours weedwhacking in the Swedetown Creek Gorge. This effort was focused on getting the trail in the gorge ready for cross country skiing this coming winter. This portion of the trail system has been off-line since the Fathers Day flood in 2018 wiped out the bridges in the gorge. MJO has recently rebuilt the bridges and put in a new boardwalk well above the former meadow boardwalk that was also destroyed in the flood. It will be awesome to have this outstanding part of the Hancock Trails Club system once again available for use.
Sunday our hiking group traveled down to the Ottawa National Forest in the southern part of the county to visit the Bear’s Den Overlook and to hike into the Sturgeon River Gorge to Sturgeon Falls and then to the top of Silver Mountain.
The Bear’s Den Overlook involves a very short hike from a parking area along FR-2200. Autumn is a particularly beautiful time to take in the view of the over 300 foot deep Sturgeon River Gorge and the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness. The leaves were only partially changed at this point, but the greens provided a nice blend to the colors.
A short drive north of the Bear’s Den is where the trailhead for Sturgeon Falls can be found. After a short walk through the woods, the trail descends to the bottom of the gorge via two long switchbacks.
As we hiked into the gorge, the wind caused us to be pelted by acorns falling from the surrounding oak trees. This minor inconvenience was rewarded at the bottom with an awesome view of the falls. The river is some one-hundred feet wide above the falls, but is compressed into a narrow basalt chute.
The river then tumbles over this outcropping into the sandstone gorge below.
You can see my GoPro video from this portion of the hike at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:
Next time I will cover the portion of Sunday’s adventure involving the hike to the top of Silver Mountain!
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.