Fishing Under Northern Lights
The past week got started with a 3-mile rail-trail run last Sunday morning ahead of going for a 5.4 mile hike that afternoon at Churning Rapids. Our friend John Diebel led the hike which started from High Point Road out to the north of Hancock. This is a particularly good time of year to hike this area as you will catch the trillium in bloom.
My favorite part of this hike is the loop through the Brooks Gorge. A rather inauspicious stream quickly cuts a very deep gorge on its way to Portage Lake. This time of year the ground cover is not so dense and the leaves present an emerald glow.
A really cool thing about spring in the Keweenaw is the nightly chorus of the peeper frogs. Our friend Steve found one as we stopped along the creek.
It is amazing how much sound these little creatures can turn out!
After putting in a 2,600 yard swim on Monday morning at MTU’s SDC, I developed an online pre-application meeting request to State of Michigan’s EGLE (Environment Great Lakes and Energy) agency with input from fellow Hancock Trails Club board officers Jay Green, Mark Roberts, and John Diebel regarding our proposed bridge project over Swedetown Creek. With the future housing development projected within Maasto Hiihto by Wuebben Developing, Tomasi Road will not be an option for skiing into this part of the ski area. Last fall, Trail 17 was re-opened with the help of the Wuebbens in the area to the north of Tomasi Road; however, skiers are currently still required to cross the Tomasi Road bridge over the creek. The proposed bridge would allow skiers to avoid having to make that crossing. The Club was recently awarded a $17,000 Visit Keweenaw Destination Development Grant that along with a $10,000 contribution made by my Dad, Julie, and myself will make this project possible.
Monday evening I attended a Chassell Township Recreation Committee meeting where Brian Waters and I talked with Barb McEwen from the Baraga County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Barb brought us up to date on the Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant received by Baraga County to help purchase and develop areas upstream along the Sturgeon River below Tibbets Falls and we discussed the potential future development of launch sites at M-38, Froberg Road, and below the Otter Lake outlet. Brian and I volunteered to brief the Baraga County Commission on Chassell Township’s efforts with the Sturgeon River Launch at the US 41 bridge which would represent an excellent take-out point for the Baraga County put-in locations. Brian and I would then meet with fellow planning commission member Doug Hamar to to discuss a zoning issue around corner lots.
At 9:00 p.m. I would head out fishing on Portage Lake with my friend Eero Watia. We did rather well! My largest fish of the night would be a 30.5” pike that I caught at midnight. It is a bit of a surprise to catch a pike at that hour as they typically feed in daylight. I figure I must have bonked it on the head as I casted right to where I heard it break the surface and had an immediate hit.
Eero would catch the biggest walleye of the night at 26 inches, but that one went back in as we only keep walleye less than 25 inches.
In addition to some great fishing, Eero and I would be treated to some decent northern lights!
I would get in a 2,500 yard swim on Wednesday morning and then meet up with Karin Cooper from U.P. Engineers and Architects so she could take measurements for her evaluation of the egress in conjunction with the commercial stair-climbers Bach Mobilities is slated to install at the Chassell Heritage Center later this month.
I drove up to Laurium on Thursday to meet with the Village Managers of both Laurium and Calumet, Ian Lewis and Megan Haselden, to plan a remote worker networking event to take place at the ballroom in the Calumet Theater on Thursday, July 25th at 6:00 p.m. While in the area, I stopped by the Keweenaw National Historical Park Headquarters to sign our grant agreement and pick up the $8,000 grant award toward our wiring and lighting retrofitting project at the Chassell Heritage Center that we will have completed this month by Keweenaw Power & Lite.
Back in Chassell, I would pick up Chassell Historical Organization Curator Mat Moore and we would meet up with Planning Commission Chair Brian Waters and LouAnn Wurst from MTU’s Industrial Archeology program at Jim Vaught’s home on Marinette Street to discuss a potential dig on the township property to the north. The row houses on Marinette street date back to when the Worcester Lumber Company took over the lumber mill in 1902. It became clear with a recent retaining wall project that Jim had completed that these row houses simply disposed of their trash behind their homes which creates the likelihood of historic trash. Given the large amount of non-historic trash, LouAnn decided against this as a project; however, the Planning Commission is interested in taking steps, possibly this coming fall, to clean up the trash accumulated in this township green space.
That evening would be spent in a lengthy, but productive, Planning Commission meeting. Brett Palosaari would address the board about the possibility of adding a mountain biking trail to the Recreation Plan to be located on the township’s trail system. The commission gave him its okay to come back to us with a proposal. Naomi Leukuma provided input regarding the priorities we seek to share with the MDNR about the rail-trail between Chassell and Houghton. Her concern was regarding the timing of brushing so it does not take out ripening thimbleberries. Chris Holmes from U.P. Engineers & Architects would present on the preliminary engineering study regarding the park. A key point of discussion here would center on the location of pickleball courts. This is one of the top five priorities in the township’s 5-year recreation plan and an anonymous resident has stepped forward wanting to fund this priority. Two location options were included in the plan with the commission indicating a preference for an area between the playground and the basketball court.
Friday would start with a 2,600 yard swim at MTU’s SDC. I would then spend time talking with Mark Collison who is with an environmental firm doing some front-end investigation on details related to the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church that will be demolished and cleaned up in the near future with the help of funding from Houghton County. Coincidentally, I would then stop by Mat Moore’s to drop off a plate Brian Waters’ family is donating to the Heritage Center which commemorated the 50th anniversary the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
Given a combination of dry weather and our Airbnb guests out looking for rocks along Lake Superior, I was able to squeeze in a much needed cutting of the lawn which had grown substantially with the recent rains.
That evening, and with the day’s strong winds subsiding, Eero and I would get out to do some more fishing. I hooked into a very large walleye which escaped at the net. It had to be very close to 30 inches. Since we throw back walleyes of that size, I only lost out on a photo opportunity. What I did not lose out on was another awesome northern lights display over Portage Lake!
Saturday morning we would turn over the cabin after our guests from Chicago, Joy and Brian, completed a one week stay. There was trash and recycling to hauled to the transfer at DPW garage and in the course of all the chores Mary Jurgensen would call me with important details about the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
We would then head down to the North Country Trail for a hike to build mileage toward our #hike100NCT. On the way down, we made a stop for a late lunch at Migizi. If you are in Baraga and love burritos/bowls, you will want to stop here! You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557901169049
We would then take a 4-mile hike with a stop at the Plumbago Creek Bridge, but more about that next time!
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