Hike to Rockhouse Point on Lake Superior

After Julie and I completed our North Country Trail hike along Plumbago Creek, we stopped at nearby Ogemaw Creek to hike to the falls and to bushwhack downstream. It is just a short hike from the Baraga Plains Road to the falls. There is a slide fall below this initial drop which is cool to explore as well.

You can see the falls in motion at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Pinterest boards: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/500884789823149026/

Bushwhacking downstream we found ourselves surrounded by thimbleberry bushes and ultimately a lot of fallen trees. We also came across this cool growth of mushrooms.

We would get home just in time for me to run to a Hancock Trails Club board meeting.

Wednesday would include a 2,200 yard swim at the MTU SDC and thimbleberry cleaning and jam making from the just over one cup of berries I had picked on our hike to the top of Voodoo Mountain the previous Sunday.

The formula we use for making jam is pretty straight forward. A half a cup of sugar added to one cup of berries and then bring it to a boil. With such a small quantity, there was no point in canning them because this batch would go quickly in the morning oatmeal.

I would then put together a collage of photos of my Dad that I would display at the gathering on Friday at the Chassell Heritage Center after his military funeral at the Chassell Cemetery that morning. Putting this together gave me time to reflect on how important my Dad had been to me.

Most importantly, I picked up my work ethic from him. Growing up, I never saw him take a sick day ever. In my own career working for the State of Kansas, I needed to have 1,200 hours of accumulated sick leave to receive a maximum sick leave payout. I had over 2,400 hours accumulated when I retired which was clearly a reflection of his impact on me. He frequently worked Saturday mornings and that approach of doing whatever was necessary to get the job done was clearly passed on.

Maintaining a positive attitude regardless of the conditions and not laying blame on others would be important attributes I would learn and internalize. These characteristics would be particularly important as I took on leadership roles throughout my career.

Staying in good physical condition was something he always modeled. When I was young, I received a basketball backboard and hoop for Christmas one year. It would be no surprise that he would be out there shooting baskets until dinner after work. I would go with him on Sunday mornings when he would play basketball at Puffer School in his 40s and he would be taking it to guys much younger than him. In retirement, he would be up early in the morning walking several miles before breakfast and then playing golf almost daily. This would be a huge influence on me with both my running and swimming.

My Dad was also a voracious reader whether it came to books or the newspaper. This made it easy to buy gifts for him, but it also impacted on me, particularly from the standpoint of keeping up with current events and maintaining professional accreditation. I took it one step farther with my daughters when they were infants by reading at a minimum all the page one articles to them from the Wall Street Journal while I rocked them after work.

My Dad also taught me the importance of respecting authority. I played little league baseball growing up and my Dad supported the league by umpiring games. There was an instance where my coach was not happy about ball and strike calls by a particular umpire and he told the team to boo that umpire after the game. Dad’s furiousness over my coach’s conduct was something that always stuck with me and, humorously, would influence me at my very next game when he covered for a home plate umpire who was a no show. I took cuts at every pitch when I batted because I didn’t want him to have make a call about any of the pitches thrown during my at-bats. I struck out the first time I was up, but hit one into the gap in left-center that drove in two runs the second time I was up. It’s crazy how that game feels like yesterday and I was only like eleven or twelve at the time.

This leads into another very important lesson which was to support whatever your kids do. In addition to umpiring, my Dad was my boy scout troop’s committee chair. He wasn’t big about camping out, but because of our monthly community paper drives (to recycle newsprint and magazines) and 100 percent giving by all our troop members’ parents, we were one of the most financially well-off troops around which in many years meant that summer camp was completely paid for and that we were extremely well equipped. I would follow his example and coach girls recreational soccer for four years (eight seasons), run the competitive soccer program in Lawrence, Kansas for four additional years and carry out eight soccer tournaments (that would often raise over $30,000 a tournament) to defray the players’ costs, and serve on Girl Scout council boards of directors for over ten years.

My Dad also instilled within me a great love of fishing. He would take me fishing both by boat and from shore to fish on the Sturgeon River which was a place that held special meaning for him as he ran his trap lines on the Sturgeon when he grew up. He also took me trout fishing on the Otter River and Bart Creek which were areas where his Dad had run lumber camps when he was a boy. The passion for fishing that he built in me was so great that fishing on the Sturgeon River would be the subject of the first speech I would give in Mr. Narducci’s English class in 8th grade. My work on the Sturgeon River Kayak Launch and placement of the sign that will mark its entrance is a testament to the importance the river holds in my family and the importance I believe it can provide to other families.

One final thing about my Dad, I truly miss my weekly calls with him that he would always start in his cheery voice “what’s going in on in the Kupari Saari (Copper Island)?” (with strong emphasis on every syllable of “Kupari”). I know how much he appreciated hearing from me about what was going on in Chassell and looked forward to those talks. It was like an accountability thing making sure everything I had going on was progressing. Throughout my career, he was always a sounding board and would be the first call I would make when I received a promotion or had major successes. He is greatly missed.

Eleven years ago my Dad asked me that I make sure that he received an appropriate military funeral in Chassell when he passed to recognize his service in the U.S. Navy in WW II. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Bud Huuki and the rest of the members of the Copper Country Veterans Association (including our friend Dennis Karvakko) as well as Chassell Cemetery Sexton Craig Austin for being instrumental in carrying out his wishes. If you would like to see the ceremony, you can see it on this Facebook link.

Saturday I would get in a four-mile run at an 8:45/mile pace and then I would spend three hours volunteering at the Chassell Heritage Center which was on top of the two and a half hours I spent there on Thursday evening. After mowing the lawn, I would join in at the campfire that evening at the Daaveetilas next door.

Sunday our hiking group would do a beach hike from Agate Beach along the Lake Superior shore to Rockhouse Point and back. The weather was perfect as the skies were sunny and the temperature just over 80 degrees.

If you go out to Agate Beach just outside of Toivola, Rockhouse Point is the distant most point out to the northeast. This roundtrip hike would cover just over 5.5 miles.

There is a large sandstone shelf at Rockhouse Point that makes the location an easy place to swim but standing in stark contrast to the sandy lake bottom near Agate Beach.

You can check out my GoPro video from the hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:

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.