Hike to Shawmut Falls

Picking up with last Saturday night, the northern lights made a brief but colorful appearance here in Chassell. Canadian wildfire smoke muted what might have been an even better show.

On Mothers Day our hiking group headed down to the Twin Lakes area to hike to Shawmut Falls.

We have followed two different routes to these falls, but ventured in this time by way of the Shawmut Creek Road. This hike follows logging roads until reaching Clear Creek at which point we followed it downstream.

Remnants of copper mining can be seen before the creek starts its downward course.

Shawmut Falls includes a number of cascades throughout its course. If all the drops were measured, the height would likely challenge Douglass-Houghton Falls.

This hike gets particularly steep as you reach the final couple of drops, so if you plan to check it out, be sure to wear good foot gear and consider bringing a pole for additional balance. You can see my GoPro video from the hike at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:

The past week included three 2,500 yard swims at MTU’s SDC on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I met up with Houghton County Building Inspector Todd LaRoux on Monday at the Chassell Heritage Center so he could review the egress that would be available with the upcoming installation of the stair-climbing units. I then had a great conversation with Visit Keweenaw Executive Director Brad Barnett about Chassell Township’s interest in partnering up on the existing Keweenaw Water Trail with our Sturgeon River Water Trail initiative. Apparently the MDNR no longer administers this program and it is now being handled by a non-profit organization. The existing Keweenaw Water Trail has not been active, so we plan to look into this through the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR). Monday night I attended the Chassell Township Board meeting. During public comment I briefed the board on the projects being undertaken at the Chassell Heritage Center with the wiring/lighting retrofitting and the installation of the stair-climber units. During the Planning Commission part of the agenda, I updated the board on the following: the Spark Grant walkway project bidding process would close on Thursday; Jeff Ratcliffe from the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance had indicated that the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church site will be part of bid package for demolition, but is being held up as two of the properties in the bid package are working their way through foreclosure; Jeff Ratcliffe also met on site with Jason Hulkonen who may be making a proposal on the redevelopment of the sites and Jeff also note that the house on the adjoining site is in such condition that it should be demolished; Lowell Miller from Feighner Dock indicated that he will be out in 2 1/2 weeks to add the ADA transfer features to the Sturgeon River kayak launch and that this can be done with the launch in the water; Sigrid Resh from KISMA indicated that they were not successful securing the grant for the CD3 boat wash station for the park; and I advised the board that after talking to Hancock City Manager Mary Babcock that I learned that there is no agreement with Phi Kappa Tau allowing them to be the exclusive fraternity in Hancock; I also indicated that Brian Waters and I have been looking at what appears to be relevant case law and we are concerned that entering into such an exclusive agreement with Sigma Rho might be deemed as arbitrary and capricious in the event we did it and then were challenged.

The rest of the week was spent doing more scraping and power washing of the decks we are looking to re-seal. I would like to make a shout-out here for the great service I received from the Ace Hardware in Calumet where I picked up supplies for the re-sealing that we hope to do once we have enough dry days with overnight temperatures 50 degrees or above.

On Wednesday evening Julie and I walked 2.3 miles from the MTU SDC with our friend Jan. I am still laying low on the running, but plan to get back to trail running this coming Wednesday.

Thursday morning I gave a presentation on the Chassell Historic Trail to the International Neighbors group in Houghton. That evening I attended a presentation given by MSU Extension at the Portage Lake District Library about short term rentals.

Friday was all about power washing and scraping the decks around working with Chris Holmes at U.P. Engineers and Architects on the award of the Spark Grant project to put in the ADA walkway from the pavilion to the waterfront at Centennial Park.

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://remoteworforcekeweenaw.com. Learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.