Keweenaw Variety Pack - Part 1
With a mix of hikes, volunteer work, meetings, and touring, I will label this past week a Keweenaw variety pack! On Sunday we went for a hike on the Chassell Trails with our hiking group. The weather was great and there were no mosquitoes or ticks to contend with along the way.
Even with the dry weather Hamar Creek Falls had a nice, gentle flow.
Monday morning I got in a 2,000 yard swim at MTU’s SDC. My plan had been to cut grass, but some much needed rain started to fall as I left the SDC. We had a pair of brothers from Colorado and Illinois who were circling Lake Superior on their motorcycles stay in our cabin that evening. They had to ride in the rain all day from Duluth and faced a day of rain the next day as they headed toward Sault Ste. Marie. I had a hot sauna ready for them when they arrived and even served them coffee next morning, but it was not enough to keep them from rating us a 4 (after a streak of twenty-two 5 ratings) on their stay. We don’t take many 4s, but weather always seems to be a factor when they occur.
The rain ended on Tuesday and I was able to get the grass cut ahead of a group of four coming in from Isle Royale. They were awesome guests who really appreciated the opportunity to have a hot sauna!
Wednesday morning I spent a couple of hours with a group of North Country Trail volunteers cutting lumber for a significant bridge repair project that will be taking place on the Plumbago Creek bridge to the west of Canyon Falls. This is the same bridge where I had the grouse land on my back while installing swamp plates back in 2021. (You can see that crazy encounter at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/shorts/NYHWCH9vGt0?feature=share ) We had a very efficient operation going and made quick work of cutting up all the lumber to size.
I then met up with an incoming MTU faculty member who had an interest in seeing the Chassell Heritage Center. I showed him around and spent quite a bit of time talking about housing as well as discussing tips around winter life in the Keweenaw.
I squeezed in a four mile run, got a really nice couple from Indiana situated in the cabin, and then attended the Chassell Township Board meeting.
Thursday morning was spent writing the president’s letter for the upcoming Chassell Historical Organization newsletter and pulling a story together from my Dad’s memoir about trapping on the Sturgeon River that will be included in the newsletter as well.
Julie’s sister Jan and daughter Jocilyn came into town for a visit, so this gave us the opportunity to play the role of tour guides. We would spend some time in Calumet on Friday, first making stops at the Calumet Theater and Italian Hall Disaster Memorial.
My great-grandmother Selma Sillanpaa lost her sister-in-law and two nieces in the disaster (Sanna, Wilma, and Sylvia Aaltonen). For those with an interest in labor history, this was a very dark moment in the Western Federation of Miners strike which in occurred in 1913-14. If you would like to learn more about this period and the history of copper mining in the Keweenaw, I would highly recommend reading Larry Lankton’s “Cradle to Grave” and Arthur Thurner’s “Rebels on the Range”.
After stopping by to see our friend Michael at his shop called Of the Water and grabbing some ice cream at the Copper Scoop, we stopped in to tour the Keweenaw National Historical Park Museum in Calumet. The museum is an excellent place to get an overview of the copper mining that took place in the Keweenaw as its exhibits are well presented.
Friday evening, I squeezed in some fishing on Portage Lake that I will discuss in Part 2. On Saturday morning, Jan and I took the tour of the hoist house and mine at the Quincy Mine in Hancock. The steam hoist at the mine was the largest to ever operate in the world and is quite an engineering marvel!
The mine tour starts with a cog tram ride down the hill to access an adit at the 7th level (of 92 levels) of the mine.
The interpretive hike into the mine is well worth the time spent to learn about the geology and tools/methods utilized to extract the copper. There is an opportunity to enter a drift and view a stope carved out during the Civil War.
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! Visit Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com and learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.