Labor Day Hiking and Losing Blue

Things have been a little crazy of late so I will do my best to get you caught up! Starting with Labor Day, the pool did not have early hours so we passed on our normal Monday swim in favor of hikes along the Silver River Canyon and at Lower Silver River Falls.

If you have been following the blog for awhile, you already know that the Slate River is among our favorite destinations. We jumped on the trail from the parking area along the Skanee Road. After making the initial steep climb from the parking area, we found the trail to be well established as it made its way along the rim of the canyon. After passing through an initial stretch of deciduous trees, we were greeted by the aroma of the high canopy pine forest which continued throughout our hike.

We passed on making the steep climb down to Slate River Falls and kept hiking along the canyon rim.

With somewhat calm conditions, we were able to hear the sound of the rushing waters below us as we passed over the top of the waterfalls down below.

Eventually the river meets up with the trail at Upper Ecstasy Falls. We elected to hike down to the river at this point and to follow the stream up to Slate Slide Falls.

It was a bit cooler this day so we opted not to swim; however, a word of caution about Slate Slide Falls. Previously, I have jumped into the pool of water with the large log in it only to discover the water was over my head! A great place to swim is the pool below the slide as a good deal of sand has accumulated here making for comfortable footing and distinguishing it from the angular slate found in other parts of the river.

Climbing back up to the rim of the canyon, we would hike on to Kukuck’s Falls. This beautiful waterfall is located in an S-curve in the river.

Although the quantity of mushrooms was not anywhere near what we have seen in deciduous forests of late, we came across a fair amount of fungi on our hike.

It was a great day to be in the woods and to enjoy the whisper of the water flowing over the slate formations.

After hiking back out, we headed over to nearby Lower Silver River Falls. This is just a short walk through the woods from the parking area. You do need need a DNR Recreation Passport to visit this location.

You can see my GoPro video from these hikes on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:

Tuesday I would be in contact with Brad Barnett with Visit Keweenaw. We will be meeting this fall to talk about incorporating the Sturgeon River and Sloughs into a re-invigorated Keweenaw Water Trail site. I started drafting the minutes from the August Chassell Planning Commission meeting and would squeeze in a late afternoon tire rotation at Keweenaw Automotive ahead of special meeting of the Hancock Trails Club board to discuss a proposal by Ebb and Flow.

Wednesday would start with a 2,500 yard swim followed by breakfast at the Copper Range Depot Family Restaurant in Houghton with my sister, nephew, and niece. The rest of my day would be spent cranking out planning commission meeting minutes and getting those distributed. I would finally find my notes from the June planning commission meeting and got started on those minutes.

Thursday I would complete the June minutes and prepare for the evening’s planning commission meeting. We would pass a resolution that evening encouraging the board to go forward with an agreement with the DNR to assume maintenance responsibilities for the portion of the rail-trail located within the township. We would also pass a motion recommending that Cindy Cowell be appointed to the vacant position on the planning commission.

Thursday night we would tragically lose our dog Blue. He and Red went out in the back yard at 10:00 p.m. Red would come back, but Blue was no where to be found. Our biggest concern was that he may have gotten misdirected due to his cataract-caused blindness so we got out and searched the neighborhood thoroughly for him with our friend Eero. After searching for quite some time without success, we concluded that he must have been picked up by a predator. Sadly, Eero and I would find Blue dead the next day on US 41 well north of any radius he had ever gone out to on his own. At 13, Blue had lived a full life. He hiked countless miles including several #hike100NCT’s before we retired him from the trails last fall due to his blindness from cataracts. You can enjoy some of our good times with Blue on our Pinterest board “The Adventures of Red and Blue” on Pinterest 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 at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.