Snow Arrives in the Keweenaw
The end of October saw the last of the beautiful autumn color falling from the trees, a rush of meetings, preparation for the transition to winter, and the first meaningful snowfall of the season.
I was out for a 5-mile rail-trail run early in the final week of October and caught these beautiful views along Portage Lake which would largely be gone by my run four days later.
I drove up to Calumet through some thick fog on the 25th to attend the Fall Heritage Site Meeting at the Keweenaw National Historical Park headquarters in my role as President of the Chassell Historical Organization. It was awesome learning about the success all the sites experienced during the most recent tourist season and to brief the other sites on our success, particularly with the opening of the Chassell Historic Trail. That evening I briefed the Chassell Lions Club on the township’s success in being awarded an MDNR SPARK Grant and reviewed the project's deliverables. The Chassell Lions Club is providing important hard match related to the ADA accessible walkway that we will have constructed between the pavilion and the waterfront.
Working around the rain on the 26th, Feighner Dock came over from Gwinn to help us with the removal of the canoe/kayak launch dock from the Sturgeon River launch site for the season. With equipment help from DP Construction, the Chassell Department of Public Works staff lifted the launch onto the riverbank for the winter. You can watch this process in action on the Chassell Township Facebook page at this link.
The character of my 5-mile rail-trail run last Saturday stood in stark contrast to my experience earlier that week as a significantly greater portion of the beautifully covered leaves were now finding their way to the ground.
Sunday morning our last Airbnb guests for the season checked out. Our hiking group would meet up that afternoon at the Christensen Road trailhead at Churning Rapids to go on a 6.6-mile hike on the single-track trails. There had been a dusting of snow overnight and we encountered occasional flurries along the way. There were still pockets of gold color throughout the hike which included the beautiful Brooks Gorge and the Skyway Trail above Portage Lake and M-203.
You can see my GoPro video from the first portion of this hike up through the Brooks Gorge on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
Sunday night into Monday, we picked up our first meaningful snow of the season with easily five inches in Chassell and more in other locations.
While it wouldn’t stick around beyond mid-week, it was a clear reminder about what we can be expecting in the months ahead.
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.