Waterfall Crazy - Part 1
When you live in Keweenaw, August is the optimal month to spend time enjoying your favorite places involving water. Between the warm weather and the declining mosquito/fly populations, the experiences you will enjoy this time of year are unparalleled. Looking at the weather forecast, we scheduled a Tuesday hike on the North Country Trail to Tibbets Falls and a Thursday hike to several of our favorite waterfalls on the Silver River near Herman.
Located on the Sturgeon River to the north of Watton, the hike to Tibbets Falls starts with a beautiful forested walk to the Sturgeon River. The trail then follows the river to the falls. There is some up and down as the trail winds its way downstream, but this happens with the river always within your sight.
The trail has not been brushed recently so we found ourselves in shoulder-deep ferns as well as thimbleberry and raspberry bushes. The berries were at peak ripeness so there were plenty of opportunities to snack along the way.
The flow of the river was decent for August which made for an enjoyable visual experience. From the falls we went on to the Oren Krumm Shelter where we had a sandwich before reversing direction and heading back. This added 3.8 miles toward our #hike100NCT and brought our 2022 total up to just over 74 miles.
You can view my GoPro video from this hike at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:
Wednesday I cut the grass and we got into Houghton for the Keweenaw Running Group run on the MTU Trails. With the temperature near 80 degrees and the humidity high, the uphill portion of the run felt particularly brutal. This experience made the next day’s planned hike to waterfalls on the Silver River even more attractive.
The upper reaches of the Silver River near Herman provide an altogether different geological experience than downstream closer to L’Anse and Huron Bay. Instead of slate, the river crosses igneous formations that are more on the order of granite. We started our hike just above Herman Cascades and proceeded downstream from there.
The mushrooms were abundant on this hike! If you would like to see more of them, you can check out my posts on Instagram at @Decompressu.
The next falls you come upon on this hike is known as Upper Herman Falls. This series of slides and drops leads to the top of Herman Falls. Between the falls in this series you will find carved out pools that provide excellent places for a cool dip.
The deep fractures in the rock into which the river flows is particularly cool to see.
Stay tuned for more about this hike in Part 2!
Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Would you value living in a place with ubiquitous natural beauty that has no congestion and lower crime? Consider locating in the Keweenaw where you will be surrounded by amazing places! Learn more by visiting the Remote Workforce Keweenaw website at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com.