We made the decision to remain in the UP for another day so we could explore more of this remote and beautiful part of Michigan.
Our first stop of the day was out to the Light House station at Whitefish Point. This is the point where they claim there were more ship wrecks than any other place in the Great Lakes. The complex is still an active Coast Guard light house. It's made up of the light house, the keepers living quarters and a life saving station. It was fascinating to learn about the many ship wrecks right off the coast including the famous Edmund Fitzgerald. The museum has the bell, retrieved from the doomed ship on display, well as the story of the ships final hours. We imagined what the beautiful lake in front of us would look like with 80 mile an hour winds and 30 foot waves, as were described the night the Fitzgerald went down.
The bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald.
We also took a tour to the top of the lighthouse and were rewarded with a sweeping view of the entire coastline of Whitefish bay as well as miles of open lake Superior waters. We were able to see a couple of ships heading into the bay. We would highly recommend a detour to this very remote but picturesque point.
In the picture above are Missy, Sammi and Daniel splashing in the warmer than expected waters of lake Superior, off Whitefish Point.
After lunch we drove the car along the coast of Whitefish bay into Saulte Saint Marie. We raced a pair of freighters up the bay to the Soo locks. A lock that lowers ships down 21 feet to the level of Lakes Michigan and Huron. The city looks like a reconstruction project gone array. Many of the main streets were torn up along with multiple back streets. There are detour signs all over town pointing to every store and attraction that is affected. It was a bit overwhelming.
Here in this picture you can see Daniel, looking back at us from the top of the tower.
We climbed a 200 foot tower that gave us a good view of the locks. There are 4 locks on the American side. 2 are newer and used regularly and the other 2 are smaller and rarely used because of the huge size of the present day freighters.
We also stopped and climbed aboard the the freighter Valley Camp, pictured above, from the tower. This is an old steamer style freighter that has been converted into a museum. It had a fascinating display of the history of shipping in the great lakes and the ships that ply these waters as well as being a great hands on vessel to explore and see how these ships operate day to day. We were able to explore the engine room, crew quarters, bridge and the cargo hold.
We then drove up to the locks. There is a nice park attached to the locks that appears to be maintained by the Coast Guard. At the actual locks are a series of viewing platforms that give you an excellent view of the working locks. We were able to watch the giant doors close, and the lock fill with water and see the Paul R. Trugurtha, the largest ship currently in use on the lakes, slowly enter the locks with just 2 and a half feet of clearance on each side!!
In the pictures above are Sammi and Daniel on the stern as a freighter passes on the river and then Sammi on the bow of the Valley Camp.
While there are no major roads, except a small section on I 75, getting around up here is fairly easy. The roads are straight and very lightly traveled. We continue to look for Moose and other wildlife as we drive around, but no luck so far. In fact, for being so remote we see very little wildlife at all except this pesky Chipmunk, we have nicknamed Chip. He is very brazen and has moved into our campsite and made himself at home.
Last evening he came right up to the dinner table and dogs bowl and sat right there inches from the dog. Windsor, stared at him, but I'm not sure he knew what to do. He has climbed up into our car wheels and engine compartment and sat on the step of our camper. I keep chasing him away, but he comes right back the minute I turn my back! we are all convinced he's going to stow away aboard the camper and ride home with us to warmer weather for the winter. (Has anyone ever seen the Disney short with Donald duck chasing around Chip and Dale? Just put Chris in Donald's place!)
This evening has turned quite cool and clear. We are all in long sleeves as we wait for the last glimmer of sunlight to fade so we can do a little stargazing. The sun sets around 9 pm this time of year, but because we are so far north, its at least another hour and a half before it's dark. We were told the Northern Lights were visible 2 nights ago and really want to try and catch them. Unfortunately, clouds rolled in and we couldn't see very much.
We have a great site here at the Lower Falls. We leave you with a shot of our site.
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Location:Lake Superior
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