We drove to the upper falls with the goal of walking the 4 mile river trail back down to the lower falls. There is a fee based shuttle service here that makes it really easy to catch a ride back up to retrieve the car. According to Missy, it's run by a guy who used to hang out at the restaurant at the upper falls, who got tired of people asking him for a ride back down to the lower falls. He hands out stickers to all who ride that say I hiked between da falls! We also finally found out how to pronounce Tahquamenon Falls, it rhymes with phenomenon!
The upper falls are an impressive site. Unlike the lower falls, that sort of cascade down from one to another, the upper falls drop 50 feet straight down. By one account it is the second largest waterfall, east of the Mississippi by volume. Niagara Falls being the largest. There are a number of great spots to view the falls and the gorge the water cascades down through.
The walk along the river trail down to our campsite at the lower falls was gorgeous. The woods were full of very mature hemlock, beech and sugar maple trees towering above our heads. It was hard to believe just 100 years ago, almost all of the forest here had been cut down for lumber. The trail meandered along the river, giving us a number of great views of this wild river. While we saw no animals except chipmunks and red squirrels, we did see plenty of signs of busy beaver handiwork.
The hike was a long 4 miles and Daniel and I were both exhausted. Sammi on the other hand, had no issues and practically leapt down the trail. Missy also seemed to have little issues. You'd assume that the hike down to the lower falls would be mostly downhill but there were many stairs and ups and downs along the trail so at the end we treated ourselves to ice cream.
After lunch, we drove through the little town of Paradise to take a swim in Lake Superior. Actually, we were in Whitefish bay, but that's part of Lake Superior. The water was surprisingly warm, since we were told how cold Lake Superior stays. Daniel and Sammi had a blast splashing and spraying each other with water. It was a sandy bottom and the water was reddish from the tannic acid here where the river empties into the bay. It was so shallow, we had to walk out forever just to get into knee deep water!
We had a second reason to drive into Paradise. We wanted to find a cell signal strong enough to transfer data. It was a real challenge. We drove up and down the only street in town trying to find a location with a strong signal. Finally, we pulled into the local hotel and realized they had free wifi! We were able to tap into that to send our blog and so Sammi could catch up on her Phillies!
Saturday evening we made a fire and sat around the campfire playing Scrabble and eating S'mores. It was a super de Yupper day! We are enjoying it so much Missy is even considering staying up here an extra day to see more!
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Location:Somewhere in the UP
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