On the Upper Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula

We truly are on an upper arm of the Michigan Upper Peninsula in a small town just north of Houghton.  Actually it was a hand surgeon Marie saw in Steamboat who said Houghton was worth seeing and he was right.  However, getting here was not our most exciting drive. From here we are heading north once again for just a bit to reach Copper Harbor on the tip of this peninsula. Then we begin to head south for a while.

We arrived here about 5 minutes before a downpour which had been following us all day. People all over this area have been complaining about the lack of rain, so many were happy even if it wasn't great for us. The weather today has been so strange -- warm then cool and always very humid. Most indoor places have the air cranked to very low temps; we think because of the humidity and not temperature. We've been putting on and taking off layers all day. Luckily we were very prepared as we had our postponed Apostle Islands tour this morning. And we are so happy it happened after stormy seas yesterday.

We learned much history and folklore from our captain who had been born & raised in the Bayfield area. The islands truly are beautiful, heavily forested, mostly uninhabited today and a wonderful image of Lake Superior. There are islands which were fishing camps, islands which had been "claimed" by certain individuals or families in the past, islands which still serve navigational purposes. There's 22 islands in all, only one of which is residential today. The population there, Madeline Island, has about 350 people who live there year around, and a population of several thousand in the summer. The ferry service was busy today!

We did not go there but spent a couple hours touring by several other islands, including Devil's Island which is the gateway into the shipping channels to Ashland, once a busy port second only to Chicago.  We left from Bayfield which was warm today in the 70's. But windy and cold on the lake today. We were on the upper deck and were happy to have water-proof jackets to protect from the sea spray. Certainly worth a bit of chill as views and experience were exceptional.




family of bald eagles
old fishing camp on Stockton Island
rock formations on Devils Island
more Devils Island



Lighthouse on Devils Island



lighthouse on Raspberry Island

We were starved after the tour so headed to the pub in  Bayfield for our second fish and chips meal in two days (different places!).  Then time to head back through Washburn and Ashland and into the Upper Peninsula -- and into the Eastern time zone. We keep losing time on this trip! There were so many small towns/villages on the way, many with Finish names. The one constant was Lake Superior. We'll be seeing more of the lake as we head south tomorrow. We're headed to another stay-and-play golf resort, this one on an Indian reservation. It will be good to stretch our legs and get in a bit of walking for a few days.









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