The Road Led North

The Road Led North

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Those that know us were surprised that our first escape came so late in the year.  They remember how we venture “away” in mid-March or there abouts.  But circumstances beyond our control stole those opportunities...or rather postponed them.  October was a long time ago, and that was the last chance we had to “get away” just for the sake of getting away.  Oh there were a couple of overnights since, but a real get away...no.

The hotel at Gordon's Lodge sits on more than 100Acres
along the edge of the North Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



We learned the story of why there are goats on the roof
of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant 

Last week we ventured to new places, not that they had just been created you understand, but they were new to us.  The praise we had heard about Door County Wisconsin peaked our interest.  The peninsula that forms Green Bay was all we had heard and more.  The three days we spent there was mostly a “see what’s

 

Cana Island Lighthouse is a gem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 there” expedition.  What we saw and learned will prepare our next longer stay because we will be back.

The unreachable...for now,
Copper Harbor Lighthouse

When the window for our vacation materialized, I felt fortunate to have found us a room.  But on our arriving we discovered that Gordon’s Lodge on North Bay was more than just a find...it was a fabulous room in an unbelievable gorgeous location.  We overlooked the sun bursting out of the waters of Lake Michigan from our room each morning, and watched it set across the bay a few steps from our door.  Perhaps it’s just a bit out of the way, but you can be assured we’ll be back.

The road goes up and up, then you park and walk even higher
The Lake of the Clouds

After just a taste of the lighthouses and wilderness of Door County we ventured north to another peninsula...Keweenaw, in Michigan.  The year was 1982 when I last saw the northern most part of the U.P..  I was thirty when my brother Jim and I motorcycled up to Copper Harbor, the place the highway ends.  I had yearned for years to return to the place that becomes buried in snow for nearly half the year.  A sign ”post” (literally) displayed last winter’s white stuff total of more than twenty-five feet.  I should never complain about winter again.  The highway wound between stands of pines and birches as we drove beneath a brilliant blue sky.

The jacket limited the insects access.

The lighthouse at Copper Harbor is unreachable at this time.  Sealed off by privately owned land the boat service that had taken sightseers over has ceased operations.  Clouds moved in as we made our way south along the cliffs on Superior’s edge and a stop in Eagle Harbor after some fourteen miles traveled offered us a wonderful lighthouse on the rocks overlooking the water.  We were directed to the “Mountain” eight miles north, the highest point on the peninsula, and there at nearly two thousand feet on a blustery afternoon threatening rain we overlooked the wide and wild northland and the lake not so many miles away.

The following day we went west to Porcupine Mountains, our first stop Lake of the Clouds. Though the day was overcast it was warm and the view will be one we will long remember.  We spent the day hiking to the mountain top and searching out some waterfalls only scratching the surface of an amazing place.

We hustled about the Upper Peninsula for six days using Houghton as our base camp.  Lighthouses, waterfalls, hikes along Lake Superior’s shoreline, an outing to Marquette, and a mine tour filled the days to bursting. 

There are many waterfalls in the Porcupine Mountains
Overlooked Falls

Time came to turn our back upon the “North Country” and so, regretfully we returned our sites on home and work and fetching our dear sweat dog from her visit to the spa (kennel).  No one would say our trip was a restful respite, but that’s not why we go to the places we choose.  We go to see and to do, and are grateful for the road that led north.   

A view few will venture to see.  5.5 miles of private unimproved
single lane road and a two mile hike along the top of the cliffs
brought us a chance to see Lake Superior from near
Montreal Falls 

We're going in!
University students enlarged the drainage tunnel in the Quincy
Copper Mine, Hamilton, MI.
We went a mile into the side of the mountain and reached
the old mine's seventh level.
The air is COLD (42 Degrees) and water is dripping from above
The 85 levels below are now flooded