Sault Ste. Marie to Newberry

With cool, sunny weather, we drove to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Whitefish Point Light Station. Both the museum and lighthouse/light tower are part of a complex of buildings on lakeside property. (The lighthouse was built during Abraham Lincoln's administration). Buildings exhibit artifacts from shipwrecks, including the bell from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank 18 miles from here.  Historic buildings have fascinating displays on the why of the many Lake Superior shipwrecks, and the history of the many rescues. The stories were poignant and interesting.

Whitefish Point is called the Graveyard of the Great Lakes, with 550 known shipwrecks, most in this area. Another nickname for the area is Shipwreck Coast. Three main reasons:
1. Lake Superior is the coldest, deepest, and largest of the great lakes, with violent, fast-forming storms with towering waves.
2. Ships since the 1800's are heavily laden with copper and iron ore/taconite. As the ships go East, all commercial vessels funnel past Whitefish's narrow choke-point, so there are numerous ships in a congested traffic situation.
3. Poor visibility is common from fog, snow, storms, and fires; leading to many collisions or groundings.

We stopped for a nearby lunch at food truck, beside the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere for fresh Lake Superior fish. Delish!!!!

Our next stop was Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Unlike previous hikes, this one was completely paved and handicap accessible, all through lovely forest. At the end of the paved trail/road, the descent to the falls was a zigzag of newly-built, very long, gently sloped ramps down the cliffside to a large, well-built viewing area for the falls. We enjoyed this stroll very much! There was another viewing area further upriver with no ramps, just 180 steps straight down and 180 steps back. Charlie eagerly tackled the challenge of the steps, while Jane and I ambled at a leisurely pace back to the car. We were all quite satisfied today!!!!Read more