Keweenaw Penninsula

Brrr! Today was windy and chilly, hovering between 50-57 degrees with a brisk wind. Our goal today was to explore the Keweenaw Penninsula, driving from Calumet to the tippy top of the penninsula at Copper Harbor and then back. Our first stop was Eagle River and Falls. We stood atop the new bridge erected next to the old wooden one from 1915. And hustled out of the wind to the car. Back on the road, just beyond Eagle Harbor, we stopped at a roadside view of the Eagle Harbor lighthouse across the bay. A friendly man came out of his house to guide us to a better view hidden in the trees at the waterline. He regaled us with stories as we shivered in the wind (he had no coat and seemed impervious). He showed us Northern lights pics on his phone, and, when we parted, we lamented that we never got his name.

Next, Charlie navigated us up a mountain road, higher and higher through forests, until, at the top, we finally had a view. Even more windy up there, we looked around and jumped back in the car!

The furthest point for us was Copper Harbor, population 6,000. We walked through Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, a restored 1844 military outpost from the copper rush era, abandoned in 1844 due to the Mexican-American war, then briefly reactivated after the Civil War. It has been a Michigan state park since the 1930s. Before heading back, we went for a stroll along a rocky beach, admiring the spectacular scenery before hurrying back to the car and out of the wind.

We returned back to Calumet, where we did laundry, and visited interesting buildings and sites we had noticed yesterday. These included
1. Red stone buildings (common in town) - locally quarried Jacobsville sandstone from Lake Superior's shores. These historic buildings in Calumet were constructed from 1885-1910
2. Mosaic stone and brick buildings, formerly copper company headquarters. This architecture features a multi-toned mosaic exterior of field stone, a mix of light and dark mine waste rock (basalt), red sandstone, and red brick trim, laid by Italian stone masons. It is eye-catching and unique.
3 Abandoned buildings. We saw several old, empty, dilapidated buildings that seem to show Calumet's copper mining boom and bust cycle. The area had a peak population of 40,000 in 1900 with the city population of almost 5000. Now, it is 600-700!
4. A massive railroad snowplow! Clear rail lines were essential for copper production (moving people, equipment, and supplies for the mines With up to 300 inches of snow each year, a steam engine pushed the Russell snowplow through snowdrifts.Read more