2016 Travels, Kayaking the Turtle Flambeau Flowage, WI

Kayaking the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in Wisconsin. This large body of water on the map got our attention so as we traveled into northern Wisconsin. We decided to camp there and spend a few days kayaking. The flowage is extensive with many islands and slow-moving waterways. There are numerous primitive campsites on the islands that offer many days of wilderness kayak or canoeing trips. Lodges, cabins and cafes can be found along a few shorelines were there are roads.

Our campsite at the Falls Lake County Park.

We selected the Falls Lake County Park at the northern end of the Flowage near Mercer, WI. The park offered electric sites for $27 per night and had flush toilets and dump and water. We took a site in the tent loop with no hookups and vault toilets for $17 per night. Our site was on the Turtle River, had a beautiful view, sun for our solar, and a path down to the water were we could launch our kayak.

A view of the Turtle River from our site.

We were here in mid-September after the busy season and had the campground all to ourselves.

The Turtle River Flambeau Flowage from our kayak launch.

We launched our kayak and paddled down the Turtle River about a mile on a broad calm channel.

Paddling down the Turtle River

We see Bald Eagles along the river.

Bird-life is abundant and we saw Bald Eagles, Loons and Great Blue Herons.

Calm paddling on trough the channels and around the islands of the Turtle River Flambeau Flowage.

When the Turtle River enters the Flowage it joins with the Little Turtle and Flambeau Rivers to create large bodies of water, channels and islands. The area is so extensive it requires multi-day trips to explore it. Much of the area can only be accessed by boat.

Retuning to camp.

After a day of paddling we return to camp. Mid-September was a great time to be here. There were only a few power boats on the water and no bugs. We imagine that the main channels are very busy during the summer.

Join us next time as we travel to Sparta, Wisconsin to ride the Elroy to Sparta State Trail, the first Rails to Trails bike path.

Jackie

2016 Travels, Sault Ste. Marie, Iroquois Lighthouse, Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Pictured Rocks Nat'l Lake Shore.

Sault Ste. Marie, the turn-around point in our travels. We reach Sault Ste. Marie, the turn-around point in our travels, in time to spend the Labor Day Weekend. Campground reservations were necessary for the big weekend. We selected the Aune Osborn Campground, a city owned facility along the St. Marys River. Some sites are river front and you can sit at your rig and watch the freighters go by. The sites are water & electric and there's a dump station and water tower. There are very nice laundry and restrooms facilities, and individual shower rooms. The cost was $30/night. I don't have a photo of the campground but imagine a big lawn with pedestals. Over the Labor Day weekend every site was filled and the lawn became a small city.

Jim watches the Manitoulin enter the lock.

What we liked about the campground was htat it was close to downtown. We walked the two miles from the campground to the Soo Locks in downtown Sault Ste. Marie at the head of the St. Marys River, the passage between Lake Heron and Lake Superior. The locks raise ships 21 feet from the river channel which was once impassable rapids, to the level of Lake Superior and lower ships going from Superior down the St. Marys. The locks can accommodate 1000+ ft. freighters. There is a visitor center with informative displays on the history and how the locks operate. A multi-level viewing platform along the locks lets people watch ships being raised and lower. This was fun for us because we'd never seen these big freighters before.

The Manitoulin in the lock waiting to be raised. Only the cabin is visible above the lock.

When we arrived the Manitoulin was just entering the locks. We watched while the water filled the lock and lifted her. At first we could only see the cabin above the lock. It took about 20 minutes for the lock to fill and lift her. When the lock was full we could see the hull. The lock opened and the freighter continued into Lake Superior.

The lock is filled and we can see the hull of the Manitoulin in the lock.

After visiting Soo Locks we go across the street for the VFW Friday Night Fish Fry recommended by the campground staff. You get a generous plate of tasty white fish, baked potato, coleslaw, beans and desert for only $15. It goes to a good cause and the folks are very nice. The hall was packed.

Jim anticipates dinner at the VFW Friday Night Fish Fry.

Aune Osborn Campground has unique entertainment. We found a website where locations of the ships is reported. The campground was only 2 miles down river from the locks and we could estimate the time they'd be arriving. We often heard the ships horn as they approached then the campers would gather at the bank to watch them go by. It was quite a sight and especially rewarding when the captain would blow a salute to the spectators. A friend of mine once worked on a freighter and said it was just as exciting to see all the people gathered along the banks to watch them go by. Almost all the ships going up river where riding high in the water so they must have been empty.

Camper gather along the banks of the St. Marys River at the Aune Osborn Campground to watch the Stewart J. Cort.

Ship Spotting. There are books and websites about the freighters and ships of the Great Lakes and people keep lists of what they've seen. Kind of like my birding lists. I'd have a list too if I lived close enough to see the ships regularly.

Burns Harbor.

One of the largest freighters is the Burns Harbor at over 1,000 ft. long.

A cute little girl takes the measure of the Burns Harbor.

The Burns Harbor heads for Soo Locks.

We spent day at the Museum Ship, Valley Camp, only a mile walk from the campground. There's a lot to learn here about freighters, crew, navigation, equipment and more. The entire hull is a museum. We walked the deck and saw the pilot house, crew quarters, kitchen, dining hall and engine room. High marks for this museum.

The Museum Ship Valley Camp.

The Museum Ship Valley Camp.

On the deck of the Valley Camp.

The pilot house.

Inside the pilot house.

Looking along the length of the freighter from the pilot house.

The exhibits inside the hull of the Valley Camp.

A display chronicles the  events of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

A life boat from the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Our strategy for seeing the rest of Michigan is different from our travels to Sault Ste. Marie. Coming here we followed US Highway 2 from Duluth, WI. It's an east/west route along the Lake Michigan side of the Upper Peninsula. Going back to the west we'll take a meandering route along the Lake Superior side of the UP.

The Point Iroquois Lighthouse.

Leaving Sault Ste. Marie we follow Lakeshore Dr., a scenic little road that follows along the shore of Whitefish Bay. Our first stop is the Point Iroquois Lighthouse preserved and operated by the Hiawatha National Forest. It's the last light before the bay narrows to become the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie.

The view from the top of the Point Iroquois Lighthouse.

The Point Iroquois Lighthouse has a gift shop and visitor center in the original structure. It's free but donations are appreciated to maintain this historic site. We climbed the spiral stair to get the view from the top looking out across Whitefish Bay toward Sault Ste. Marie.

The living room of the light keepers house. It seems like a family still lives there.

Rooms in the light keepers house are filled with artifacts for the 50's. It's a comforting look back in time. I was just a little kid then but there's so much that's familiar, much like my grandmother's house.

The kitchen in the light keepers house.

The kitchen in the light keepers house. Makes me want to sample all those baked goods.

When we get to highway 123 we turn north to Whitefish Point to see the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Lighthouse.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

The Great Lakes Ship Wreck Museum has great displays, histories and artifacts from ship wrecks over the centuries. There is a 15-min. film about the raising of the bell in 1995 from the bow of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald with the help of Canada and some high-tech diving gear. The bell is on display at the museum. It was replaced on the bow of the wreck by a bell with the names of the 29 crew members engraved on it. It was closure for the family members to officially have a burial for the ones they lost. The wreck is now a grave site. The film also includes a reenactment of the last terrifying hours before the ship sank. It's hard to leave the theater with a dry eye even after all this time.

A plaque about the raising of the bell.

The original bell from the bow of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

One of many displays about the history of the ships lost on the Great Lakes.

Other displays in the museum talk about equipment used in salvage operations.

New technology. The diving equipment used to raise the Edmund Fitzgerald bell.

Old diving technology for underwater salvage.

One of the amazing lighthouse technologies of its time on display here is this Second-Order Fresnel Lens. This lens is 9 ft. in diameter and weights 3,500 lbs. The plaque tells where the light was located and how it worked.

The White Shoal Lens, a Second-Order Fresnel Lens.

This Second-Order Fresnel Lens is 9 ft. in diameter and weights 3,500 lbs.

We toured the Whitefish Point Light Station. The light keepers house was fully furnished for the 1800's time period.

The Whitefish Point Light Station.

A bedroom in the light keepers home.

The light keepers kitchen.

A cozy sitting room with entertainment.

A plaque about Whitefish Point, the Graveyard of the Great Lakes.

The deck at Whitefish Point overlooking Lake Superior.

A U.S. Coast Guard rescue rowboat.

Other exhibits in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum complex contain other Great Lakes exhibits such as this Coast Guard rescue rowboat, quick and maneuverable and rowed by 6 men.

Modern shipwreck salvage gear, Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

And last but not least, with all do respect to the Edmund Fitzgerald, a lego model.

A lego model of the Edmund Fitzgerald. If I remember right it was
about 6 to 7 ft. long but I don't remember how many legos.

After spending most of the afternoon at the Museum we found Three Lakes, a small primitive campground in the Hiawatha National Forest. No hookups, vault toilet and water from a hand pump. As primitive as they come. The cost was $16/night. $8 w/Senior Pass. Half the campground had been closed and retuned to nature probably because it was little used. There's much to be appreciated in a primitive campground after a busy weekend in a fulled-to-capacity destination park. There were a few other rigs on the other side of the loop but we had the place pretty much to ourselves. It was so quiet we could hear the mushrooms grow.

Three Lakes Campground in the Hiawatha National Forest, MI.

Speaking of mushrooms. We found and abundance them at Three Lakes CG and they were huge.

A funnel shaped mushroom of which I don't know the name.

The beautiful Death Angel which I do know and the name tells it like it is.

We travel west on Highway 58 along the Pictured Rocks National Seashore. There are some outstanding sights here including the Grand Sable Dunes and the Au Sable Light Station as well as the Pictured Rocks, colorful banded cliffs along Lake Superior.

Grand Sable Dunes, 200 ft. high boarder Lake Superior on the Pictured Rocks National Seashore.

We take a campsite at the Lower Hurricane River Campground in Pictured Rocks. The campground is primitive with vault toilets. No dump or water are available. The cost is $14/night. $7 w/Senior Pass. Most sites are small and confined by the forest and this is why we like our small rig. We can fit into almost any place.

The Au Sable Light Station.

There is a pleasant 1.5 mile walk along the lake to the Au Sable Light Station.

Our campsite at the Lower Hurricane Campground in the Pictured Rocks National Seashore.

A path goes from the campground to the bridge over the Hurricane River. This is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

The Hurricane River tumbles its way into Lake Superior.

The bridge over the Hurricane River is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

This bridge over the Hurricane River is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail. We met several backpacker who were hiking the trail the length of the Pictured Rocks shoreline.

Monarch Butterflies can be found here.

There is access from the campground to a beautiful sandy beach at the mouth of the Hurricane River were it empties into Lake Superior. We sat on the shore waiting for the sunset. A few people came to take pictures and left leaving us with the beach all to ourselves. It's after Labor Day and the crowds are gone.

The empty sandy beach at the mouth of the Hurricane River.

The sun begins to set on Lake Superior.

Jim and I wait on the sand for the best sunset colors.

The sun sets over quiet waters.

We traveled beautiful scenic Highway 58 through Pictured Rocks to Miners Castle Information and  Center and Overlook on the west side of the National Lakeshore. Highway 58 would be a fantastic bicycle ride but it was a rainy day and a missed opportunity.

Miners Castle perches on a point above the colorful banding of Pictured Rocks and emerald water in a shallow bay.

A trail leads from the Information Center to a platform to view the Miners Castle rock formation and the banded Pictured Rock cliffs. The North Country National Scenic Trail passes through here and offers nice hiking along the cliffs through lush forest.

Our lake-front campsite at Au Train Lake Campground in the Hiawatha National Forest.

A destination we've had in mind while planning our travels is Au Train Lake and kayaking the Au Train River. We camp at the Au Train Lake Campground in the Hiawatha National Forest. It has nice large sites separated by stands of trees for privacy. There are vault toilets, water at taps but no hookups or dump station. The cost is $18/night. $9 w/Senior Pass. We've found that the Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forest have created great campgrounds. Sites are widely space to offer privacy and naturalness, all interior roads are paved and some of the larger destinations campgrounds have showers and other facilities. They do a great job.

A morning bike ride on the smooth pavement from the campground to the village of Au Train.

At Au Train we can bike, hike and kayak right from the campground. The roads are smooth and we take a nice bike ride through the emerald forest to the little community of Au Train on the other side of the lake.

Later in the afternoon we go birding and hiking. The Hiawatha National Forest created a wonderful 2-mile trail they call the "Song Bird Trail". There is a viewing platform overlooking the lake and plaques along the trail featuring a few of the most frequently seen birds. The trail meanders through lush forest of maple and pine, moss and fern, and tricks of light. Not many birds calling in September. Early summer is probably the best birding but it was a beautiful hike.

The Song Bird Trail meanders through the forest.

The trail borders a little creek that flows into the lake.

Signs along the trail tell about the most frequently seen birds.

Mushroom condos at the base of a tree along the Song Bird Trail.

The next day we kayak Au Train Lake and a short way down the Au Train River. We would have gone further but clouds were lowering and rain was forecast. By the time we got back upriver the winds had come up pushing waves across the lake. We dug deep with our paddles and made an exhilarating run back across the lake into the wind and waves as a light rain began to dimple the water.

Setting out on a kayak across Au Train Lake before the afternoon rain.

Kayaking down the slow meander of the Au Train River.

There has been days of overcast and rain in the past week since Labor Day and we're forced to come out of the wilds occasionally and find campgrounds with power. Between the dense forest canopy and overcast days it's a challenge to keep our batteries charged. One of the campgrounds we stayed at was the Van Riper State Campground on Highway 41 as we were heading to the Keweenaw Peninsula. The park had nice showers and restrooms, no full hookups but there was a dump and water station. The cost was $22 a night for a site with electric.

It was a weekend, they had one site available when we arrived and a campground Halloween Party going on. It was fun walking around  looking at all the site decorations and the kids dressed as everything from princesses to rubrics cubes.

Halloween Weekend decorations at Van Riper State Campground.

More Halloween décor at Van Riper State Campground.

On our way up the Keweenaw Peninsula to Copper Harbor on Highway 41 we found a roadside park with a half-mile walk to Canyon Falls on the Sturgeon River.

The trail to Canyon Falls on the Sturgeon River.

Rapids on the Sturgeon River.

The Sturgeon shows its power just before the falls.

Canyon Falls on the Sturgeon River.

The chasm below the falls.

Along the path to Canyon Falls we saw several large trees that had grown on top of a boulder once covered in soil. Erosion left the boulder and a tangle of roots exposed as a beautiful piece of natural sculpture.

Erosion exposed a tangle of roots and the boulder a group of trees grew on.

We've heard of the beauty of the Keweenaw Peninsula so we took a scenic loop drive north from Houghton up Highway 41 to Copper Harbor at the tip of the peninsula. The road curves gracefully for about 45 miles beneath a canopy of green, past lakes and little communities. It was hard to take photos that would capture serenity of the scenery in the passage through this dazzling green tunnel. We took Highway 26 via Eagle River along Lake Superior back to 41 for the return leg of the loop. Most of the property along lake shores in this part of the county is privately owned including Lake Superior. There was only one place along 26 with public access to a beach.

The picnic pavilion at Gay.

We camped at the Lake  Linden Recreation Area, a city park in the town of Lake Linden on Highway 26 north of Houghton. A very nice little campground on Torch Lake at the edge of town. There were nice restrooms and free shower facilities. No full-hookups but there was a dump station with water. It was $25 for sites with electric along the lake. $15 for a no-hookup tent site on top of a hill overlooking the lake. The sites were spacious and had good solar exposure and it was only a block to walk into town. It's a great place to stay while exploring the Keweenaw Peninsula.

The artist who did the pavilion sculptures.

We spent a morning bicycling a nice 36-mile loop through the countryside from Lake Linden to Gay. This little community had only one establishment proudly proclaimed as the Gay Bar. Wish I'd taken a pic of the sign. It also had a nice picnic pavilion at the park for a lunch break. Both sides of each support was carved with a sculpture in memory of someone.

Owls carved in the support of the pavilion in Gay, MI

Eagle carved in the support of the pavilion in Gay, MI

We left the Keweenaw and took the scenic route through the Porcupine Mountains State Forest back to Black River Harbor where our travels began through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan three weeks earlier. We found a free 2-site primitive campground along the Black River Harbor road north of Bessemer, MI were we spent our last night in the UP.

A little 2-site primitive campground on the Black River Harbor road.

What we liked about Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We liked the Ottawa and Hiawatha National Forest campgrounds, tucked into the lushness and beauty of the north woods. They offered us opportunities and easy access for bicycling, hiking and kayaking. Our favorite destinations were Mackinaw Island, Sault Ste. Marie and Whitefish Point Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as well as the Lighthouses we visited. Loved seeing Lake Superior. We enjoyed driving through the countryside and little towns. The towns were so tidy and well-kept. People really had pride in their communities and homes. The best culinary delight was the variety of smoked fish fresh off the boat the previous day.  Sure can't get that at home.

We found that the most useful maps were the Michigan Superior Region Road and Bicycling Guides. There are East, Central and West editions that cover the entire peninsula. The maps give lots of details and highlight road and trail suitability for bicycling. They're published by MDOT and are available at welcome centers for free. We picked them up at the welcome center on Highway 2 near Ironwood in the west region of the UP.

We leave the UP and head south to Wisconsin. We have a few bucket list locations in mind. These are kayaking the Turtle Flambeau Flowage and bicycling the Elroy-Sparta State Trail, the very first Rails to Trails.

Join us next time.
Jackie

Jackie on the trail to Canyon Falls on the Sturgeon River, MI.