Friday, September 16, 2011

Water, waterfalls, and a jar of jam

August 17, 2009

From our hotel under the lift bridge in Hancock, Michigan, we took Hwy 41 to 203, which snakes along Portage Lake to McLain State Park.

We spent a lot of time wandering the beach, walking around the many picnic areas and recreation areas, drove through the campground. I think I convinced Himey that we need to try camping here next year. They have running water, electricity and hot showers, for Pete’s sake. It’s just like being at home only with fantastic views of Lake Superior. They even have mini-cabins for rent if the camping thing is too traumatic.

After McLain our next stop was the Calumet Township Park. Again, it was right on Lake Superior, had a beautiful beach, some sand and some rocks to pick. I almost lost my sandals in the water when I had to go wading in to rinse off some rocks. Himey was waiting for me to fall in.

The weather is beautiful, a little warm inland in the sun, but on the Lake, there was a little breeze keeping it comfortable. Not a cloud in the sky.

After getting gas in Calumet, we next pulled over at Eagle River Falls. The falls is over an old abandoned dam and really pretty. This is one of the few places that I have a picture of from when I was a kid. That picture turned out really well, the water was higher than. The neat thing about the falls in Eagle River is that you can practically see it from your car; nice for people who can’t hike some rabbit path through the woods, but not a good thing for me, because I like to explore.

Jacobs Falls was twenty minutes later. Again, you can see it from your car, and I mean right from your car, because the falls is twenty feet from Hwy 26 and then the stream goes under the road. There really isn’t a good place to park right there, but just a hundred feet or so down the road there is a parking lot for Jampot, the gift shop of the monks of the Society of St. John. I don’t remember it being here before, but their newsletter says that they have been there for 25 years. I will have to study my notes from previous trips and see if I mention it at all. We naturally had to buy goodies from the monks.

The Lake Superior shoreline at McLain State Park
Eagle River Falls in lovely downtown Eagle River, Michigan
Jacob Falls, just down the road from the Jampot

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