Day 12
Keeweenaw Peninsula

Heading north from McClain State Park our first stop was the Calumet theatre. The theatre was closed, but a kind city councilman in the adjoining city office let us into to take a quick look at the interior. It had been restored beautifully and was a real treasure. The theatre was constructed in 1900 and was one of the first municipal theatres in America. Live performances are still held here.

As we went further north, the color in the trees became more prominent, but it was still not yet at its peak. Later we were told that the color usually peaks in the first week of October, so we were about a week too early. But it was still beautiful.

This roadside sign reminded us that this is deep snow country, due to lake effect snow caused by the proximity to Lake Superior. The record total winter snowfall is 390 inches and the average total snowfall is 241 inches. Can you imagine shoveling all that snow to clear driveways and sidewalks? They must develop special techniques to deal with it.

One of the places Dick McGarrity told us to look for was the Holy Transfiguration Skete, about halfway between Eagle River and Eagle Harbor. It is a Catholic monastery of the Byzantine Rite and belongs to the Ukrainian Metropoly. It is not something I would have expected to see in the U.P. The grounds were beautiful and the building was very well cared for.

The monks at the monastery run this store, called the Jampot, where they sell various jams they make, as well as baked goods. It is their primary economic activity for supporting themselves.

The lighthouse at Eagle Harbor; it is now a museum.

North of Eagle Harbor we took the Brockway Mountain drive which takes you up to about 700 feet above Lake Superior and gives an excellent view of the Keeweenaw pensinsula. This view is of Copper Harbor with Lake Fanny Hooe to the right.

The lighthouse at Copper Harbor. The original lighthouse was constructed in 1848. It was replaced with this one in 1866. The steel tower to the left of the lighthouse was built in 1933; it is still operating today.

Fort Wilkins State Park just outside Copper Harbor. It was built in 1844 as an army fort to maintain order during the copper rush period. It was abandoned in 1846 and reoccupied in the late 1860s. It has been restored; 12 of the 19 buildings date from the 1840s. The buildings contain very interesting exhibits showing life at the army fort in the 1840s and 1860s periods.

Tomorrow, some of the group is heading for the Porcupine Mountains in the western U.P., but we need to point our Roadtrek south and head home;  we have been gone from home about six weeks. This is the final segment of this webpage on the Roadtrek rally. It has been a great rally; we fully enjoyed being on it and have met some very nice people that we are pleased to call friends.