Thursday, August 17, 2017

2017.08.17-Copper Harbor, MI

2017.08.17-Copper Harbor, MI

This was our first foray into Michigan, which was Iron Mountain, the stop before this one at Copper Harbor.  We stayed along the banks for the Menominee River, the border between Wisconsin and Michigan, another beautiful setting.  Can’t put a finger on it but this area already looks different.

We went to the National World War II Glider museum.  It was interesting because a repurposed Ford Motor Company’s plant built more gliders here than all the other glider manufacturers combined.



We also went to the Cornish Iron Museum at the Chapin mine.  This was interesting because it had the world’s largest Cornish water pump.  As the miners dug deeper around Lake Superior it’s not surprising they hit water and had to pump it out to extract the iron ore.  This machine, built in the 1890s, pumped over 3 million gallons per day from a depth of over 1500 feet!  Not sure you can understand from this picture how big this thing is; the massive main wheel is 40 feet in diameter and weighs 160 tons.



We found the small but, beautiful Fumee water fall just outside town.




On the way back to the coach, we stopped at the area’s ski jump.  Jerry climbed the entire way to the top, 500 steps!!  I only did 425.  Oh well, that was enough for me!  They had rest stops about every 50 steps or so.  I visited every one of them!  Locals claim this is the world’s highest ski jump.  You wouldn’t get us to jump off, skis or no skis.  We had a touch of vertigo just climbing the stairs.



Today we had a rainy, foggy drive to Copper Harbor, Michigan’s northern most point on Lake Superior.  More on this leg of the trip next post, but don’t hold your breath, we have NO cell or data service.  Did we mention this place is remote?  We have to go to the top of a mountain to get cell service.  😉

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