Paradise to Munising

This morning I drove West along the UP. It was only an hour and a half drive, but I knew I could not check in until 3 PM, so I looked for stops along the way.

My first stop was in the small town of Grand Marais. In spite of the strong winds, people were at the beach collecting stone, shells and sea glass. This appeared to be a serious pastime. Everyone was outfitted in rubber boots, with long handled nets and buckets. I wandered down a small street and found Stella’s, a small store/food truck selling coffee drinks and gift items. I picked up a double espresso, chatted with some locals and moved on to Sable Falls. This was a lovely local spot. Although there were stairs and a boardwalk, it was less curated than some of the more more highly-trafficked spots. Although it was already late morning, I was lucky that the exposure put the falls themselves in the shade.

My next planned stop was Chapel Beach Falls. The parking lot for the trail head was about 20 minutes down a dirt road. Apparently this did not deter anyone as I arrived to a full parking lot and probably a half mile of cars parked down the road. It was a zoo with pedestrians clogging the road and cars trying to get through. It was midday at this point and I had no idea if the falls would even be worthwhile, or how long a hike it would be to reach them. I decided to call it and turned around and drove out. It may be a spot worth further investigating for another time. At least it was a pleasant drive through the forest. Up here, the leaves are starting to turn, giving some color to the unrelieved green that I have seen all summer.

I continued on to Munising, which has its own falls, just a few hundred feet from the parking lot. The falls themselves are somewhat anemic, but again, at least the exposure is such that they were in the shade, even in mid-afternoon.

I arrived at my lodging for the next two nights, The Sunset Motel on the Bay . Again, it is quite basic, even more so than my lodging in Paradise. However it is clean and comfortable and each room opens out on to a porch facing the water. That makes up for a lot. And the staff is personable and helpful, which also counts for a lot.

You might be wondering if I will try to hit the Northernmost point of the continental U.S . This turns out to be a geographic anomaly. It is the only point in the continental United States that lies north of the 49th Parallel. It is technically part of Minnesota, but it is not connected to the rest of Minnesota by land. Apparently, this 116 square mile section of land is only part of the United States due to an incorrect understanding of where the source of the Mississippi River was and a mistake made by the first mapmakers in the area. You have to pass through a remote section of Canada to get to it. This does not seem like a worthwhile goal to me, so I will be skipping that particular check box. And looking ahead, the Westernmost point of the continental U.S . is Cape Alva, a five hour drive from Seattle, then a three mile hike. I will probably take a pass on this location as well to concentrate on more meaningful destinations.

Tomorrow I have a cruise scheduled to view the Pictured Rocks, which is the main draw for this area.