Knowing a cold weather front with thunderstorms was to move through the area yesterday and today, we decided to rent a car and drive up the Keweenaw Peninsula and visit Copper Harbor, the most northern part of mainland Michigan and a launch point for those intrepid travelers going to Isle Royale, a national wilderness park in the middle of Lake Superior and also a part of the State of Michigan. It was about a three hour drive west, then north, through a lot of wilderness. We had lunch in L’anse, MI then traveled through Houghton across the Portage River into Hancock, then through the iron ore town of Calumet (from whence my father’s family comes) up to the end of US Hwy 41 at Lake Superior and Copper Harbor. It was a scenic ride through hard wood forests, along side the bays of Lake Superior and inland lakes and streams, and finally through the mountains of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Inland weather was sunny and temps were in the low 80’s and gradually dropped to the low 70’s before we arrived at Copper Harbor. In Copper Harbor, in a dense fog mist, the temp was 61’! We have traveled the entire length of US Hwy 41 - from Miami, FL through Atlanta, GA (and very near our house in Vinings!) to Copper Harbor. We went to see the marina and found it to be nearly brand new and just on the edge of town. Several boats of our size were tied up. After visiting a few local shops we decided to go west out of town and check out Eagle Harbor, a harbor of refuge and on the western side of the peninsula. It was a nice, well protected harbor and state DNR folks were studying subsoil samples and determining the suitability for expanded finger docking.

The anticipated weather front had begun to blow into the peninsula as we traveled south back through Calumet, Hancock, Houghton toward Marquette. By the time we neared Marquette we were amongst black storm clouds and steady rain. We had dinner in downtown Marquette and by the time we finished the rain had stopped. We enjoyed a quiet, night with lake fog but clear skies toward land. We could clearly see the half moon and the thousands of stars in the dusk sky toward town but could hardly see the breakwater just to the aft of the boat in the lake.

Today we’ll re-provision, take care of some business and begin preparing for a departure tomorrow for Grand Marais. This is as far west as we will travel Lake Superior. Weather (its uncertainty and patchy dense fog) and remoteness has a bearing in our decision. For example, with the passing storm front today, seas are 5-8 ft, and storm warnings are posted. Our itinerary is to go to Grand Marais tomorrow, wait out another weather front until Sunday, then move on back to the Soo. The boat will soon be needing some regular maintenance and I’ve contacted Walstrom’s in Cheboygan to tend to it. Although we’re far north in the Great Lakes, I’m beginning to think of our trip south and back home.