The Beautiful Keweenaw

 What a pleasure it is to wander through the forest and old mining company diggins in the Keewenaw.  I've explored many of these sites over the years and when someone says they go to a place and feel recharged - well this is one of those places for me.  

The huge expanses of forest, the silence and the lack of a cell phone connection all conspire to creating a beautiful escape from today's crazy world.

A map of the Keweenaw.  Surrounded by Lake Superior and further North than where most Canadians live!

View from the Brockway Escarpment on a beautiful summer morning.  In early mornings fog will roll through this valley.  This feature provides an excellent climate for pine trees and all of the fauna that live in such places.

LOL, I enjoyed a few days in this remodeled chicken coop from the 1860's...

What a view.  The plaque tells the visitor of the history of copper mining in this part of the world.  Float copper was extracted here for over 100 years. Very pure and was a key enabling factor in the electrification of the world.  Often ignored as a historical reality, this find allowed electrification to grow at an exponential rate.  Today the copper is gone, the miners have left and nature has reclaimed this land.

The major North - South Highway known as US-41 starts in this remote place and ends in Florida a world away.

Surrounded by the giant Lake Superior, this land sees an incredible amount of snowfall.  Something called "Lake Effect" makes this a winter wonderland or nightmare depending on how you look at it! This is the famous snow thermometer, the seasons total accumulation is marked by the arrow.  The record accumulation of snow occurred in the 1978-79 winter.  I remember that winter very well.  In one storm I experienced 12 foot high snow drifts.  

An example of the size and therefore age of pine trees is shown here.  This example of a cross section is of a rather young tree in this area.  It is surmised that this example was germinated at as a seed in the year 1500 and cut down for a mining company in 1900.  The mines used this timber to support the overhead rock in tunneling.  Today this forest is protected.

Have you ever seen a war memorial of a boat made out of rock and pipe?  This memorial of the USS Kersarge is part of a memorial.

Hope you liked the pics!  It's been a beautiful summer...

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