What lies beyond the fog

Yooper Trip Station 2: Marquette

Um...Maya, honey, we said pout.

After our 3 days in Mackinaw city, it was time for us to move westward and headed to our 2nd home base in Marquette courtesy of Airbnb. On the agenda to Marquette was a trip to Munising to see Pictured Rocks, Miners Castle and Miners Falls. What's interesting about the Pictured Rocks is that these are cliffs made of formations of PreCambrian and Paleozoic age sandstone and the layers represent different periods of time, sources of sediment, and physical characteristics creating colorful patterns, ergo the name.  We took the 2.5 h ferry cruise that was supposed to take us to Pictured Rocks and other sights, but... nada. The fog was so thick, the captain had to blow his horn every 2 minutes and after an hour in the fog, the boat was finally turned around and we got a refund. Oh well, we tried.

We were undeterred to see the other sights, so we drove to the trail that eventually showed us Miners Castle from 2 overlooks instead of a vantage point from Lake Superior. You know what they say - try and try until the fog lifts... or something to that effect. Sadly, the fog didn't lift and there was no trail that could take us to the Pictured Rocks, so that one will have to be chalked up for our next U.P. trip. BUT, technically, Miners Castle is the most famous formation of the Pictured Rocks, so I guess we saw a bit of it, just not its entirety.




We then took a short 1.2 mile hike to Miners Falls. This falls was fairly easily accessed, light foot traffic, and with 2 look out platforms. Some adventurous souls climbed down to the riverbed, but the slope is steep and slippery and definitely not for us. Although Miners Falls was beautiful, it definitely didn't impress after previously seeing the Tahquamenon Falls. However, the trail itself was a great trail which even the littlest one, our Maya, enjoyed.

We had bad weather on our second day at Marquette, which forced us to do some indoor activities.  Thankfully, Marquette had a great Children's museum.  While a lot smaller in size than the Children's museum in Ann Arbor or in St. Paul, the museum at Marquette offered unique features. For one, they had rescued animals - boa constrictor, which you can see is wound on Tamar's shoulders, turtles, geckos, bearded dragons, turtle doves etc. It was exactly what we needed, and the kids were happy! 

When the weather cleared up the following morning, we went to Presque Isle Park, took a short walk, and looked for agates.  Maya found some small ones. We also soaked in a great view of the Marquette lighthouse. You can actually walk to it, but at your own risk. The waves and winds were fairly strong that day and no one dared walk the catwalk to the lighthouse.  The  

The sun eventually came out and we went to get a good long hike at Sugarloaf mountain.  Initially, Maya was not feeling up to hiking so hubby and Tamar went ahead.  I was kind of bummed out, but wasn't going to force it. But after snacking in the car, she decided she wanted to follow dad and big sister. So, up we went the easy trail. There's a difficult trail choice which was steeper, but shorter. The easy trail was longer, but tamer and with stairs for the steep parts, so Maya could manage it.  When I said stairs, I meant many, many stairs. About 4/5 of the way, she had enough of the stairs and didn't want to go anymore. Argggh!!! I can't go this far and not see the peak.... I resorted to cajoling and bribing. She agreed to do it for chocolates. What can I say? She's my daughter through and through.  At the top, what a reward! We got a a stunning view! There are 3 viewing platforms where you can face southward toward Marquette and you can see the Superior Dome,  the "world’s largest wooden dome", on another platform you can get a view of Little Presque Isle island, and on the third, you get a great view of Hogsback Mountain. At the top, you can't miss the monument erected long ago by Boy Scout Troop 1. It commemorates their assistant scoutmaster, Bartlett King, who established the local troop, and later fought and died in World War I. Supposedly, his troop members built the memorial so that King's mother could see it from her home on Marquette. 

But the best part?  Maya didn't give up, and she was so proud of herself!

Then it was time to move on to our 3rd home base near the Porcupine Mountains. Along the way, we stopped at Canyon Falls. It's a really pretty gorge, and lots of great trees, but we couldn't stay long since we had a ways to go and dinnertime was quickly approaching. Still, we're glad we did the side trip and I'm happy to recommend this to those considering this route.