August 25-28, 2009
Enjoy!
Maybe the U.P. is starting to charge for gas in Euros? Or the sign's broke down, as this one was in Ironwood
Leslie alertly observed a special milestone (literally) take place on US-41 near Parent Lake
A closer look...all 7s on the odometer!
During our lunch stop on the way there, at the Tioga Creek rest area near Nestoria, Michigan. This rest area is exactly at the half-way point between our house and Sault Ste. Marie.
The mural painted under the railroad trestle in Ishpeming describes what the area is best known for
One of many scenic views along M-28 in Alger County between Marquette and Munising
Headed down the hill into Munising
Not long after we arrived in the Soo the rain quit, and we saw our first boat. We did most of our picture-taking from this location known as Mission Point. It is Jody's favorite place to take boat pictures, and he's been coming here since 1988. The boat, a barge named the Integrity being pushed by the tug G. L. Ostrander, is in the distance.
Jody photographs the Integrity at Mission Point. In the background is the Sugar Island Ferry, which carries traffic between the mainland and Sugar Island in the St. Mary's River, and farther beyond in the distance lies the eastern neighborhoods of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
The Integrity, loaded with powdered cement and headed for Superior, Wisconsin
Before long the sun comes out and our second boat of the trip comes by. It's the Algosar, a tanker owned by Algoma Tankers of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The Algosar just finished unloading a cargo of gasoline in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and is headed empty back to a refinery in Sarnia, Ontario to load up with more gasoline for delivery to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
One more shot of the Algosar as it heads into stormy skies before we go back to the motel for the night
Back at the motel, Jody listens for more ship traffic on his scanner while Gimli looks on. With that look, Gimli could be a spokes-cat for a safe driving campaign with the motto "Headlights On For Safety"!
Baby spent most of her time in the Soo sleeping right where she did in this picture--on Jody's pillow
Wednesday morning we took the Soo Locks Boat Tour. This was the boat we rode on, the Nokomis
Headed into the MacArthur Lock upbound to the level of Lake Superior
Approaching the Essar Steel mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Leslie enjoying the Soo Locks Boat Tour
Heading back into the MacArthur Lock downbound
The Norgoma, an old passenger ship that was retired from service many years ago, now tied up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
The Ojibway is a supply boat that serves larger Great Lakes ships from this dock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It delivers groceries, linen, and other supplies and equipment.
Back at Mission Point after the boat ride, Jody photographs the Burns Harbor as it approaches coming upbound.
Leslie with the Burns Harbor in the background. The Burns Harbor was bound for Silver Bay, Minnesota to load iron ore. Leslie prefers the newer-style ships such as the Burns Harbor.
Later in the afternoon the Canadian bulk freighter Montrealais comes upbound, headed for Duluth to load iron ore. Jody prefers this more traditional style ore boat with the pilothouse forward. The Montrealais was built in 1962 and is essentially unchanged over its entire 47-year career. It still has its original engine.
In the park at Mission Point there's even a gazebo, and Leslie captured this picture of it along with an exceptionally friendly seagull.
Not long after comes the Lee A. Tregurtha loaded with iron ore headed for the Ford Motor Company plant in Dearborn, Michigan. The Lee A. Tregurtha was built in 1961 using parts of a 1942-vintage ocean going tanker and a new midsection. It was repowered with a Rolls-Royce Diesel engine in 2006 and with the new engine it is the most fuel-efficient ship on the Great Lakes.
On Thursday morning the boat Jody sailed on, the Cason J. Callaway, came upbound, loaded with limestone and bound for the C. Reiss Coal Co. dock in West Duluth. Here is Jody with his former home for one summer in the background
The Cason J. Callaway was built in 1952 and has had several modifications over the years. In 1974 it was lengthened 120 feet; in 1982, it was converted to a self-unloader, and in 2001 it was fitted with fully automated boiler and engine controls that can be operated from the pilothouse. As such, she now operates with an unmanned engine room, and only a few engineers that work "on call" in case of breakdown. Counting the deck crew and galley staff, the Callaway now operates with a crew of under 20. It's a far cry from the crew of 29 that I was part of during the 1990 shipping season.
About an hour later, the Presque Isle came downbound with a load of iron ore. She had spent the early part of the week unloading limestone and then loading iron ore in Duluth and was on its way to Gary, Indiana on this trip. This ship consists of a 974-foot barge with a tug pushing from behind and can carry 57,000 tons of iron ore. The Callaway is 767 feet long and has a capacity of just over 25,000 tons. Both are former members of U.S. Steel's Great Lakes Fleet and now operate for a U.S.-owned subsidiary of Canadian National Railway.
This view gives a good perspective of where we are and how large a 1000-footer is compared to everything else. The Walter J. McCarthy, Jr., another regular Duluth-Superior visitor, is coming downbound with a load of coal. She is passing by the Sugar Island Ferry, and closer in the foreground you can see our car, the white Finnish Cadillac (a.k.a. the Chevrolet Impala). Taking the picture from this area makes it easier to get the whole boat in.
About ten minutes later, the barge Pere Marquette 41 being pushed by the tug Undaunted comes down. The Pere Marquette 41 is the former carferry City of Midland 41 and operated as a combination railroad, automobile, and passenger ferry on Lake Michigan between 1941 and 1988. It was converted to a barge and has been operating in a variety of trades since. The ship made its first ever visit to Duluth in 68 years of Great Lakes service earlier this year.
Here's a picture of the Walter J. McCarthy, Jr., the Pere Marquette 41 with its tug Undaunted, and a small fishing boat. Leslie commented that it looked like a grandparent boat, its child, and then a little baby boat.
We had about a three-hour lull in traffic that we were expecting. Leslie wanted to see Lake Huron since we weren't all that far away, so we took the 120-mile round trip drive from Sault Ste. Marie to Detour and back. This view shows the Presque Isle, a boat we saw earlier in the day, now in the distance on northern Lake Huron and headed west toward Lake Michigan. This picture was taken while driving along M-134 a few miles east of Cedarville, Michigan.
Leslie along the shore of Lake Huron, approximately 8 miles west of Detour and about 35 miles east of the Mackinac Bridge
The map at this rest area along M-134 where the beach picture was taken shows the area at the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula. Sault Ste. Marie is near the top of the picture.
Detour Reef Light, marking the southern end of the St. Mary's River where it empties into Lake Huron, is just off shore from the village and is in the distance as Leslie photographs it from the moving car.
Back in the Soo, the Saginaw is making its approach to the locks. Jody has seen the Saginaw on every trip to the Soo since 2004.
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Baby and Gimli keep Jody company back at the motel
Before we left Friday morning, Gimli--the cat for whom no adventure is too big--figured out a way to leap up to the clothes hanging rack in the motel room without falling off of it or through it.
Before leaving to come home, we made sure the cats got to see (from the security of their carriers) our favorite picture-taking spot at Mission Point. Here's Gimli at Mission Point
Baby looks more like "When are we finally going to leave for home?" as Leslie secures Gimli's carrier with the seat belt
Now westbound headed across the U.P., M-28 stretches out into the distance just west of Hulbert Corners
Approaching the Chippewa County-Luce County line about 50 miles west of Sault Ste. Marie, Jody looks happy that so far the cats have kept down their breakfast.
But it didn't last long, as at about this point approaching the turn-off for Old M-117 (County Road 405) both Baby and Gimli got sick at just about the same time after passing through a winding stretch of highway. We made good use of the rest area about two miles down the road for clean-up.
Coming back through Munising, it is typically cool. The town is surrounded by hills on the west, south, and east, and to the north lies Lake Superior's widest point so it guarantees almost constant off-lake breezes.
Teal Lake in Negaunee looks quiet on a cool, rainy Friday afternoon
Approaching the Peshekee River near Michigamme and Van Riper State Park about 35 miles west of Marquette. This area is prone to flooding during spring snow melt.
A fairly heavy rain has set in near Parent Lake as we approach US-141 and M-28's turn-off to continue west
We took a brief rest stop at the Agate Falls rest area between Trout Creek and Bruce Crossing and took this picture of the underside of the M-28 bridge over the East Branch Ontonagon River. The bridge dates to 1929.
Entering the area known as "Big Valley" about two miles east of Bruce Crossing. It is a broad lowland forming the basin for the several branches of the Ontonagon River and stretches roughly 15 miles across.
A little over 20 miles later, approaching Bergland, a thick area of fog is in the distance that will accompany us for the next hour or so.
On the very first trip I ever made to Michigan when I was 14 years old, we went as far as this spot on Lake Gogebic in Bergland. Here it is on our 2009 trip, and from approximately the same location when we made a day trip to the U.P. on January 10 of this year. First the August view...
...and now the much snowier scene
Fog rises off the relatively warm water of Sunday Lake in Wakefield
Since I (Jody) bought a GPS unit a couple of years ago, it makes trips even more interesting. With it, I've learned that the 90th meridian of longitude--the line halfway between the Prime Meridian running through Greenwich, England and the International Date Line--passes through the bridge (about where the car is parked on the shoulder) coming up at the bottom of this hill between Wakefield and Bessemer. The trip to the Soo spans just under 8 degrees of longitude...our home in Duluth is approximately 92 degrees, 9 minutes west longitude, and our picture-taking spot at Mission Pointin Sault Ste. Marie lies at 84 degrees 18 minutes west longitude.
One of Leslie's favorite landmarks in the Ironwood-Bessemer-Wakefield area, the statue of a skier marking the entrace to Big Powderhorn Mountain ski resort.
Now in Wisconsin, we are starting the long grade down Birch Hill, about eight miles east of Odanah in Ashland County. The Bayfield Peninsula is in the distance.
Chequamegon Bay in Ashland looks mean and murky with the wind and rain
