2023 – Page 2 – Kline Road Trips

Fort Wilkins

August 14, 2023August 15, 2023 Amy Kline

Today was a rare day in our road trip traditions. Jeff did not have to drive at all! Our campground was surrounded by a beautiful trail and Fort Wilkins, one of the most un-strategic forts that the American military ever built in this country.

We walked to the trail from our campsite and followed it around to the beach very near the end of the Keweenaw Peninsula. We zoomed in our cameras to take pictures of the Copper Harbor Lighthouse (you have to take a boat cruise to get up close to it). The beach was all rocks and pebbles so we all had fun trying out the Rock Identifier App to find out the kids of cool rocks we were finding. A lot of it was basalt, but we also found different kinds of jaspers, sandstone, rhyolite, and a few agates.

The trail led to Fort Wilkins, built in 1844 as way to keep law and order during the Copper Rush and as a result of the treaty where the Ojibwe lost their land to the United States. The Ojibwe survived by assimilating and moving inland to more remote areas rather than violence, and the fort was so remote, not many white settlers actually settled there. Meanwhile, all the soldiers left in 1846 to go fight in the war against Mexico and then the Civil War. It was used for a few years after the Civil War and then was abandoned by the military. In the 1920’s it became a Michigan State Park and a lot of reconstruction was done during the Great Depression by the Works Project Administration (WPA).

It was not crowded at all and had lots of informative signs to look at as you walked in and out of the buildings. After we were done with our wanderings, we went to the Campground store to get ice cream, then walked back to our campsite to relax. A nice relaxing day!

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Mineral Museum

August 14, 2023 Amy Kline

We only had about an hour to drive today so we visited the A. E. Mineral Musuem at Michigan Tech as our main activity for the day. It was very interesting! This whole area became what it is today due to the mining industry so there were a lot of examples of different minerals found around here. I was surprised to find so many displays from places around the globe too! A lot of rock and mineral collectors donated their collections to this museum over the years.

I obviously am fascinated by geology so I read every single placard (much to the boys’ frustration, LOL). Jeff can use some of the info in his curriculum so he was especially interested in the process of mining and the tools that they showed. The boys walked through the museum, appreciated the florescent rocks display, huge geode, and petrified wood, then sat and waited for us to finish-the curse of being teachers’ kids!

After the museum, we had a nice drive to Fort Wilkins State part on the very tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Once everything was leveled and set up, we enjoyed relaxing by the fire, reading, cross stitching, and playing on screens a bit. No cell signal at all, so refreshing!

After “camping Mac and Cheese” Carson and I walked down to the beach with out black light flashlights to look for sodalites, called Yooper Lights, which are rocks that are supposed to glow orange. We didn’t find anything but had a great time trying.

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Pictured Rocks Boat Cruise-Amazing!

August 13, 2023August 13, 2023 Amy Kline

We woke up to much calmer waters so we’re able to go our our tour this morning before we left town. It was so great!

We packed up the camper and all our stuff and got to the boat launch about 15 minutes before it left. Most people were already waiting in line so we were left with inside seats. We were definitely ok with that after braving the rain and choppy waters in the ferry from Mackinac Island! And it did start raining lightly as soon as we left the dock.

We had a great view from our seats and I took a million pictures. The minerals are what makes the different colors as water filters through the rocks. The water is cool aqua color too. Kayakers are getting very close to the cliffs, which is on my bucket list (though I am so glad we were warm and dry on this cold, rainy morning).

We saw the iconic Pictured Rocks arch, the Miner’s Castle, from the water today. It’s impressive either by land or water! We also went past the painted coves and rocks where iron, copper, and lime leaked out of the rock and oxidized to make all the colors. Rainbow Cave is named because it rains inside the cave, but we couldn’t tell because it was raining outside the cave at the moment. Battleship Rocks is where a bunch of outcroppings look like battle ships lined up in a row. Another outcropping is called Flower Vase, as it looks like a vase.

The waters were calm enough for the captain to take us into Chapel Cove. Jeff was very impressed at the driving skills it took to squeeze into this tight spot with just inches to spare on each side. We also saw Chapel Rock, with just one tree living on the outcropping, it’s roots reaching out over open water to the mainland. An arch had fallen years ago, but yet the tree lives on.

Lastly, we saw Spray Falls, a 70 foot waterfall that is too remote to see over land. Beautiful!

On the way back to the dock, the captain spotlighted the East Channel Lighthouse, built to help ships get safely to Munising Bay.

We didn’t make it to Grand Island this time, but we will make sure to do so on the next trip. Sounds like it is a must see with lots of hiking and kayaking opportunities.

It’s was about a 2 hour tour so the rest of the day, we made our way to Houghton where we got a hotel and slept in real beds and took nice long showers. We did make a couple stops along the way to see the ore docks in Marquette. It was raining so Jeff just jumped out to snap a couple pictures and then we were on our way. The ore docks are very impressive and I can imagine how busy they were back in the mining days.

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