Michigan, Day 23...Glazed and Confused

 Friday, June 23, 2023

     According to the Google, I had two and a half hours of driving to the next motel.  Therefor, there was plenty of time to go off exploring.  But first, breakfast.  I asked at the front desk and they told me the same as the Google.  If I wanted a hot breakfast, I had to go back to Ontonagon.  Sure, it was only four miles in the wrong direction, but well worth it.  

    This sign was across the street from the cafe.  At some point, I still want to drive to Maine, and take Hwy 1 all the way south to Key West.  I've driven chunks of it enough times.  Now I was thinking Hwy 45 from here to Mobile.

      The owners of the Sunshine Motel suggested a place called Syl's Cafe. 

     It's a typical small, local cafe.  Missy was great and just seemed to know exactly when to check with me and when to let me be.  And the breakfast, delicious.  I mentioned the recommendation from the motel and Missy told me the owners are regulars and "a lot of fun."  Yeah, I could see that.

      The day's route would eventually take across the Wisconsin border and back a few times. 

     Crazier still, with the way Eastern and Central time zones are drawn, I'd be flip flopping back and forth all morning.  Map courtesy of timetemperature.com

     I left with some extra coffee to go and headed back out towards Hwy 64.  Generally, I don't like to backtrack, but it was my last chance to see Lake Superior for a few days.  These are from a small municipal park named after T.A. Green who donated the land.

     You never want to see this on the side of the park's restrooms.  

     Hwy 64 turns south, eventually taking you to the shores of Lake Gogebic.  I didn't stay very long, just long enough to check on a few possible waterfalls in my future. 

     I chose to pass on Marshall Falls.  Some of the reviews mentioned "bushwacking" and poorly marked trails.  I tried for Yondata Falls, but never saw the turnoff for County Road 105.

     Instead, I drove east on Hwy 2, eventually finding County Road 527.  From there it was a short drive to the pull off for Kakabika Falls.  I crossed this bridge and wondered when it had been last inspected.

     There was a wide pull out at the trailhead, and an easy walk back into the woods to the falls...

     There's not much to see passing through Watersmeet, at least by day.  As far back as the mid '60s people have been reporting mysterious lights in the distance.  They became known as the Paulding Lights.  There's even a small parking area by the best pace to view the lights.  Of course the speculation ran from simply traffic on Hwy 45 to ghostly apparitions.  In 2010, some students from Michigan Tech solved the mystery for good.  It's vehicular traffic, nothing more.  You can read about their investigation here:

     In 1885, a search for iron ore also found giant animal bones,  They turned out to be mastodons.   They named one of the mines after their discovery, as well as the town.  It's one of those towns you drive through without thinking about it.  Except that I saw this...

      Google had a mention of a place called Twin Falls.  It was in Vagabonds Park, not too far ahead.  I did find the park.  There's a half mile trail to what I thought was the falls. 

     Instead, I came across this dam.

     If there are falls below, I didn't see anything that looked like a trail. 

 The silver lining turned out to be that bridge in the distance.

     Back at the parking lot, there's a trail that leads northward.  Obviously this sign has been here a while...

        The trail is what used to be Hwy 2.  And this bridge was a crossing between Michigan and Wisconsin.

      Iron Mountain is exactly what you'd suspect, a former iron mining town.  I had read about a trail to an overlook and went to check it out.  

     At the top of the hill is this marker.  I'm not sure what it all means.

     Head to the right and it's the Millie Hill Bat Cave.  The abandoned mine is thought to be home to a million bats.  

      If you head left, you'll come to the Samuel Bassett Viewing Platform.  Named after the last of Iron Mountain's Civil War veterans, the platform offers a, overlook of the town below.

     Eventually, I made it to the town of Norway, named for the Norway Pine at the original townsite.  Of course they do play it up for the tourists.   There's a replica of a Viking ship on the edge of town.

     My home for the next two nights was the Norway Motel 6.  Decent enough place.  My room was clean and certainly comfortable.  Here on the far end of the hallway, far from the lobby, the wifi never got beyond two bars.  First world problems.  

      

     While it's true I don't follow motorsports and have never been to an actual racetrack, the Norway Speedway does have races every Friday night during the summer.  I didn't know until I drove past the track the next morning.  For a $14 ticket, I probably would have gone.