8/23 - Day 10 - Shipwrecks and Waterfalls

As another clear day dawned, we were up at 0-dark-thirty to be on the road in our carpools by 7:15 AM. We had a relatively long ride today, 160 +/- miles, through some beautiful country right along Lake Superior.

Our first stop was the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, on Whitefish Point. Co-located with the Whitefish Point Lighthouse, this was a great place to start the day. The portion of the Lake off Whitefish Point is home to a large number of shipwrecks dating back hundreds of years, including the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975 (yes, I was humming the Gordon Lightfoot song all day). The museum is extremely well done, with artifacts inside and out, plus two of the Fresnel lenses from the lighthouse. The team from the Shipwreck Museum was part of the group that raised the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1995, and the original bell is on display in the museum (replicas are housed all over the Great Lakes area).

This is a rudder from one of the early shipwrecks in the area.

We had a few minutes to explore the beach before our tour started.

In the distance, we saw an ore freighter headed for The Soo.

This is one of the two Fresnel lenses on display...

...and this is the other - it's huge!

Restored bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald.  It was replaced on the wreck in 1995 with a replica engraved with the names of those lost.

It was a nice day, but there was a stiff breeze blowing.

There is no more Fresnel lens in the lighthouse; it was recently replaced with - what else? - LED lights...

More information is available here http://www.exploringthenorth.com/whitefish/whitefish.html, and here http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/.

Back on the road, we made our next stop at Tahquamenon Falls. Second largest falls east of the Mississippi (after Niagara), it was quite impressive even though the flow rate is naturally much lower at this time of year. It must really roar in the springtime!

Interpreter (not "Ranger") Brian led us on the tour to the Falls.

94 steps down and, unfortunately, 94 steps back up...

The reward for the walk and steps was a nice view of Upper Tahquemenon Falls.

More information on the Falls is available here http://www.exploringthenorth.com/tahqua/tahqua.html.

After visiting the Falls (actually, the Upper Falls; there is a Lower Falls in the same area), we were on our own for the return trip. Several people stopped at the Lower Falls and some visited a local game preserve featuring Black Bears. After "social hour", we were on our own for dinner.