Fort Mandan and Knife River Indian Villages

Fort Mandan (replica)

We left Detroit Lakes and headed west into North Dakota. We made a one night stop in Bismarck so that we could visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Fort Mandan replica,  and the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. All of these were between 30 and 60 miles north of Bismarck. The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan replica are managed by one foundation, both are included in one price and both are very well done. They are about 2 miles apart.

Fort Mandan through gate

The interpretive center is a small, but very well done, museum that briefly goes through the Lewis & Clark expedition. Fort Mandan was built by the Lewis & Clark expedition for a place to spend the winter of 1804-1805. The original fort, built right on the Missouri River, lasted less than one year as part of it was washed away by the river and more burned before the expedition passed by on their return trip late the summer of 1806. The replica was built based on descriptions in journals of the various expedition members. The site of the replica isn't on the site of the original fort because the river has changed course and it is believed the river now flows over the original site. Follow the link above for more details. BTW - if you haven't read the book "Undaunted Courage" about the Lewis & Clark expedition, it is a great read.

The Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site (link to wiki) is at the confluence of the Knife

Earthlodge

Inside the earthlodge

River and the Missouri River. This was the site of a large community of Earthlodge people for centuries (at least back to 1300). At the time Lewis & Clark went through it was the home of the Mandan and Hidatsa who helped the expedition survive the winter at Fort Mandan (they may not have survived without them). It is in one of these villages that they met Sacagawea. Today you can still see dirt mounds and depressions where the earthlodges were built. At NPS visitor center there is a replica earthlodge which is very impressive.

We thoroughly enjoyed visiting all of the locations.

Knife River Villages interpretive sign

Knife River Villages interpretive sign

Site of earthlodges

Detroit Lakes, MN

Our next move was a long one (by our standards) to west-central Minnesota. We stayed near Detroit Lakes at a nice resort in the center of hundreds of lakes. We don't do water stuff so we didn't take advantage of the water aspect. We did go to Itasca State Park to see the Headwaters of the Mississippi River. The river's humble beginning flows out of Lake Itasca as a small stream about 12 feet wide. It flows north for about 30 miles before slowly turning on its southward journey. Fun fact - in the visitor center it says a drop of rain in Lake Itasca takes 90 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to checking out the headwaters we hiked about 3 miles on a woodsy trail partially along the lake.

We also visited the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge and took a short 2.6 mile hike. We saw some Trumpeter Swans on a lake but nothing else out of the ordinary. Unfortunately the thing we'll probably remember the most is how the deer flies were so annoying they made the hike seem like 10 miles.

Other than that we took time to do normal "home" type stuff like deep cleaning, waxing the truck, reorganizing stuff, reading and just chilling. There were several days where the wind was so bad (steady 25-30 mph) it was miserable to be outside so we didn't do much those days.

We are moving on to North Dakota next and have some neat stuff planned there so come back to see how it turns out.

Headwaters of the Mighty
Mississippi River

First 50 yards of the river

The river crosses the road just outside
the park

Porcupine Mountains

Manabezho Falls - Presque Isle River

Our next stop in the U.P. was Ontonagon so that we could visit the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. The Porcupine Mountains are a densely wooded state park that borders on Lake Superior on the north side. There is a history of mining, logging and fur trapping that dates back to the early
1800s in the area. It became a state park in 1945 to protect the large stand of old-growth forest and is one of the largest wilderness areas in the Midwest. It is a beautiful area with the contrast of Lake Superior, with a rare sandy shoreline, and the green mountains of the Porkies.

Presque Isle River

The highlights are the series of water falls on the Presque Isle River, the Lake Of The Clouds viewpoint and the Summit Peak lookout. There are a lot of hiking trails allowing an intimate experience with the wilderness. Ontonagon also has a nice sandy beach so you have a choice between hiking in the woods or walking on the beach. We had some nice weather and a nice stay.

Lake Of The Clouds from overlook

View from Summit Peak overlook tower

Ontonagon Lighthouse

Keweenaw

St Paul the Apostle Church

We moved from Copper Harbor down to Houghton for 6 days. From this new base we visited Calumet again. There is a new Calumet Visitor Center that was opened by the National Park Service since our last visit in August 2011, which was formerly the Masonic Temple. They did an excellent job of telling the history of the area with an emphasis on the people, their lives, their heritages and the living conditions. We walked around town, off the main street this time, to see what we could find. We went in the St Paul the Apostle Church  and were amazed (again) that this town has such an extravagant building (I didn't take any pictures inside, you have to go there and check it out). The copper boom certainly left some gems behind (pun intended). At the height of the boom there were 34 churches in the area representing all the various ethnic groups and religions of the immigrants as the population of Calumet Township peaked at around 40,000 (the town of Calumet was called Red Jacket at the time). Unfortunately as you walk around off the main drag most are no longer in use and are falling apart as the population of Calumet Township is now around 6,500. Of course, we had to have our favorite pasties at Connie's Kitchen. They are still great!

Laurium Manor

Laurium is a town right next to Calumet. There are some old homes and buildings their too. We decided to do the tour of the Laurium Manor, known also as the Thomas H. Hoatson House, which is a restored mansion built in 1907-8. It is currently operated as an Inn but they also allow self guided
tours. The manor has a number of unique features that we found interesting like a room "papered" with elephant hide. The owners have done a great job of restoring the home and it was admitted to the National Registor of Historic Places in 1994. We enjoyed our tour. Be sure to click on the link and watch the slide show of inside pictures.

These are just a few of the Keweenaw Heritage Sites that have been opened in the western U.P. as part of the Keweenaw National Historic Park. There are Keweenaw Heritage Sites as far south as Rockland. It is really neat to see this partnership with the National Park System in order to save these wonderful historic sites and keep the heritage alive. The area is well worth the visit.

We also walked around Hancock and Houghton and enjoyed the old architecture. Both cities have self guided walking tour pamphlets available. We walked the trail along Portage Lake (on the Houghton side) several times and enjoyed the cool breeze and variety of boats that go by. Portage Lake is the natural part of the Keweenaw Waterway which allows boats and ships to pass completely across the Keweenaw Peninsula. Because of this waterway, some people call the land north of the waterway Copper Island. Since the waterway is partially a man-made canal this is not an officially recognized name.

A note for the picture below. The Ranger III is operated by the National Park Service to service Isle Royale. It also does some local trips in the summer.

Portage Lake as viewed from the
Michigan Tech campus

The bridge deck raises for the
Ranger III to pass

Isle Royale National Park

Fort Wilkins - Copper Harbor

After our stay in Marquette we went up the Keweenaw Peninsula to Copper Harbor. Copper Harbor is the northern most city in Michigan as it is at the top of the peninsula on Lake Superior. It is a tiny town and the site of Fort Wilkins which was established to keep peace at the start of the copper boom in the 1840s. The Fort is very well preserved with most of its original buildings still existing and well maintained. It's worth a visit if you are in the area.

While staying in Copper Harbor (btw - no cell signals there) we visited the fort, did some hiking, and finally completed a long time bucket list item of visiting Isle Royale. Isle Royale is an island in Lake Superior and the entire island is a National Park. Don't be fooled it you see the address as Houghton, Michigan, that is just the mailing address for the park headquarters. It is obviously remote so it is the least visited National Park due to accessibility. We took the Isle Royale Queen IV from Copper Harbor to Rock Harbor.

Isle Royale Queen IV docked in
Rock Harbor

We stayed in the lodge and did all of our hiking from there. It is very peaceful, has great hiking trails along the shore, there are no roads or vehicles and is not commercial in the least and yet the lodging and eating is fine if you aren't into backpacking. The park is celebrating its 75th anniversary but you wouldn't know it if it weren't for the little newspaper they hand out. Check it out online:  Greenstone.

As we got off of the boat the Park Ranger told us there were only 3 wolves left on the island (a male, a female and a pup) and about 1250 moose. It makes sense that the wildlife would not be near the area where there are the most people (Rock Harbor) when they have so much land. However, we were lucky and saw a cow and calf moose within an hour and a half of being on the island as we took our first hike.

We absolutely loved our 4 days there.

View along Rock Harbor trail

View along Rock Harbor trail

Moose - notice baby hiding in trees

View along Scoville trail

Copper Harbor lighthouse as we enter
the harbor on return trip

Marquette MI

The last three weeks have been crazy. We were in Wisconsin for Alex's wedding and while there did a lot of visiting and reconnecting with friends. It was wonderful seeing so many friends that we

Lake Michigan shoreline
in Point Beach State Forest

haven't seen for too many years. We stayed at a campground near Two Rivers so we walked over to the lake a few times and walked along the shore. We went to a Packers minicamp in Green Bay and as we drove around the city marveled at how it has changed since we lived there. We went to Stevens Point to visit more friends and give Ann a chance to see the changes at UWSP. 

County Courthouse

With that leg of the trip complete, it is back to the U.P. eh. We spent three days in Marquette checking out a city that we've driven by on the edge many times but never stopped and checked it out for all it's glory. The area has a rich (pun intended) history in iron ore mining. As a result there are some nice old buildings dating back to the glory years starting in the late 1860s.

County Courthouse

St Peters Cathedral

The county Courthouse and St Peters Cathedral are amazing and not what we expected to find. The downtown area isn't very big but is kept up nice and we enjoyed walking around. The first three days the wind was blowing off the lake resulting in high temps in the 50s (yes, the end of June). However, as long as the sun was out locals were easy to spot in their shorts and tank tops and people were even at the beach in bathing suits - brrr. 

Some areas we enjoyed are the lower and upper harbors and Presque Isle Park. We drove a few miles out of town and hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain for some great views. We had a very nice stay. Here is a link to read more about Marquette: Wiki on Marquette MI

County Courthouse

County Courthouse

City Hall

View from Sugarloaf Mountain

View from Sugarloaf Mountain

Indiana and Illinois

We completed the Michigan lower peninsula portion of the trip and headed to Indiana for some repairs on our home. We had a great time visiting and reconnecting with old friends in Michigan!

While waiting for repairs we visited the DRV plant in Howe IN. We enjoyed seeing the insides of our fifth wheel as they are built. We killed time in the town of LaGrange where our repair facility is, we visited the David Rogers Historic Village near by and visited my cousin in Middlebury. We kept pretty busy.

LaGrange County Court House

Authentic log homes (1844)
at David Rogers Historic Village

Next we moved on to a place in Sublette IL. We have enjoyed walking the many miles of improved paths they have. We took a day trip to Starved Rock State Park (Wiki). The area has a high rock bluff with canyons, streams and waterfalls. Out in the plains, this is unique and thus has attracted inhabitants for hundreds of years. It is on the Illinois River so we also learned some about the Illinois Waterway (Wiki) and its system of locks and dams.

Walnut Canyon

Starved Rock

Illinois River from Starved Rock