T&C's Michigan Travels: September 25, 2009

Today we traveled up the north shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula. This side of the peninsula is very different from the south side. The south side is fairly flat with sandy beaches and a few rocky areas, while the north side has a lot of large rock formations and very rocky beaches.

The first photo was made near Eagle Harbor. Note the very rocky coast. You can also see some rocks jutting from the water in the center left of the photo. These rocks are about 200 yards off shore.

Our second photo is of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, built in 1871. It is maintained by the Coast Guard. We were able to see most of the lighthouse, but not able to climb it because it is operational.

We stopped several times along the coast to take a lot of photos and add a few rocks to the collection. The vehicle groans every time we come back with additional stones! We also met a lot of travelers today that had time to talk about the Great Lakes and share some wonderful stories about the area.

Lunch today was in Copper Harbor at The Mariner North. Copper Harbor is much like a small North Carolina coastal town with its gift shops and restaurants. In a way, it seems to be out of place with everything else on the eastern peninsula.

While there, we took a few photos of the Copper Harbor Lighthouse (photo three) which has fallen victim to the development of Copper Harbor. Due to the sale and development of the land around it, the lighthouse is now land locked and can only be visited by boat.

From Copper Harbor we headed west on US41 on our way to the Delaware Copper Mine. The mine was opened in 1847 and operated until 1887. If you remember back a few days, we climbed the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes. Today we descended 110 feet to the first level of the mine. This was another first for both of us. The mine is very dimly lit in order to make it as realistic as possible. I did take a flashlight with us and we did need it at times to navigate the tunnels. Did I tell you that this is a self guided tour and we were the only humans down there?
The tour begins by descending 100 steps that take you to the first level.

The fourth photo is looking up those steps. Fog is created by the moisture in the mine and its 45 degree temperature meeting the outside air coming down the shaft. The shaft is a 35 degree angle. You walk over a quarter mile through the tunnels with the roof ranging from 6 feet to about 30 feet.

The rock is a red color (photo five) and the copper in it looks green. Over 8,000,000 pounds of copper came out of this mine.

Photo six shows one of the tunnels we walked. The white on the walls are seams that contain the copper.

Photo seven is of us on level one. I almost forgot this item…the mine is 1400 feet deep and has ten levels. All but the first lever are flooded. When the mine was in operation, there were pumps that continuously pumped out the water.

Remember earlier that I said we were the only humans in the mine. Photo eight is of our “partners”. This is 2 of about 50 that were seen. The owners said there will be hundreds before winter comes!