Nahma, King of Fishes

(Hiawatha Series #4)

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water.
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Song of Hiawatha, Hiawatha’s Childhood

This is an ongoing series of letterboxes themed around Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The boxes will be placed at various locations in or near the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Named after Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha, the Hiawatha National Forest is located in the central and eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The forest encompasses approximately 880,000 acres, and receives over 1.5 million recreational visits per year. The forest affords visitors access to white sand, scenic beaches and relatively undeveloped shorelines along three of America’s inland seas — Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. From scenic and historic lighthouses to Great Lakes islands, from spectacular shorelines to the Midwest’s finest winter playland, the Hiawatha National Forest brings to life a myriad of fascinating and exciting natural, historical, and unique recreational opportunities.

Letterboxes in this Series…

• Song of Hiawatha
• Gitche Gumee
• Daughter of the Moon
• Nahma, King of Fishes

Naomikong Point…

The rocky points and bays of the Lake Superior shoreline west of Point Iroquois provide ideal fishing spots for fishermen today as they have for centuries. If you follow Lakeshore Drive west from Bay Mills to M-123, you will catch glimpses of this secluded shore of Lake Superior, but the way to really explore it is to hike. Several hiking trails can be found in the area, but our favorite is by far the hike out to Naomikong Point.

Full of history, this beautiful area gets its name Naomikong from an Ojibwa Indian word meaning “where the breakers strike the shore.” It was an important fishing ground and location of a mission outpost during the 1800’s and, at one time, an Indian Village was located on the shore here.

Naomikong Point itself appears rather nondescript, just a point of rocky land that juts out into Lake Superior, backed by a line of trees. But sitting here on this tip of land, nearly surrounded by the lake, the wind whispering in the trees, waves playfully lapping at the rocky shoreline, puffy white clouds floating carelessly in a azure sky, it is not hard to feel the words of Longfellow’s poem, Song of Hiawatha. It is not hard to forget the bustle of the world around you and truly believe that time has stopped.

Getting There…

You will need to consult a trail guide for hiking directions to Naomikong Point.

Clues…

After a short jaunt through the woods from the parking lot, the trail opens up to Lake Superior at Naomikong Creek. The rest of the trek follows the shoreline around a couple of smaller points and bays. When we were there, we walked a sandbar that ran out in the lake across one bay and had to jump rocks across another. We also were treated to the sight of a Bald Eagle nesting in the tall trees on Menekaunee point.

At the tip of Naomikong Point, a small peninsula stretches to the NW. Just east of this narrow finger of land, several large boulders provide an ideal place to sit and enjoy this treasure of a location. Among the boulders, find the split black one and site 170 degrees to a large black rock, frosted in light green moss. From here, 110 degrees to a white birch that leans to the SW. At the base, find your treasure.

Daughter of the Moon

(Hiawatha Series #3)

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water.
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Song of Hiawatha, Hiawatha’s Childhood

This is an ongoing series of letterboxes themed around Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The boxes will be placed at various locations in or near the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Named after Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha, the Hiawatha National Forest is located in the central and eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The forest encompasses approximately 880,000 acres, and receives over 1.5 million recreational visits per year. The forest affords visitors access to white sand, scenic beaches and relatively undeveloped shorelines along three of America’s inland seas — Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. From scenic and historic lighthouses to Great Lakes islands, from spectacular shorelines to the Midwest’s finest winter playland, the Hiawatha National Forest brings to life a myriad of fascinating and exciting natural, historical, and unique recreational opportunities.

Letterboxes in this Series…

• Song of Hiawatha
• Gitche Gumee
• Daughter of the Moon
• Nahma, King of Fishes

Getting There…

One of our favorite places for an awesome view of Lake Superior is from a roadside rest area just outside of the city of Munising. Along this stretch of highway, sunlit Lake Superior waves lap at sandy beaches and the wind blows the sand into drifts along the shoreline. Heading west out of Munising along the Lake Superior shoreline, you will find this Michigan Historic marker at a roadside rest area.

Clues…

From the marker, walk East along the drive. Follow the trail that leads into the woods six posts past the overlook, to a sandy clearing. At 100 degrees a faint path leads to the place where concrete supports recall a bridge across the creek. You should be able to cross even though the bridge is no longer there. Standing at the edge of the cement support on the opposite side of the creek, 320 degrees points to a fallen birch tree which holds the letterbox.

Song of Hiawatha

(Hiawatha Series #1)

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water.
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Song of Hiawatha, Hiawatha’s Childhood

This is an ongoing series of letterboxes themed around Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The boxes will be placed at various locations in or near the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Named after Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha, the Hiawatha National Forest is located in the central and eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The forest encompasses approximately 880,000 acres, and receives over 1.5 million recreational visits per year. The forest affords visitors access to white sand, scenic beaches and relatively undeveloped shorelines along three of America’s inland seas — Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. From scenic and historic lighthouses to Great Lakes islands, from spectacular shorelines to the Midwest’s finest winter playland, the Hiawatha National Forest brings to life a myriad of fascinating and exciting natural, historical, and unique recreational opportunities.

Letterboxes in this Series…

• Song of Hiawatha
• Gitche Gumee
• Daughter of the Moon
• Nahma, King of Fishes

Getting There…

To find the trail, turn south on H-03 (Forest Lake Road) from M-28. Travel 4.5 miles, passing through the village of AuTrain, and turn east onto FR-2276. You will see a Hiawatha National Forest Recreation Area sign at this intersection. Go 1/2 mile to the next sign and turn left (stay on the pavement) until you enter the campground. Take the first campground loop to the right and you will find the trailhead near campsite #11. The campground is seasonal, closing for the winter in mid-October, but after this you can still get back into the area and park at the campground entrance, near site #1. From here it is just a short hike to the trailhead.

Clues…

As you follow the blue blazed trail, read the informational postings about the various kinds of birds that can be found along the way. Keep alert for a buzzing zee-zee/zee-zoo-zee song, at which point you will find a wooden structure located in front of a fallen log, about 25 paces up the trail. Standing behind this structure, gaze due south to a triple trunk tree with a hole in the base. Find the box in an indent around the back side of this tree, under cover of leaves and a decaying log.

Gitche Gumee

(Hiawatha Series #2)

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water.
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Song of Hiawatha, Hiawatha’s Childhood

This is an ongoing series of letterboxes themed around Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The boxes will be placed at various locations in or near the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Named after Longfellow’s poem, The Song of Hiawatha, the Hiawatha National Forest is located in the central and eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The forest encompasses approximately 880,000 acres, and receives over 1.5 million recreational visits per year. The forest affords visitors access to white sand, scenic beaches and relatively undeveloped shorelines along three of America’s inland seas — Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. From scenic and historic lighthouses to Great Lakes islands, from spectacular shorelines to the Midwest’s finest winter playland, the Hiawatha National Forest brings to life a myriad of fascinating and exciting natural, historical, and unique recreational opportunities.

Letterboxes in this Series…

• Song of Hiawatha
• Gitche Gumee
• Daughter of the Moon
• Nahma, King of Fishes

Background Information…

The Northwoods Indians called Lake Superior “Gitche-Gumee,” meaning “Big Water.” Longfellow references Lake Superior by this name also in his poem, The Song of Hiawatha.

Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes. It is 32,000 square miles in area, which is comparable to all of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire combined, and contains 3 quadrillion gallons of water, that is 3,000,000,000,000,000 gallons of water! That’s ten percent of the world’s fresh surface water and one half of the water in the Great Lakes. Lake Superior contains enough water to flood all of Canada, the United States, Mexico and South America with one foot of water.

One of the best places for an awesome view of Lake Superior is from the Spectacle Lake Overlook. High up on a hill just outside of Bay Mills, MI, the Spectacle Lake Scenic Overlook is located across the road from the Mission Hill Cemetery, which contains the graves of many of the area’s early settlers and Native Americans. The overlook provides an outstanding panorama of Spectacle Lake, Lake Superior, the entrance to the St. Mary’s River, and the Laurentian Hills in Canada.

Getting There…

Heading west on Lakeshore Drive through the town of Bay Mills, watch for the Veteran’s Memorial located along a small lake on the south side of the road. About 1/2 mile further up the road, you will see the sign to Mission Hill Cemetery/Scenic Overlook. The road is very steep and narrow — probably not a drive you would want to do in the winter. Follow the road as it winds up the hill, with a sheer drop-off on the right side of the road. Reaching the summit, across from the main entrance to Mission Hill Cemetery is the scenic overlook, complete with a hitchin’ rail for your horse.

Be sure to bring the camera and enjoy the awesome view of Spectacle Lake, Lake Superior and the Hiawatha National Forest before setting out to find the box.

Note… There is no railing at the overlook and the trail to the box is very narrow and follows the edge of the cliff — you will probably want to leave young children and pets in the vehicle for this one.

Clues…

1. Follow the way of the otter 22 paces to a leaning dead tree
2. Proceed 24 paces to Lance looking at the lake
3. Half as many paces to a two-trunk oak
4. 200 degrees to the undercover box