Lake Gogebic

Lake Gogebic is the Upper Peninsula’s largest inland lake at 18 miles long and 3 miles wide. The name, derived from Native American, means “Where Trout Rising to the Surface Make Rings on Still Waters.” Covering over 13,000 acres, it lies within two counties and two different time zones. The Lake Gogebic loop is one of the area’s popular color routes in the fall. You can start this tour from either end of the lake. As you drive around the lake, take the time to stop in at one of the restaurants for lunch or dinner. There are several parks along the lakeshore where you can stop and take photos, but I think the best publicly accessible viewing spot is the State Public Access Boat Ramp. The driving distance around the lake is a little over 38 miles. Take your time and enjoy this beautiful area!

Clues…

Locate the Lake Gogebic Public Access site along East Shore Road. Due East from the square boulder across the parking area you will find several rocks just inside the tree line. One sits up against the side of an oak tree. Two smaller rocks protect the box. Please search discreetly and be sure the box is secured and concealed when you leave.

Snail Shell Harbor

 
New stamp and logbook as of October 3, 2010!

Background Information…

Once a noisy, grimy furnace town teeming with industry, Fayette now offers the unmatched serenity of the turquoise blue waters of Snail Shell Harbor and white limestone cliffs set against a background of verdant forests.

Named after Fayette Brown, the Jackson Iron Company agent who chose the site, Fayette was once one of the Upper Peninsula’s most productive iron-smelting operations. Located on the Garden Peninsula at Snail Shell Harbor, Fayette grew up around two blast furnaces, a large dock and several charcoal kilns after the Civil War. Nearly five hundred residents, many immigrating from Canada, the British Isles and northern Europe, lived in and near the town that existed to make pig iron.

During twenty-four years of operation, 1867 to l891, Fayette’s blast furnaces produced a total of 229,288 tons of iron, using local hardwood forests for fuel and quarrying limestone from the bluffs to purify the iron ore. When the charcoal iron market began to decline, the Jackson Iron Company closed its Fayette smelting operation.

Today, visitors to Fayette State Park see nineteen structures including several public and commercial buildings, residences which housed the people of Fayette, and the stabilized ruins of the furnace complex. Visitors are free to roam the site and buildings on their own or participate in one of the scheduled tours offered from mid-June through Labor Day. The visitor center is handicapped accessible. Allow two to three hours for tour of the townsite. Annual events include the Fayette Heritage Days in August. Open 9:00 A.M. to 7:00 PM. daily, mid-May to mid-October.

Getting There…

Fayette Historic Townsite is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan between Escanaba and Manistique. Fayette is seventeen miles south of US-2 in Fayette Historic State Park, accessible via Delta County Road 183 off US-2 west of Manistique.

Clues…

There are several hiking trails at Fayette — site maps are available at the visitor center. Follow the Overlook Trail past an awesome view of Snail Shell Harbor to trail marker #2. 115 paces further reach a grassy area on the left. At 60 degrees notice a large rock outcropping. The box is hidden in a crevice at the NE corner of this massive rock, behind smaller rocks. Please be discreet and be sure the box is replaced and concealed well before you leave.

Seul Choix Point Light

Background Information…

Seul Choix (pronounced Sis-shwa) Point Light marks a small harbor on Lake Michigan located on the south shore of the Upper Peninsula, some sixty miles west of the Straits of Mackinac. The name meaning, “only choice”, was given by French fur traders, who found that it was the only harbor of refuge as they traveled in canoes across the rough waters of Lake Michigan.

During the mid-1800’s Seul Choix Point was the center of a thriving fishing community, but today, only the lighthouse complex is still in existence. The light still operates, but with an automated replacement for its original lens. The light was placed into service in 1892, but the tower had to be rebuilt and the station was not entirely completed until September, 1895. The conical brick light tower rests on an ashlar foundation 12 feet high, with 5 feet below grade, and has a diameter of 18 feet at the base of the brickwork, and 12 feet, 8 inches at the parapet. The tower is surmounted by a 10-sided cast iron lantern that originally held a Third Order Fresnel lens manufactured by Le Paute of Paris. The lantern is now fitted with a modern airport beacon lens. Overall, the tower is 78 feet, 9 inches tall, measured to the top of the ventilator ball, producing a lens focal plane 80 feet above the mean low water level of Lake Michigan. The lighthouse exhibited a fixed red light, varied by a red flash every fifteen seconds, and its beacon was visible for thirteen miles. The station, also operated a fog signal which was a 10-inch steam whistle.

The two-story house, easily large enough to accommodate two families, is finished in red brick, including several rooms that have been added onto the original structure. Matching brick archways support the roof of a porch that is deeply recessed into the front of the house. White trim around the windows and eaves contrasts with the deep color of the brick. The interior rooms of the living quarters have been completely restored and decorated as they would have appeared in the 1900’s-1930’s. The tower is attached to the house by a small, enclosed corridor of red brick.

On the grounds nearby are a boat launch, restrooms, picnic areas and barbecue pits. A short trail leads to the shore, and after you walk it, you’ll quickly understand the need for this lighthouse. A huge limestone shoal reaches out from beneath your feet and cuts through the clear water to almost 100 yards from shore. There, waves are breaking, their white foam outlining the shallowest parts of the reef. The shoal plus the land mass of the point itself, which slopes down into the waters of Lake Michigan for nearly three miles, add up to a very dangerous area for navigators.

The lighthouse grounds are well maintained, with long expanses of grass stretching out to meet the neatly trimmed cedars and pines that dot the lawn. An old wood dryer for fish nets has retired to near the house. All of the original outbuildings are also still standing, including explosives storehouses and the fog signal building, which now houses a gift shop and small museum. The museum is open from Memorial Day through mid October, seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are fascinating items in the museum, including a well preserved dugout canoe, one of the rarest finds to be uncovered in the midwest. The Seul Choix Point Lighthouse is a Michigan Historic Site and a National Historic Landmark. It is operated by the Gulliver Historical Society in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources.

Getting There…

From the junction of US-2 and County Road 432 in Gulliver, about 11 miles east of Manistique, go south on County Road 432 (Point Inland Rd.) about 4 miles to County Road 431. Turn right (west) onto County Road 431, which is a gravel road, and go approximately 4 miles to the lighthouse.

Clues…

From the boat launch drive, begin walking in an easterly direction along the edge of the grassy clearing next to the water. Find an opening between two clumps of cedar trees at the second grill. Take 10 paces down onto the rocks toward the water to a place where a large, flat-surfaced stone ledge is on your left. Over your right shoulder, at 130 degrees, see the root face of a fallen cedar tree. Find the box hidden behind the roots in a small pile of rocks. Watch for poison ivy!

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.

Marquette Harbor Light

TLC Needed!

Reports have indicated this box is cracked; if you are headed this way and would be able to replace the container for me, I would be most appreciative. Please contact me for more info. Thanks!

Background Information…

Marquette Harbor Light is one of the more picturesque of lighthouses on Lake Superior. The structure rests on an expansive stone bluff that reaches boldly out into the lake. Dominating the horizon, the bright red structure and its adjoining square tower, are among the oldest buildings in the city of Marquette.

Following the discovery of iron ore in the 1850’s and the opening of the first Soo Lock in 1855, Marquette became an important shipping port. The first lighthouse was built in Marquette in 1853 and re-constructed in 1866. The 1866 Marquette Lighthouse was a story and a half brick structure with attached 40-foot square brick tower housing a fourth order Fresnel lens. An identical lens is on display in the Marquette Maritime Museum. The original lens showed an arc of 180 degrees. In 1870 it was increased to 270 degrees.

The keeper and his family lived in the lighthouse. As long as the keeper’s job was only to maintain the light, a single man was able to do the work. However when the light at the end of the breakwater was later added and a two whistle signal system installed at the end of the point, the work was more than one person could do and an assistant keeper was hired. The new man needed housing, a problem solved in 1898 when a barn behind he lighthouse was converted into quarters for the assistant. In 1906 a more permanent solution was reached by adding a second story to the lighthouse. Later additions to the rear of the building were completed in the 1950s. These additions made the lighthouse unique on the Great Lakes. No other similar lighthouse was so altered. The lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The lighthouse is located just north of downtown Marquette on Lakeshore Drive, adjacent to the Marquette Maritime Museum. The museum provides self-guided tours through the history of man’s mastery of the Great Lakes. Displays and exhibits include restored boats, pictures, maritime hardware, Fresnel lens, diving apparatus, hands-on exhibits, a mini-auditorium and a Ship’s Store (gift shop). The lighthouse, previously run by the Coast Guard and closed to the public, was recently leased by the Marquette Maritime Museum and is now open to the public for tours. Because visitors must walk through the grounds of the Coast Guard station to reach the lighthouse, museum guides escort all tours, a requirement established by the Coast Guard for safety and security. The museum plans to develop the lighthouse as an integral interpretive display as an extension of the main museum building and to eventually restore one floor to reflect a period of the life of the light and its lightkeepers.

The best pictures of the light can be taken from McCarty Cove Park or aboard the Marquette Harbor Cruises. Marquette Maritime Museum hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily from the end of May thru Sept. There is a slight admission fee to visit the museum.

Getting There…

Just north of downtown Marquette, locate McCarty Cove Park at the intersection of Lakeshore Drive and Michigan. There is a small parking area directly off the end of Michigan.

Clues…

From the parking area, walk down to the beach. On your right is the lighthouse. You can walk over to the edge of the water here and get some nice pictures of the lighthouse sitting up on the bluff. After this, head the other way down the beach, in a northwesterly direction. You will notice several old pilings in the sand at the far corner of the beach. Just past the group of 8 pilings, a lone tree grows behind a picket fence, on the side of a hill amongst pieces of concrete. Find the box nestled in a cranny under a large, flat rectangular piece of concrete, the southward-facing opening guarded by a red brick block.