ShareThisSAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - Michigan's Upper Peninsula is so "undiscovered" that occasionally it gets left off maps entirely.
The Michigan "mitten" loses the "scarf" that runs across the top. A year or so ago, a state legislator demanded more respect and introduced legislation requiring all official Michigan maps to include the Upper Peninsula. After all, the Upper Peninsula makes up 30 percent of the state.
Once you've visited the Upper Peninsula, your experience won't be forgotten. The take-your-breath-away beauty and warm hospitality remain secured in your memory bank. You'll want to return for many reasons. One of them might be to savor the rich, smooth fudge. Visitors buy so much souvenir fudge that locals affectionately call tourists "fudgies."
Upper Peninsula residents are called "Yoopers" (translation: UPers). Many are descendants of Scandinavian immigrants who came to work the iron and copper mines beginning in 1847. Miners from Cornwall, England, brought with them the tradition of pasties (pronounced "PASS-tees"), a flaky crusted turnover filled with meat, potatoes, onions and spices.
Miners came two centuries after French explorers, fur traders and Jesuit missionaries ventured along Michigan's waterways. Sault Ste. Marie dates back to 1668, making it one of America's oldest cities.
Before the French, the native people fished the bountiful rivers and lakes. Archaeologists know that Native Americans lived in St. Ignace about 4,000 years ago. It was the heartland of the Chippewa, or Ojibwa. Fur-trading brought the tribes and French together, and today large portions of the population are descended from either or both.
The Upper Peninsula is one of America's greatest wildernesses. Balsam perfumes the air with its clean, resinous scent. The soothing sound of cascading water harmonizes with the wind's whistle and the loon's cry. In Hiawatha National Forest, the Tahquamenon River flows through peaty, coniferous swamps and woodlands thick with blueberries.
At Tahquamenon State Park's Upper Falls, the tannin-filled river drops over a 200-foot-wide ridge and explodes into a luminous spectrum of yellow, ochre and copper. "This thundering waterfall is the second-mightiest east of the Mississippi," says park guide Theresa Grattan. Drama gives way to calm, as the river splits and tumbles around a small island. Visitors row small boats to the island and take a path for views of five amber cascades.
About 24 miles of the river weave through Tahquamenon State Park, a 45,000-acre park whose vast forest holds hundreds of lakes and is the realm of mink, moose, wolves, foxes, deer, bears and dozens of other species.
Along the northern coast of Upper Michigan, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore unspools for 43 miles. "Sandstone cliffs rise 200 feet above Lake Superior," says Gregg L. Bruff, the park's chief of heritage education.
Mineral stains streak promontories carved by wind and water. Groves of white birch and pine shelter ferns, lichen and wildflowers. Idyllic coastal towns, such as Grand Marais, have vacation houses, brew pubs, art galleries and marinas.
At Whitefish Point, birds wing across dunes and find refuge in shrubs and pines. This northeastern tip of Michigan is an important flyway for migrating birds. About 23,000 raptors funnel through here in the spring.
Perhaps they, like sailors, are looking for guidance from the Whitefish Point Light Station. Operating since 1849, the beacon oversees ship traffic on a dangerous stretch known as the Shipwreck Coast. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum occupies buildings of the former Coast Guard station.
Displays hold artifacts recovered from wreck sites, including the bell of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald. It sank in a storm in 1975 with its entire crew about 17 miles northwest of Whitefish Point. Nearby, the Point Iroquois Light Station also guides ships through the narrow channel between sandbars, shoals and rocky reefs. The 65-foot brick tower dates to 1870 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ships passing the lighthouses follow the St. Mary's River through the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie. About 90 million tons of cargo move through the locks annually, making it one of the world's busiest shipping channels. Four U.S. locks and one Canadian lock connect Lake Superior with the lower Great Lakes to the benefit of more than 11,000 vessels a year. The ships carry iron ore, coal, grain or stone.
With this frequency, visitors are almost certain to see one or more cargo ships go past the observation platforms. Watching the lock operations takes on extra drama when 1,000-footers navigate through, some with as little as 2.5 feet to spare on either side. Excursion vessels, many offering dinner cruises at sunset, give tourists the experience of "locking through."
The Soo Locks sparked the city's development. The red sandstone "canal rubble," a byproduct of the canal excavation, laid the foundations for many landmark buildings in Sault Ste. Marie. The handsome downtown features manicured gardens, waterfront promenade, fudge shops and restaurants serving Lake Superior whitefish pan-fried, deep-fried, broiled or smoked. The old Woolworth building houses the River of History Museum. Eight galleries tell the colorful heritage of the St. Mary's River Valley. The 21-story Tower of History gives 20-mile vistas across the peninsula.
The 550-foot, steam-powered freighter Valley Camp has been turned into a museum ship with more than 100 exhibits in the cargo holds. Visitors slip into the role of sailors as they clutch the ship's wheel, patrol the upper deck and walk through the engine room. It was built in 1917 and retired in 1966.
In St. Ignace, the Museum of Ojibwa Culture provides a glimpse into life among the Ojibwa, Huron and Odawa Indians. "The Sault Ste. Marie tribe of the Chippewa is 30,000 strong," says volunteer guide Becky C. Simmons, who is dressed in the tribe's distinctive puckered-toe moccasins, porcupine-quill brooch and other ceremonial garb. St. Ignace also is home to the Fort de Buade Museum, a repository of 3,500 artifacts from the nomadic tribes to the early French period. Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette established a mission here in 1671.
Two important historic sites face the straits that separate Upper Michigan from the lower part. Michilimackinac, in Mackinaw City, was built in 1715 by the French. "The military outpost was the centerpiece of the fur trade in the Great Lakes region," says Greg Hokans of the Mackinac State Historic Parks staff. Costumed historical interpreters do re-enactments, such as firing the cannon and cooking on an open hearth.
Visitors at the nearby Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, also in Mackinaw City, climb stairs for sweeping views of the Mackinac Bridge and pleasure boats on Lake Huron.
Fishing was an important industry here long before recreational boating. Lake Huron's Les Cheneaux Islands have a richly textured maritime history. More than three centuries ago, Indians, explorers, missionaries and fur traders passed through these protected waters. Scandinavian and Irish immigrants established fishing and timber industries around Hessel and Cedarville. Now cheerfully hued vacation cottages and boathouses punctuate the shoreline; boutiques and bistros cluster around marinas. Sleek wooden boats sit ready to navigate among the 36 islands.
The Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville teaches basic design, traditional and modern boat building, repair and restoration. The Les Cheneaux Maritime Museum displays small wooden pleasure crafts and vintage photographs of the lifestyle of summer-vacation days spent on the lake.
Visit www.michigan.org and www.saultstemarie.com for more information about travel to Michigan.
(Linda Lange is a freelance writer living in Knoxville, Tenn.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
