Fayette and Travel

Kind of a chilly morning, right at 32 degrees, but the rain had stopped and there was just a glimmer of sunshine when we got up.  As we started traveling west on US Highway 2, Deb was on the iPad, looking to see what was ahead.

“Here’s one,” she told me. “I’ve been there a few years ago with Sue, but you’ve never been there.  It’s a little out of the way, but I think you will find it worth it.”

It was a little out of the way, 18 miles to be exact, but it was quite worth it.

Fayette Historic State Park sits in the Garden Peninsula, a piece of land that juts into the north side of Lake Michigan.  The state park preserves a 19-century iron smelting village.  Although some buildings are gone, over 20 buildings still remain, including the smelter building.

When we arrived, we were the only ones in the parking lot.  So we had the entire place to ourselves.  We walked around the grounds for a while and took a few pictures.  Although the clouds were heavier by this time, the fall colors were still very striking, and I spent some time viewing the area from above with the drone.

Across the small bay was a cliff that is part of the Niagara Escarpment.  On top of this cliff runs the Overlook Trail which we hiked.  Several openings through the trees at the top of the cliff offered great views of the village and the surrounding area.

We found this a delightful place and the fall colors added a special dimension to this great little park.  Definitely would recommend this stop on a trip through the UP.

Soon after we left the park, it began to rain.  We considered going to Lake of the Clouds, but the pouring rain prevented us from doing so.  We figured that as long as it kept raining, we would keep driving.

The rain had let up somewhat as we passed Bewabic State Park, so we turned in and stopped, just to get out of the RV for a while.  This also turned out to be a nice little park, with the fall colors in full swing.

Once again, a little more practice with the drone, this time taking a selfie.  That’s me waving up at the camera.

After we left this park, it began to rain again.

We left on this trip with no agenda in mind, and wanting to be pushed by nothing. Well, we are now being pushed by something...  Snow.  Checking the weather, we saw that there is a Winter Storm Warning for this area and a prediction for 5 to 8 inches of snow by this evening and another three to five overnight.  Looking farther west, the forecast looked better, so now we had a sense of urgency.  And, to put an explanation point on the forecast, as we drove west, it began to snow.  Big fat flakes of wet snow spattering on the windshield.

This came in squalls also. Sometimes heavy wet snow, sometimes rain, sometimes very little at all.

The areas around the Niagara Escarpment are known for their waterfalls.  And we probably passed by a lot of them.  Deb found one that was just a half-mile off the road, and just a short hike.  So we had to see at least one waterfall.  This was the Kakabika Falls, a series of small falls on a branch of the Ontanogan River.  We hiked the short distance to the falls in the cold drizzle.  Now we can say we’ve been to one of them.

Back in the RV, back on US Highway 2, and back into the snowstorms.  They finally started to let up about midway through Wisconsin.  Deb found a 24-hour municipal parking lot in Duluth and we stopped here for the night.

392 miles covered today.  Not bad considering the amount of time spent at Fayette State Park.