Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Hot, sunny, buggy, some recent rain

Companions:

Logan

Vehicle:

Ford Taurus

After a full day of hiking in the Keweenaw, Logan and I were ready to tackle a more ambitious trip on Sunday. Leaving early in the morning before our roommates were awake, we headed due south on US-41 to the Michigamme area. I had read online that Dee Lundeen Falls were located on private property, but I hoped to venture around and approach it from the other side of the river. However, a large gate stood in the way on Orange road and I turned around without checking the two-track that led east off the main gravel road, which ended up being the correct route.

Our next planned stop was another adventure. Heading north out of Ishpeming along a windy county road towards Mulligan Plains, we soon lost our way and ended up walking around the washed-out portion of Dead River below the Silver Lake Basin. Confused by the channeled river and unsure of where we were, we headed east from one dirt road to another until we saw a road sign. I was more then a little lost, and while I was trying to get to Marquette, I ended up going north to within five miles of Big Bay. Finally seeing a paved road and signs again and realizing where we were, I turned around and pulled into Marquette around noon. Getting a quick lunch and a dandy road atlas, Logan and I headed north towards the Yellow Dog Plains determined to find waterfalls.

Our first stop was an easy roadside stroll to Big Pup Falls. They were a bit small given the rocky terrain surrounding the creek, but the easy access made up for this and we headed further north, glad that we found our first waterfall of the day. The next stop, Yellow Dog Falls, would soon be enough to warrant the entire trip.

The Yellow Dog Falls is a fairly well-known attraction, but most tourist sites only describe how to reach the first falls (also known as Hill Falls) or the last ones (known as Bushy Creek Mouth Falls). There are at least seven impressive waterfalls along the route with many smaller drops and rapids scattered throughout between these two points. We started hiking along the south side of the river along a well-trod path, passing by several small camping spots and crossing a few small creeks. There was even an elderly couple wading below the first falls looking for rocks in the churning water. The path slowly died out, and by the time we reached the fourth waterfall (possibly the most impressive and varied one), Logan and I were pushing our way through thick underbrush. You could barely see the outline of a footpath across the river, so I carried Logan across a thin log and we continued on.

I knew that Bushy Creek eventually met up with the Yellow Dog River, and that there should be a waterfall at the mouth of both rivers. As we continued on, past one waterfall after another, I started to contemplate turning around - after all, we had seen plenty of waterfalls along the Yellow Dog already. After passing the sixth falls and a modern-looking cabin on the riverbank, though, Bushy Creek was barely visible around the bend and another, small, waterfall on the Yellow Dog. After getting a few photos of Bushy Creek Falls, we turned around and headed upstream, this time crossing at a safer spot near the third falls. On the way out we passed several groups of hikers, including a group of three older women who had recently moved to the Marquette area and absolutely loved Logan. The puppy and I headed back to the car, drank half a gallon of water, and continued north on road 510 towards the Yellow Dog Plains.

There were at least two more waterfalls I hoped to stop at and had the maps for. The first one is a well-visited drop on the Yellow Dog River, Pinnacle Falls, and the other one is less-known one, Wylie Dam Falls. We headed to Pinnacle Falls along the two-track that cuts south off of the Triple A road and soon ended up on a road that wasn't on any of my maps. Thinking that I was close to the river, I parked at a two-track that had pine tree branches too thick to drive through and started walking south.

Surprisingly, I soon bumped into a group of older people looking and walking like they stepped straight out of a decent sized city. They were also looking for Pinnacle Falls and had parked a short distance from my car. We headed further south together, but the road soon ended at the edge of a steep bank with no trails continuing on. I decided to head down, hoping to follow the river downstream to the falls, but the group headed back up the road to try one of the roads that forked to the east.

The bank was incredibly steep, and Logan and I ended up sliding most of the way down. The bottom of the valley was also pretty unappealing, being marshy and filled with woody underbrush. We went a short distance east with the bank, staying a few feet above the marsh, before giving up and heading straight into the thick brush. It was almost easiest to walk backwards, forcing the branches down by sitting on them, then to continually duck and untangle the leash. When we finally reached the river, we were disappointed by it's deep, sluggish flow and brush-covered banks. Realizing that the easiest route was probably the least appealing, I scooped up Logan and walked straight into the river, which quickly rose to my thighs in it's dark-brown tinted water.

Walking close to a quarter mile either through the river or along the few clear stretches of riverbank, we finally ended up on the wooden structure that is located above the main falls. Logan and I climbed down the right side of the river and forded the river below Pinnacle Falls. I was more then soaked by this time, so I didn't even try to jump from rock to rock during the crossing. After seeing the falls and climbing the nearby pinnacle of rock, we headed along a well-trod trail up the bank and bumped into a group of famaliar faces - the group of people Logan and I walked with while orginally trying to find the falls. They had a hard time understanding why I was soaked through, but they gave me some water and a much appreciated ride back to the car.

Being past seven by now, I hoped to find one more waterfall, Wylie Dam Falls, before heading back. Driving down another two-track off the Triple A, we walked past a gated drive and soon found ourselves at the banks of another swampy portion of the Yellow Dog with two nearby hunting cabins. Thinking that a waterfall wouldn't be near a swamp, we turned around here and started driving back to Houghton.

The Triple A road through Yellow Dog Plains was in good shape - bumpy, sandy gravel with no major potholes or rocks. However, on reaching the first major fork, we continued straight instead of heading north on Ford road. I didn't know where we were on the atlas, but we ended up going on Skanee/Triple A, turning north on Greenhouse, and finally reaching Roland Lake. These roads were beyond nasty, taking us south of Leatherby and near Mt Arvon through plenty of swamps. The mud puddles were huge, and I often had to leave the car and walk ahead to choose which side of the puddle to head towards. There was even a section of the road that was completely replaced with huge logs. I couldn't count the number of times I scraped bottom on rocks or logs, and am still unsure how my car didn't get stuck or seriously injured on the Triple A.

We didn't see a paved road until nightfall, and after grabbing dinner at L'Anse, sped most of the way home. Both Logan and I were incredibly tired after two good days of hiking. However, it was nice to see the infamous Yellow Dog Plains and River, if a bit disappointed by wasting half a day on Mulligan Falls and Dee Lundeen.