Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Cool, cloudy, heavy rain

Companions:

Logan

Vehicle:

Ford Taurus

The dog and I were itching for another adventure after our day on the Yellow Dog Plains, so we ignored the thunderstorm forecast and headed out to L'Anse. The plan was to visit the upper falls on Lower Silver Falls, Ravine River Falls, and perhaps the Slate River Falls chain. Our first stop was Lower Silver Falls.

We took the drive out to the falls, staying to the right at the fork, and found ourselves at a small parking area near a quiet part of Silver River. Heading upstream through the bushes was difficult, as there is plenty of undergrowth along the river here, but we made it to the river's bend eastward and could see the falls ahead. I started taking pictures, but when the thunder got a bit loud, Logan and I headed to the top of the falls in hopes to finish up the falls before the storm hit.

I was on the top of the falls, on the wrong side of the river, when the sky opened up. The dog and I immediately cowered up next to the river under the old dam's side and shared my jacket as an umbrella. We were soaked in no time, as the rain was coming down so heavy that we could barely see the forest on the other side of the river. After almost fifteen minutes of waiting for the weather to let up, we were able to see the river start to rise. Waiting for lightening to strike us down, I ran for the woods and then jogged down the trail with the cold puppy in my arms.

We made it back to the car just fine, though my phone still hasn't recovered from the soaking it got that day. The rain continued to pour down outside, and I started to get worried about the road we came in on. Even though the windows were badly fogged up and the dog was still rolling around in the back seat trying to get dry, I drove us out of there and back on paved roads.

Figuring that we were already soaked, we headed further east to Ravine River. I had read online that there was a good two-track that led to the river and also seen a picture from a kayaking site of a short, drop in a heavily wooded area, which led me to believe that I had passed by the driveway to the falls last time we were looking for them. We stopped at 21678/21680 Ravine River Raod, and I left Logan in the car while I hiked along the unposted driveway. Sure enough, a wide, small drop was at the end of this road right below a wooden bridge over the river. I got a few pictures and headed out, a bit disappointed by the falls but happy that I had found it.

Logan was shivering and unhappy when I got back, so we headed straight back to Houghton after these falls. It was disappointing to leave this adventure early, especially after being so close to Slate River again, but both of us were tired and cold from our ordeal in the storm.