Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Cold, cloudy, breezy, snowing

Companions:

Logan

Vehicle:

Ford Taurus

Katie and I had been food shopping most of the morning, and with the weather being crisp and snowy, I felt a bit stir crazy and decided to go for a short afternoon trip. Picking up the dog and with no clear destination, I headed north and stopped early on - at Ripley Falls.

I had visited this area earlier in the summer and got a few images of the lower drops, but it wasn't until a few days ago that Faith and I discovered many more drops further up Mont Ripley. I didn't take pictures, as it was mostly dry, but I hoped with the recent rains and wet snow that this creek would be a bit damp to show off these other drops. I was right - there was a decent trickle of water flowing over the rocks today.

We headed up the hill, slipping and sliding over the wet snow, and managed to get quite soaked by the time we reached the first falls. Continuing uphill. I was disappointed to see that the tallest drop was still mostly dry - the water seemed to seep around this point during most of the year. After reaching the top of the falls, we cut up to the ski slope and walked down, getting a great view of a snowy Houghton on the way down. We headed home after this, being cold and soaked, but I hope to visit this site again in the spring to see some real waterfalls.