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Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Cool, cloudy, drizzling, heavy recent rain

Companions:

Katie, Logan

Vehicle:

Saturn Vue

With the regular firearm deer season only a day away, Katie and I headed to Marquette to visit a few waterfalls that were not on my original list. We were sure that there were hunters already roaming the public access lands were the last two falls I wanted to see, Gleason and Sandstone Rapids in Ontonagon County, so I found some falls too close to houses and/or cities for hunters to the east that we could visit safely.

We left with Logan early in the morning, arriving in Marquette right around sunrise. Our first stop was an easy one, being located within city limits and walking distance of Wright street - Lower Dead River Falls. We parked near the gated bridge and walked over some small falls and headed up the hill to the left. Not only could I hear a familair roar in this direction, but the flowage pipe from the upstream dams was easily accessible in this direction and we wanted to check that out as well. The falls were right below the pipe, so Katie and I climbed around a bit and I got slightly damp to get some pictures. She stuck to the higher ground, as the rocks were icy and wet by the Dead River. We headed back to the car, getting some pictures of the small lower falls, and stopped by Target for a few things for Logan before heading back out of town on our next stop.

The Dead River falls quite a distance from its headwaters in the McCormick Tract - about 1200 feet, actually. The riverbed is quite varied, with most of the drop involving sharp, rocky waterfalls and most of the river being swampy or held up with reserviors. Before the high waters and subsequent Silver Lake Basin failure of 2003, there was a total of 5 reserviors along the Dead River (Silver Lake Basin, Dead River Basin, Mc Clure Basin, Forestville Basin, and Tourist Park Basin). When the uppermost dam failed, it also swept away the lowermost dam (Tourist Park), but the only three held.

I've been near the Silver Lake Basin area with Faith and Logan before, searching out Mulligan Falls, and actually saw some construction work on the new earthen dam, but haven't seen the emptied basin. I've heard that it's supposed to be completed by 2009 and hope to visit the site before it fills back up. However, Katie and I were heading to the middle dam and several waterfalls downstream of it, the Mc Clure Dam. It took us a while to even find it, as we attempted to find a two-track visible from a satellite photo (which is now a housing development) and then the railroad tracks that go over the Dead River (which was gated off). Eventually parking at the Mc Clure Basin on the north side around ten or eleven, we hiked to it's base to a pleasant surprise - the entire dam was overflowing.

According to UPPCO's website, there has been some problems with the flowage pipe not filling correctly, so all of the dam's water is overflowing and creating a sight usually only seen during the spring. There was some bedrock at the base of the dam that created some excellent mist too, so while the water cascading down the cement wall looked unnatural, the entire scene was still pretty darn impressive. A pipe on the right side of the dam was also spewing water, something that appeared to be happen naturally year-round.

There was some lower falls right below the falls, with the tallest ones being around eight feet, so we spent some time admiring them and the volcanic bedrock surrounding the river before heading down some well-trod paths. There was a number of testing sites along the riverbed collecting some nasty orange sediments which appeared to be well-visited, so the path was easy until we got to the second waterfall, Upper Dead River Falls, and the last test site. These falls were extremely impressive but also difficult to view, as the water was far too high to cross safely and an inconveniant turn in the river blocked most of the falls. They appeared to be multi-tiered with several direct plunges, but it was difficult to see exactly how high the entire drop was.

The second testing site was difficult to walk past, with a poor rock dam blocking the natural flow of the tested tributary, but we made it past and continued downstream. Our path started to go up and down the steep rock bluffs near the river, and after several particularly difficult climbs and noticing that the river had settled down to rapids and not waterfalls, we headed up into the forest and followed the logging roads. It was recently logged out, within the last few years, so the going was relatively easy. After a while, Katie wanted to take short break, so I headed on alone to the next hill where I saw the railroad trestle marking the final falls along this stretch, Trestle Falls. Katie decided to stay back, so I continued on to an impressive site.

Trestle Falls is named from a soaring railroad trestle that literally runs directly above it. The steel frame is supported by aging concrete and brick and the tracks above are frequently used by Cleveland Cliffs and the iron mines south of US-41. The water flowed between the supports over a bulb of tough rock, sticking to the south side, before plunging into a chute, circling several huge boulders, and pouring out into a swampy pool. The rocks were jagged, slick, and covered by iron pellets, so Logan and I made our way very carefully to the base of the falls to get our photos before heading back to a worried Katie.

On our way back we heard several gunshots. Unsure of whose property we were on at this time, as we had ventured away from the river to more level ground, we headed to a hunting blind talking loudly and wearing bright clothing. I was pretty sure that there was no hunting season going on during this time and that we were on public land (it wasn't posted as private), so I wasn't surprised to find the blind empty but recently occupied. We followed his tracks out to the flowage pipe (which is covered near Mc Clure Dam) and walked an easy path out.

It was early in the afternoon by this time, but I wanted to hit up one more quick stop before grabbing lunch in Marquette. We headed across the Mc Clure Basin and turned west to the Hoist Dam, which holds the Dead River Basin. Parking near the outhouse on the short, dead end access road to the dam, we headed down the road to the bottom to a disappointing site - this dam was not overflowing at all. We found several dry waterfalls that looked quite odd (green water, orange/red rocks) and some tiny flowing falls snacking through the grass, but nothing worth sticking around for. We headed to Jimmy Johns after ten minutes of walking around and planned out the next hike.

Morgan Creek has two known falls along it's length, though the names are often confused. Morgan Meadows Falls is a short, blocky drop located just downstream of a swampy portion of the creek, and Morgan Falls (often called Unnamed Falls) is located near the creek's junction with Carp River. I was hoping to visit them both, as they are on the some road (which is not visible from the map) which comes out right at Marquette's ski hill. The first fall wasn't difficult to find and an easy to visit, though we did drive around the backroads of south Marquette quite a bit trying to find Grove Street. Logan and I even found a less scenic but taller lower falls before we headed on. We attempted to continue on but stopped at questionable bridge less then a quarter mile from our last stop. I did hike downstream a good distance in hopes that the falls would be close by but found nothing but a sandy creek bed and calm waters.

Turning around and heading to on M-35 to Palmer and Warner Falls, we were treated to some great views of the open pit iron mine near the road. We had often seen the looming piles from US-41 but had never ventured down to see them close-up. This entire area looks diseased from the satellite photos, though, and it was hard to see the negative ecological impact during our trip until we stopped at Warner Falls. I hiked down alone (Katie was tired and the road was too near the falls for Logan to run around) and was shocked to notice how much the water stunk. The falls were pretty, and I hiked all the way down to the base and up the rocky side, but wouldn't dream of fording it or walking along it too long for fear of growing an extra arm on my way out.

Heading south a short distance, we stopped at Shweitzer Falls next. I didn't have a clear idea of the hike here but had heard that it was easy to get lost here. We drove along the two-track just southwest of the bridge over Shweitzer Creek and I headed down the trail alone, finding the creek in short time. I headed downstream, hearing the falls during the entire time, but didn't actually see time until I was five feet from them. The swamp and woods were horrifically thick, and even with most plants dead with the oncoming winter, I had to push my way through the brush to get to the falls.

These falls were two-teired and quite pretty, and as I was already on the top, I simply climbed down them to get photos. Once I was on the bottom, though, I found myself with the problem of getting back to the car. I had to retrace some of my steps, climbing back and around the falls, before I could get across the pool that the falls spilled into. I got some pictures of the entire falls with dwindling light and pushed my way due west, suddenly coming out less then ten feet from the car. If I visit this creek again, I plan on bringing marker tape or a walkie-talkie, as I was surprised at how quickly I got turned around during the ten minute walk.

We headed west after the sunset to one last stop. An easy and somewhat known waterfall, Black River Falls, is located south of Ishepeming and has several signs and markers to show the way through the small maze of two-tracks nearby. We did get held up by some road construction along 581, and the trail was dark and forboding when we finally parked the car. All three of us got out and headed to the falls, walking slowly across the slick wooden walkways, and made it to the falls safely in a short time. The pictures turned out pretty bad, but we spent some time in the dark woods with Logan playing around. We made it back to the car well after eight and drove back to Ishpeming for some snacks before the long drive back to Houghton.