Waterfalls of the Keweenaw

Conditions:

Warm, partly cloudy, little recent rain

Companions:

Katie, Logan

Vehicle:

Saturn Vue

With the colors of fall in full bloom, Katie and I planned on a drive down south to find waterfalls and vistas. Our first stop was Plover Falls, a small intermittent tributary of the Ontonagon River. We headed into the woods following a small two-track, crossed a dry Sandstone Creek, and soon found ourselves at Plover Creek. It was barely flowing, the colored leaves covering the creekbed and natural feel of the location made for a great hike. There was more then enough leaves for Logan to enjoy, too, and he had a great time playing and romping around in them.

We decided to stop at the old Victoria mining town on the way to Victoria Dam Falls. Luckily, this was actually the last day that they held tours, though we weren't interested in them. Taking off on the North Country Trail along the Old Victoria Loop, we saw numerous old foundations lining the path. There wasn't much left of most of the buildings with the encroaching forest, and it was hard to see them with a thick layer of leaves everywhere.

After the town, we headed on to the dam and falls. Unfortunately, these were also barely flowing. The angle of the sun further worsened the quality of the pictures. This is the second time I've visited these falls in hopes to see them flow, and I'll have to visit them in the spring to actually see a decent waterfall here.

Heading down Victoria Dam road in hopes to find Gleason Creek Falls, we were disappointed to see plenty of hunters parked along the road - over two dozen in a particularly crowded mile. There was a large truck parked by the Whiskey Hollow Trail, a shortcut to the falls, so we continued on to the Norwich Bluff end of the North Country Trail. This trail eventually hits the falls, but we were looking at a six mile hike round trip. Katie only made it about half mile up the steep trail before turning around, and Logan and I a mile. We got high enough for some great views of the area, though, but only looking southwest. The views of the Whiskey Holley Creek valley are about 2 miles in.

We left the area along the Norwich road north to Ontonagon. While I had been to the two falls we visited today, it was nice to take Katie to enjoy the colors too. Gleason Creek Falls and Sandstone Falls on Johnson Creek were still unreached, though, and deer season was quickly approaching.