Paws to Trail

Today we drove out to Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw* Peninsula of Michigan's UP** As is our usual path, after Houghton/Hancock we turn left to the west side of the peninsula and FJ McClain State Park for a quick walk on the beach. Temps were quickly warming up inland, but it was nice and cool in the wind off the lake!

* It's pronounced KEY-win-ah, even though it's spelled keh-WEE-naw. If anyone knows why, we'd love to know!

** For those not familiar with local geography, UP = Upper Peninsula

#Keweenaw #UP #LakeSuperior

May 30, 2025 at 1:32amWeb
Show threadPaws to TrailMay 30, 2025

Cold water and wind got Zeena into Bounce-and-Rar mode on the beach!

The rocky beach was crawling with several groups hunting for agates and especially Yooperlites, which fluoresce in UV light. We kept our chaos politely away.

Yooperlites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQnzUaTAXGc

Show threadPaws to TrailMay 30, 2025

Normally, we'd follow the NW coast to the end of the peninsula, but today we shot down the main road down the middle to the end so that we could hit Mornin' Sunshine for brunch before they closed. Very good breakfast burritos and egg sandwiches, under a flowering tree for shade, with our pups.

Staff were very dog-friendly and came out to say hi. We wished them well with another season feeding mountain bikers: mountain biking is a big tourist attraction for Copper Harbor.

Show threadPaws to TrailMay 30, 2025

Our original plan had been to feed the pups lunch in Copper Harbor before heading back along the lakeshore, but we forgot to pack their lunch! So we took a shortened walk around Hunter's Point Park for one last splash in the lake, and then drove the scenic road back home for a very late husky lunch.

We did delay lunch long enough for a stop at The Jampot, to pick up preserves and baked goods from the Poorrock Abbey. Sadly, they were out of Thimbleberry jam until the next berry season this summer, but we did pick up wild strawberry jam to try instead!

https://www.poorrockabbey.com

The huskies ALMOST DIED of hunger, but we fed them once we got back to basecamp, and then supper not much later, so all is well in the world again.