Discovering Lake Superior

and the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan

From the Introduction.

This book is for those who are fascinated by Lake Superior and its surroundings. I find those places utterly captivating and endlessly educational. That is why after decades of looking and listening, I’m still discovering them.

Tom Warren – Lake SuperiorFor almost forty years my family has had a home away from home on the big lake in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Unlike natives of the UP, we don’t call our place a camp. We don’t talk with the accent that characterizes many locals, and our names aren’t Finnish. Our license plates say Wisconsin. We pay local property taxes, but have no political clout or aspiration for elected office. We are five miles from the closest community of Ontonagon, but distant in other ways as well. Some might call us summer people, but that designation is incomplete. I like to think of us as curious sojourners. Guests in a setting that makes us welcome.

Lake Superior and the land have taken on an important place in my life

The hosts are wonderful. Neighbors, merchants, carpenters, artists, and countless strangers help us out of jams, tend to our ailments and emergencies, fix our stuff, look after things when we are away, and make us feel at home. They built and rebuilt our cabin. They keep our plumbing from freezing. They sell us what we need. They describe winters that we otherwise would learn about only from precipitation tables or weather reports of the Ontonagon Herald which is delivered each week to our home in southern Wisconsin. They tell us about their favorite trails to hike in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park to the west and their favorite places to canoe nearby and in the Sylvania Wilderness and Recreation Area to the south.

In many ways and via different styles local people teach us and we are thankful for it, but the land and the lake are our main inspirations. These natural teachers sharpen our eyes and allow us to see the world more clearly. They open our other senses to things that we could miss. They make us appreciate what we have as well as what is lost and fragile. Perhaps over time the land and lake give us insights that come early to true Yoopers.

During a given year, I am away from our Lake Superior property much of the time and wonder what could be happening up there. These apprehensions sometimes show up in dreams that always represent the land and the lake as less attractive than they really are. For example, treasured natural resources appear vulnerable in my dreams and our cabin is falling apart or being invaded by creatures of all sizes. Particular details fade away quickly after waking up, but the persistent message is this: Lake Superior and the land have taken on an important place in my life even when I am not there. If I don’t think about them enough during my waking hours, subconscious forces that operate through dreams will not let me forget this fact: Lake Superior and the land are a part of me. I must give them their due consideration.

Lake Superior shoresThe chapters that follow draw heavily from many years of journal writing while at the lake. I am also the beneficiary of reverberations from the voices of others who have shared their impressions in words, sounds, or images. Sigurd Olson has had an especially strong influence through his books.

I still write in my journal during each visit. They describe another day on the edge of the lake along with occasional references to simultaneous events in the outside world. Previous intrusions from afar have included: An earthquake hitting San Francisco while I am listening to the World Series. Princess Diana dying in a car accident. “Nine/Eleven” becoming another day of infamy. Flood waters seeping into our daughter’s home. Gas costing $4.24 a gallon … and so on.

Thank goodness most of the recorded events are uplifting ones: Our newborn grandchild is doing fine. An eagle flew by. What a sunset! The new trees we planted are exploding with growth. We hiked the Little Carp River Trail. No flies!