Saturday, January 26, 2013

Winter Wonderland (Tahquamenon Falls)


Last Saturday morning my friend, Jan, and I set out for a wonderful winter weekend in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The weather was great for driving – clear and relatively mild temperatures – but we knew the snow was coming the farther north we went. We were happy to find plenty of snow after crossing the Mackinac Bridge.

Thankfully the driving conditions were still pretty good as we headed for Tahquamenon Falls, one of my favorite places to visit in the U.P. We never got lost and only made one wrong turn, although it was a pretty significant wrong turn! 

The sign for the Upper Falls was right next to a narrow road, so we turned right to go down the road. It seemed awfully narrow and twisted around after we went down a small hill; we quickly figured out it wasn’t the right way … as my tires started spinning. Jan got out of the car to check – yes, we were definitely stuck. Just then a group of snowmobilers pulled up and asked why we were driving down a snowmobile trail!! They graciously pushed us back up the hill and directed us to the correct turn for the Upper Falls (a much wider, plowed road!).
(In retrospect, the signs facing the other direction should have provided a clue that we weren't supposed to drive down this "road.")


We enjoyed a delicious late lunch of (fresh) fish and chips at the Upper Falls restaurant. The restaurant was packed with diners; apparently Tahquamenon Falls is a busy place all year long.

After our lunch we hiked to the falls. What a spectacular sight! The fresh-fallen snow on the trees, the ice formations, and the majestic water continuing to rush down – definitely the highlight of the day.










After our visit to the falls we drove west to Newberry where we enjoyed the hot tub at the Comfort Inn, knowing we would be much colder the following night.

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