October 3, 2022. Fall color change is beginning in Wisconsin; we are starting to see the lime green peeking out among the wooded hillsides. Looks like it might be a week or two before Peak Color. But cool and dry weather is coming in a few days so that could produce some changes quickly.
The earliest fall color will occur in Northern Wisconsin from Vilas County to Hurley-Ironwood in the western Upper Peninsula. But timing your trip to catch real good color can be fickle and sometimes catching the earliest color doesn’t mean catching the best!
For your upcoming scenic fall color drive planning, I am listing lower down this page some of our earlier ScenicPathways articles on some of our favorite scenic fall color drives in Wisconsin, along the Mississippi Great River Road, and around Lake Superior.
Scenic Fall Color Report along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior While this fall color travelogue was originally published a few years ago, it presents a reasonably typical experience for fall color leaf peppers during the last week in September. Ross here reporting from the Red Mug Coffee House in Superior, Wisconsin on Sunday, September … Read more
Agate Hunting and Rock Picking Black River Harbor beach
Walking Lake Superior beaches searching for the treasured Lake Superior Agate is a favorite past time of many people vacationing around the big lake. Veteran rock pickers and agate hunters have their favorite beaches, some of which are kept secret. Among my favorites are Little Girls Point and Black River Harbor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near the border with Wisconsin. Black River Harbor’s beach is where I found my first agate (see above picture) and Little Girl’s Point has I believe the largest variety of rocks and gemstones anywhere around Lake Superior. If you aren’t lucky enough to find an agate at LGP, you will for sure find some attractive rocks for polishing.
Little Girls Point is a Gogebic County park that has camping, including electric hookups, and picnicing facilities. Its beach is miles long and unpopulated. The water’s edge of the beach is shallow enough for swimming and there are sandy sections amongst the rocks for people who just want to sun bathe or do a picnic on the beach. But I’d say the major activity of day users and campers is rock picking because there must be millions of rocks along the shoreline and in the water adjacent to the beach. Every time there is a storm or high winds, new rocks get washed up on the beach. So yesterday you might have thought you thoroughly searched a section of beach, but today wind and surf have made it a “new” beach with fresh rocks.
Picking rocks and looking for a Lake Superior Agate along the beach at Little Girls Point County Park near Ironwood, Michigan
How you find Agates on the Beach
Some rock pickers, me among them, like to walk the edge of the water looking for agates and potential gemstones. I get some good exercise from the walk and in bending over often to inspect specimens I get some stretching exercise as well. The Lake Superior breeze is cool and crisp, as is the water. I’ll bring a mesh or plastic bag for my specimens and generally walk until I am getting tired, then I begin the return trip. In general walking with the sun at your back allows you to see the rocks a little better. Going over the same territory, out and back, you get a different view of the rocks because of the sun and sometimes I find a good specimen that I missed on the way out. I’ll also focus more on the rocks in shallow water on the way out and then more on the rocks in the sand at the water’s edge on the way back (or visa-versa).
Some agates (foreground) and other rocks picked from Lake Superior and polished
Another type of rock pickers are excavators. They find a spot on the beach that looks like a good place to find agates or other rare stones and plop themselves down with a bucket and small sand shovel and start digging. At Little Girls Point I think you could dig down at least two feet and still be excavating rocks. This method is less tiring and easier on your back. And it can be quite effective, particularly if you’ve learned to spot rock characteristics that favor the appearance of agates.
Recently I’ve tried a combination of the above methods with some success. As I said I really enjoy the stroll along the beach so that will continue to be my primary rock hunting style. However now when I come across an area with a number of quartz or quartzite rocks, I’ll stop and spend some time excavating and examining the rocks more closely. The two agatized rocks pictured above were found by this method.
Here’s a Google Map showing the location of Little Girls Point Beach and two other nearby excellent Lake Superior rock picking beaches.
Dining and Lodging at the Rittenhouse Inn
Bayfield, WI
The lobby of the Rittenhouse Inn with its 2 story Christmas Tree.
Few visitors to Bayfield escape noticing the historic Rittenhouse Inn on the main Highway 13 road into downtown (Rittenhouse Avenue). Perched high on the hill about five blocks up from the harbor, its size, beauty and Victorian architecture evokes “wows” and more erudite exclamations. In addition to being Bayfield’s only 4 star hotel, it is also known for its fine cusine. It has been on our “bucket list” to spend a night or two there for some time.
The opportunity to make good on our pledge came on a Thanksgiving weekend in 2015 with Jo’s sister Donna and her husband Dan. Previously we had done Thanksgiving weekends at four other historic hotels stretching along the Great River Road Scenic Drive from Galena, Illinois to Stillwater, Minnesota. The Rittenhouse Inn Thanksgiving Weekend will be the first of perhaps several historic hotel Thanksgivings we’ll have along the Lake Superior Circle Drive.
Rittenhouse Inn Review
Thanksgiving Menu at the Rittenhouse Inn Bayfield, WI
The dinner itself was fantastic. The historic hotels we’ve previously stayed at offered a Thanksgiving Buffet. The Rittenhouse Inn meal was a five course extravaganza with a choice of two soups, two salads, four specialty entrees, and four desserts plus a Sorbet before the Entree. (See pictures and more details at our Rittenshouse Inn Dining Review here).
Staying overnight at the Rittenhouse was also a bit different than we had experienced at other historic inns. The Rittenhouse, being a mansion B&B versus a larger hotel, was more intimate and held truer to the theme of “stepping back in time” to staying at a Victorian Inn. The only piece of “modern technology” in the rooms were a small clock radio. No TV, no microwave, no fridge, no phone, no desk for our laptop, and no bar or lounge in the facility (but craft beers and bottles of wine were available from the kitchen or wait staff to take back to your room.) We were pleased to discover there was one concession to the 21st century – a strong wireless Internet connection. (See our slide show tour of Rittenhouse Inn Rooms here).
Jo and Donna relaxing in the second floor sitting room of the Rittenhouse Inn
Great food, unique and comfortable lodging, and great service made for a memorable and romantic weekend.
Start of the UP200 Sled Dog Marathon – Marquette, Michigan Upper Peninsula
Friday night in Marquette thousands of people lined up along snow covered West Washington Street to watch the beginning of the UP200 Sled Dog Race, a qualifying competition for the famed Iditarod Alaskan race. Downtown businesses provided a festival atmosphere with music and entertainment plus several serving free hot chocolate and coffee. Frank Moe of Bemidji, Minnesota drew Bib #1 and starting position for the 24th running of the UP 200 (which is actually 240 miles in length).
Musher Frank Moe and his team of “athletes” roar out of the starting gate
Kevin Malikowski’s team running along the lower harbor
Sunday afternoon around 1 pm, Ryan Anderson of Ray, Minnesota crossed the finish line winning his fourth in a row and unprecedented UP 200 race. His neighbor Keith Ali also from Ray, Minnesota finished second. Ali had previously won the race three times. Ryan Reddington, who came all the way from Alaska to compete, finished third. Reddington’s grandfather was a founder of the famous Iditarod Sled Dog Marathon. Another Minnesotan, Troy Groeneveld finished fourth. Martin Koenig of Seeley Lake, Montana finished fifth.
We had a companion accompany us to the race: Flat Stanley – a paper cutout pal of our Grand Niece Kylah who is using Stanley as part of a school project. Stanley was there at the beginning and at the finish line.
Flat Stanley was there with Jo to watch the start of the race
Flat Stanley was also at the finish line to see Ray Anderson win the race
Sunday afternoon Jo and I went searching for a place to have lunch downtown and discovered Donckers Restaurant. Donckers is a blend of a candy & confectionary store, an old tyme soda fountain, and deli restaurant serving a large variety of breakfast, lunch, and dinner selections. Located downtown on West Washington Street a few blocks from the harbor. A funky place full of old fashioned character that has been well-earned since the establishment has been in business since 1896 and at this same location since 1914. The business was started by Fred Donckers as a simple, open air stand featuring candy, fresh fruit, tobacco and $.05 hot-buttered popcorn. As the business expanded, Fred moved indoors and built the current location adding a full service soda fountain and dining services.
Donckers soda fountain has all the “sweets” your tooth would want, including their own line of chocolate candies
Down the hall from the soda fountain is a coffee house atmosphere with a combo playing mellow tunes while others are playing board games
Jo had their Cheese Steak special and I had the Apollo Vegetarian sandwich. The sandwiches were delicious. Jo’s hot sandwich was thinly sliced beef with red peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese sauce was served hot and juicy and earned 5 stars. My veggie sandwich had ample portions of fresh, crisp vegetables- spinach, lettuce, onion, cucumber, and avocado spread – topped off with a slice of swiss cheese. Both of us had the veggie chips over the kettle chips. Pop was self-service in a large 20 oz tumbler.
Upstairs is the Deli with a decent variety of sandwiches, wraps, salads, and soups. After the order this couple received their pet rock placeholder!
We found a free table overlooking Washington Street. The retro table and chairs were quite comfortable. We didn’t have to wait long to exchange our rock for our food order.
The service is Deli style. You place your order and then are given a “pet rock” with a number on it as identifier of your order. When your meal is ready a staff member hunts you down, delivers your food and utensils, and retrieves the pet rock. We didn’t have to wait long for our order and it was served by friendly wait staff. It was apparent the staff has a good time and enjoys providing good and friendly service to customers. The prices are reasonable and made more so by the senior discount they gave us. We’ll definitely be back.
Hiking the Isle Royale National ParkImogen Reed, Guest Contributor At the far northwest of Michigan is an island closer to both Minnesota and Canada than any other part of the state. So far in fact, that if you wanted to drive from any other part of Michigan you would have to go through at least … Read more