Kevin, Stuart and Bob enjoying a nice fall morning in the Upper Peninsula!
Sadly in these days of social distancing and wearing masks it's a little more difficult to visit with others while traveling. Through the years many of the places we've visited and things we've seen have been from recommendations we've gotten from people we met along the way. Hopefully, we've been able to share with them some ideas that they have enjoyed along their journey also.
Kitch-iti-kipi had been somewhat on our radar screen but not a high priority. Fayette was not a place that we had even heard of a few days ago. Thankfully we visited for a few minutes with a couple at an incredible overlook just a mile or so from where we are staying. When Beth mentioned Kitch-iti-kipi they recommended it and suggested Fayette as well. We did a little research and saw that those two destinations are somewhat close to each other and that it would make for a nice daytrip. Our plans for Saturday were set!
As I had mentioned in a previous blog, there are so many scenic overlooks and parks in the Upper Peninsula. This one is about a mile from where we are staying. It's where we got the recommendations for Kitch-iti-kipi and Fayette.
Kitch-iti-kipi, as it was referred to by the Native American Ojibwe tribe, means "big cold spring", and that's exactly what it is. With a flow of over 10,000 gallons a minute it is actually Michigan's largest natural freshwater spring and at a temperature of 45 degrees the water is plenty cold. It's accurately named and an enjoyable place to spend a little time.
The Big, Cold Spring!
Kitch-iti-kipi is located in the Palms Book State Park close to the town of Manistique. It was about an hour drive for us to reach the park. There was a visitors center/concession area that was closed for the season. The park was still doing a somewhat brisk business even on a chilly, breezy fall morning. We asked the employee at the entry gate what else there was to do in the park other than visiting the springs. He thoughtfully and honestly answered "not much". Not only was the springs accurately named, but the gate attendant was accurate in his answer.
In spite of only the single attraction, it was quite interesting and scenic. There is a boardwalk around part of the spring that makes for easy viewing, but the best views are from over the spring. There is a glass bottom, wooden raft that floats directly over the 50 foot deep spring that is "self propelled". The raft holds around fifty people (it looked like we had about 25 on ours). It's attached to a cable and a big wheel that "volunteers" on the raft turn to gently guide the raft out and back. The leisurely float over the crystal clear water that was teeming with huge trout took about 15-20 minutes. It made for a very enjoyable time, especially since there were plenty of others volunteering to power the raft!
I made a rookie mistake yesterday that I'd like to share in case you visit the Upper Peninsula. Some areas are quite remote with limited cell service. When we left the house I set the google maps on my phone to Kitch-iti-kipi. As usual, the directions were perfect and we had no hesitation when we found ourselves on an unpaved road for about five miles. My mistake was not setting all our destinations in the phone before heading out. There was no service in or near the state park. We were never lost, I knew right where we were the whole time, but I did make a wrong turn that sent us in the opposite direction of our next destination. Oh well, we got to spend a little time in the town of Manistique and even have a few pictures to prove it.
or got this picture of the Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouose.....everything happens for a reason!
Fayette was a really pleasant surprise that we both really enjoyed. Between the years of 1867 and 1891 it was a vibrant industrial town on the shores of Lake Michigan. The town sprang up when the Jackson Iron Company built a factory to produce iron. The "company town" that sprang up was completely self sufficient, with a large company store, hotel, school, church, music hall, doctor, barber and much more for the over 500 residents that called Fayette home. As quickly as to the town sprang up, it met it's demise when the factory closed down due to decreasing demand.
As you could imagine, most of the buildings have been destroyed due to time and weather. Thankfully some withstood the test of time. They have been refurbished and replicas of some of the other commercial and residential buildings have been built. Fayette is now an historic state park that is a great place to get an insight and understanding of one of the many "company towns" that existed at one time throughout the US. We enjoyed a couple of hours looking around, but the winds coming off Lake Michigan were a little chilly. The little bit of chill we got made me think about the challenges the residents of Fayette must have had once "real winter" hit their little town.
Another view of the main part of the town.
We finished up the day with a great drive back to Munising along National Forest Road 13. As with all the roads we traveled yesterday, the leaves were spectacular and we even found our next adventure!
Below are a few views from the drive back to Munising.
