Root beer?

After visiting the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, there were still so many things we wanted to experience on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula but only one day left in which to do so. Looks like we under-planned exploring the U.P.! So, Mackinac Island goes on the list for another time. For now, we backtracked slightly to Paradise – Paradise, Michigan, that is – to see one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi (Niagara, of course, being the largest), Tahquamenon Falls. Yeah, try and say that again or better yet, get the Nav system to understand what you’re saying so you can find the place! 🙂

Upper Tahquamenon Falls, at 50 feet tall and 200 feet wide, is the largest waterfall in Michigan. During the spring, more than 50,000 gallons of water per second drops over the Upper Falls!

There is a nice path from the Upper Falls parking lot. Easy peasy, in fact, but does it seem like we are going downhill, maybe slightly?

Oh, don’t worry. We’ll be going back up.

Fortunately, we had a good night’s rest after the stairs at Pictured Rocks the day before

Was the climb worth it? WOW!

Hey, wait, it’s… brown? Yep. Due to tannins from the cedar and hemlock, the water is an unusual – and oddly mesmerizing – amber color, hence the local nickname of “Root Beer Falls.” Some folks nearby declared them “Whiskey Falls.” Others said, “Iced Tea.” There’s something for everyone.

It’s also quite foamy. The low mineral content of the Tahquamenon River combined with the decaying organic matter and the turbulence generates a large amount of foam. Like the top of a good root beer, right?

That was stunning! What’s next? Well, the route to the Gorge View path involves another trek on the aforementioned (and already climbed) 94 stairs. At least we’d be going down this time. So off we went, down the 94 stairs and back up the trail, only to find…

Uh-oh.

You’ve got to be kidding me. 🙄

Now considering the first climb as simply a warm-up, we squared our shoulders and began the trip down to the Gorge View.

As it flattened out (thank goodness), we followed the long boardwalk along the gorge with its massive trees, but the path itself seemed to prevent many pictures (can’t see the forest for the trees) until we came upon the most interesting tree. The bark “spirals” all the way to the top, as if the tree’s being wrung out like a cloth. Anybody that knows about this condition, please share!

Eventually, of course, we made it to the bottom of the gorge.

So, again, was it worth it?

During the long trip back, one of us got a tad grumpy. Nah, we actually had fun the whole way up!

After zipping up (yeah, right) 181 stairs back to the top, we drove four miles downstream to see the Lower Falls portion of the park. Today was exercise day!