All Photos are the
copyrighted property of Red-Fox Imagery and Park Lynx Prints
With Gabbro, Bond and Agate Falls already done
for the day, we were right on schedule for the
next target, the Presque Isle River. We knew it
would be somewhat like the Black River Scenic
Byway, in fact it flows North into Lake Superior
parallel with and close to the Black River in
Michigan's U.P., hosting several waterfalls and
cascades near rest stops.
Like many of our chosen Wisconsin and Michigan
favorites, the road to Presque Isle River's best
stuff is located off of Highway 2, which runs
all the way from the City of Superior along Lake
Superior's South Shore into the Porcupine
Mountains of Michigan. Highway 2 is like a
mirror to the North Shore's magical Highway 61,
crossing all the rivers that run into Lake
Superior; the biggest difference being that
Highway 2 does not follow the shoreline as
closely as the Scenic 61 does.
This was our first visit here, and all we knew
of were three named waterfalls. Two of them were
near a rest stop, the third was a long hike from
the same stop. Since we still had the Black
River to shoot afterwards, we decided to go
after the two that were quick to get to, as they
were described on websites as being more
impressive, anyway.
The first one that we saw was the one that was
supposed to be the biggest draw, Manabezho
Falls. With all the rain that had pelted the
Midwest, we were a little disappointed to see
this:
I mean it was kind of neat and stuff, but not
what I would drive very far to see. We ventured
down the path toward the other one, and noticed
the scenery improving quite dramatically.
Then we passed an unnamed falls, that we
decided to call Karrel Falls,
and then arrived at Manido Falls.
Now this was nice, hardly what we expected after
reading that this was less impressive or scenic;
in fact it was packed with people taking shots
of each other in front of it. We had to be
opportunistic to get some people-free views, but
somehow managed to.
(Right side above, left side below)
Now we were happy, but of course we had to jump
the barrier and take a little walk along the
river to see what treasures were left before the
Presque Isle River joined Superior. What we saw
next will stick in my mind's eye forever, a
plethora of cascades, sink-holes and unique rock
structures that could turn a couch potato into
an avid outdoorsman.
(Cool photos Kathy took)
(A boiling cauldron above)
(a dark cave below)
With our cameras still smoking we saw the
beginning of the end;
we had already reached the Presque Isle/Superior
Junction, and we had scored big again. What a
fantastic shootathon we were having! But it was
already afternoon, and we had one more river to
ravage before the sun set, and speaking of that,
where would we be when it did?
(Stay tuned for the 4th and Final Fling)
((I always send a copy to webtv to see what the
pictures look like on tv))
