Two WalMart parking nights and a soupy, foggy mess in Minnesota to reach Copper Harbor, MI on the Keweenaw Pennisula in Upper Michigan.
The drive up reveals these shorter days kicking off leaf peeper season. The plants begin breaking down the green pigment (chlorophyll) in their leaves, allowing other pigments to step forward.
I've seen a couple trees with red canopies and green skirts.
Quite lovely.
We stay at Lake Fanny Hooe Campground (LFHC), site 36. Before we arrive, the Garmin unit sends us to the wrong location, and Copper Harbor (being proud of their refusal to allow a cell tower) has no cellular data, so we are stuck trying to find our campground in this little town with no map. I almost get us stuck, but we just happen to have enough room to squeak out a u-turn without having to unhook the Jeep, Yay!
The campground bathroom is well laid out, but getting into it is a minor nightmare. Expect to spend 5 minutes figuring out the code and 3 tries to enter each successive trial. Do not wait until your eyeballs are floating to seek the facilities!
The showers are deep, and I believe the campground has a heater that kicks on with the lights. The shower curtains, however, are not wide enough for the doorways, they are, eh, 5 inches too narrow. This lets a lot of air through after your shower and before you are dried. Chilly!
Our first morning, I kickbox and then we wander town with the pups. We find the grocery/general store. Not quite enough produce supplies to keep me happy, but it will do in a pinch.
There are 2000 residents in the county according to the 2000 census. Mr SMT asks if this is too far away from a real grocery store to make me happy. Considering the winter weather, yes. Too far. Not to mention too crazy during summer (it is a tourist trap) and too lightly populated the rest of the year. How do you make friends in such a low population?
I ask Mr SMT what he likes about the area. Its remoteness. It certainly is that.
LFHC has extraordinarily tight, close in spaces, with the water and electric hookups right along the road. Making sure you have enough hose and cord must be high on camper desires to camp here. Their full hookup area is more open. As we are one of a handful of fall campers, we have much of the water and electric spaces to ourselves.
Mr SMT reads LFHC reviews to me, consisting mostly of "... and the owner screamed at ... ." So far, we have not had any negative interactions with the owner. The campground is for sale ... $1.5m.
The wi-fi is soooo slow. Even in a lightly populated campground, it is practically worthless. It takes hours to update one app in the "clubhouse." We call it the Lubhouse, as paperwork is missing the "C."
The trash cans are in a heavily fortified wooden box with lock. We go to toss trash, and when Mr SMT raises the lid, our boy puts his paws on the edge to peer in and sniff. And gets his paw caught near the hinge when the door closes. "Yelp!" Dumba$$ dog! Dumba$$ Humans! We check for damage, and we do not feel any. The boy is a drama queen, and we would know if he was really hurt.
We wander further down the roads of Copper Harbor, and find a lot of little parks on the roadside. I am pleased to find public access to waterways.
09/07
Our last day in Copper Harbor
We've been walking multiple times a day.
Early afternoon was a short hike to Manganese Falls.
This evening was a walk around town to the little micro park to watch the sunset.
On the way back ...
Me "It FEELS like it is in the 40s, but it is probably in the 50s."
Him "49."
Dogs "Whine, whine (shiver)!"
Upon our return we catch a short blip of WiFi, and each check weather. My phone says 59, his says 55. It STILL feels colder! (74% humidity)
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