As Falls Tahquamenon, So Falls Tahquamenon Falls, Pt. IV

(contd.)

Tahquamenon Falls - Day Four

The morning after our long-ass hike, it came as a surprise to no one that folks all slept in (except Yours Truly, of course.)

Later in the morning, as the womenfolk began stirring from their slumber (Smitty, of course, would be out for awhile still.)  The girls entertained themselves with some bizarre charade game, where Alayna silently posed like various Marvel characters (here, she's pretending to be Spiderman), and Abby - who was in my hammock - had to guess who Alayna was representing.  If Abby got it wrong, Alayna got to take a large step forward, and once she reached the hammock, it was her turn to lie down in it and guess Abby's charades.  My kids make up some really weird-ass games.

Dr. Strange.

Abby's not the brightest bulb in the drawer when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe - she didn't do so hot with this game.

Thannos.

Kris and her wide assortment of bathroom toiletries set off for the Shower House.

The Hough/Smitty 'kitchen.'

Blowing some bubbles, killing time while the womenfolk shower off.

Popped bubble mist.

Abby, you're doing it wrong. . . 

Around lunchtime (which we ate back at the campsite, since folks took their time getting around today - the hike took a lot out of people), I cracked open this super-good Oatmeal Stout from Short's Brewery.

After lunch, Kris and I took the girls back up to the Upper Falls visitor center to shop around in the gift shops for a bit while Smitty finished getting around.  This time we just drove there, and it only took about five minutes.  Way easier to drive, folks.

Kinda doubt this was carved by actual Native Americans. . . 

About an hour later, we rallied the troops and made our way to the Lower Falls boat launch.  From there, you could rent a rowboat to take you over to the island the Lower Falls surrounds.  We wanted to check out this island, from which you could wade out into the river and play around in the falls and stuff.

Girls taking another selfie.

Noted.

Entering the river.  The weather was perfect today for splashing around in the water - low 80s, clear and sunny.

The Houghs in front of the Lower Falls.

Rita and Smitty

Abby photobombs a parental selfie.

Go ahead and guess how many times this kid slipped on slimy rocks and fell down into the water. . .

Pale-ass tourists can't get enough of this place.  Glad we hiked by the Falls and got all our scenic pictures on the day we chose to hike (when it was in the mid/upper-70s, and 'too cold' to swim.)  That would've pissed me off to have a bunch of pale, fat tourists in my scenic waterfall pictures. . .

The water wasn't necessarily cold, per se, but the force of the water was a little rattling for Abby.

If you watch the previous video carefully, you can see the force of the waterfall make Kris' grip on Abby's arm twist suddenly, which consequently jerked and twisted Abby's arm as they passed under.  When they reemerged, we got some pictorial evidence of Kris' A+ parenting.

Leviathan emerges from the depths. . .

Abby decides to contribute to one of the many cairns that were scattered about the shallow riverbed. . .

. . . or not.

Whoops.

Girl and dirt selfie.

The Cannonball finds a clam.  Or something, I don't know.

I felt naked without my SLR, but I had my phone and a portable battery source - tucked away in one of my smaller tactical man-purses - so I didn't freak out too bad.

We saw a couple of these bad boys in the river throughout the day, and fortunately no one got pinched by those nasty-ass claws.  Well, except for Smitty.  Smitty got pinched.

This stretch of the water was pretty perilous.  The water was fast moving, and the rocks were slippery and wobbled out of place whenever you stepped on one.

Stepping over a log.  Or tree, whatever it is.

Funned out with the constant threat of slipping on perilous rocks, we soon headed back to our original spot in the river. . . where there were actually waterfalls and you didn't risk splitting your skull every time you took a step.

Chilling on a log onto which Kris carved their mutual initials, using a sharp rock she found in the river.

Hanging out with Ms. Rita.

The gang.

After a couple hours, we had thoroughly traversed and explored the entire Eastern side of the island, so we decided to put on our flip-flops and check out the larger-but-somehow-not-as-populated-with-tourists Western side. . .

WAY more scenic on this side of the river, and far fewer people.  Not sure why that is.  Maybe 'cause it's farther away from where you park the rowboats?

More mandatory pictures in front of waterfalls.  We had ourselves a running theme this week.

The Houghs.  Again.

Abby wasn't sold on this anymore.  I think Kris' arm-twisting had been the final straw.

Oh, the things we do for pictures in this frickin' family. . .

It's a real damn shame they don' t have stuff like this closer to home, in Central Michigan.  I'm not a big fan of driving five hours in a car - and crossing that f***ing bridge in Mackinac - to see stuff like this.

Smitty decided to try and climb down a short cliff face in order to access the lower stretches of the Western riverbank. . .

Farther upstream, before you hit the falls.  This was about the same distance from the falls where, on the Eastern side of the island, you risked breaking your neck stepping over all those wobbly, slippery death stones. . .

This may have been the tallest cairn I've seen so far.  Some people try too hard.

After an hour so exploring the Western side of the river, the kids were beginning to grow hungry and tired of being out in the sun, so we made our way back to the rowboats.

After reaching the boat launch and returning to our campsite, it was time for some refreshments.

Once we had eaten dinner and put on some dry clothes, we loaded back up in the van for the evening's adventure:  the Seney Wildlife Refuge.  Both kids conked out in the car ride, having brought along their headphones so they could relax and listen to their horrible, horrible pop music and hopefully get some shut-eye before our next excursion.

A glimpse at the not-at-all scenic landscape on our way there.  Looks a lot like Mordor.

On the way to Seney, we drove through the small town of Newberry.

About the size of Farwell, I'd wager.  But who knows, honestly - this whole U.P. thing is weird.

(We didn't eat here.)

A downtown straight out of a time capsule.

Smitty once again wanted to stop for ice cream, which, as you can imagine, went over well with our kids.

In the zone.

Order up.

 

After our twenty-minute pit stop for ice cream, we continued on down the road, passing by numerous reputable-looking establishments such as this one. . .

. . . or this one.

Arriving at Seney, just as as the sun began to set.  We had arrived too late to get wildlife guides or anything like that - the visitor center/ranger station was closed already - so we had to set off ourselves on a self-guided tour.

Here, allow me to take some badass sunset pictures for you. . .

We opted to drive around the refuge's large ponds on a sight-seeing tour, following a one-way, two-track dirt and gravel path that was so narrow Kris' van had absolutely no room on either side for wiggle room.  With no cell-phone reception to allow us to call for help, and no street lighting whatsoever to assist the setting sun, we were a little anxious to get the drive over and done with.  If Smitty, who had been our designated driver since we arrived in the U.P., suddenly sneezed and the van went into a ditch (that hugged the edge of both sides of the 'road'), it'd be days before we were found by anyone.  Not ideal, folks.

One was usually able to spot lots of animals at this refuge, and while the larger animals in the animal refuge - black bears and moose - were usually not seen, you could usually bank on seeing beavers, muskrats, and various birds and reptiles.

Want another glorious, un-edited sunset picture?  Here you go.

First beaver, spotted about five minutes into our drive through the refuge.

Smitty approved.

Beaver in the Sun

We squared off with this goose for a couple minutes before it finally grew bored with our minivan and let us pass by.  As previously mentioned, there was no room in the road for us to drive around it, so unless we opted to run over and kill it - something that's probably frowned upon in an animal sanctuary - we had no choice but to wait for it to get out of the way.  Stupid goose.

Here's a few more sunset pictures for you folks.  Now featuring swans.

 

The occasional blobs in these pictures are marks on the windows.  We were unable to roll down any of the windows because CLOUDS of black flies were flying alongside our van for most of our drive.  I was willing to put up with a few blotches on my pictures if it meant prohibiting those little black bastards from entering my vehicle. 

Some local geese lead their kids away from the trespassing minivan.

Never tell me the odds.

Okay, that is pretty narrow.  We had a few inches to spare on either side of the van, but that was about it.

More ponds, off in the distance.  Smitty and I talked about how easy it would be to hide a dead body up in a place like this.  NOBODY would ever find it - there's nothing out here but swamp and black flies.

And in closing, here's one final sunset picture for you.  Because I'm nice.

- Brian