fall in the keweenaw
I have been wanting to show you the Upper Peninsula in autumn. Oregon does have beautiful colors, and it is true I have not seen autumn on the East Coast (yet), but I think autumn here is glorious and magnificent. I always have.
I was actually going to do a fall color tour for just this purpose but, on a whim, Atlas and I went on an adventure to find the mouth of the Gratiot River this afternoon. (It’s not very far from my parents’ house, but I had never been there. Apparently it used to require a vehicle with four-wheel drive followed by a hike.) When I saw the trees bursting with color along the way, I decided to take some photos and share them with you.
I had forgotten that the mouth of a river empties into a larger body of water. I thought we were heading to a lazy river. Imagine my surprise when we rounded a corner and saw Lake Superior!
I wandered the shore: collecting rocks, skipping stones, and snapping photos. Atlas tried to escape the stable flies. (As an aside, if you have an idea for keeping flies off dogs that does not involve bug spray, I am all ears.)
On the way home, I stopped at nearly every bend in the road for photos, we passed my parents on the four-wheeler, and then we stopped for ice cream, where I bought Atlas his very own bowl of vanilla ice cream to make up for the flies.
It was a lovely adventure. And I have so much appreciation for the fact that I am here, now, in this season I love and this wild place that I love.
What beautiful pictures! The ice cream does not bother Atlas’ tummy?
When his digestive system is running well, it doesn’t affect it too much, at least not if it’s a rarity. I did have them remove 2/3 of the ice cream, though – it was full over-the-brim when they gave it to me. I thought that was a bit much.
what a beautiful blog post!
It really is! Clearly I had help. Hehehe.
Wow. So beautiful. I drove to Detroit (from KS) via the UP in October about 14 years ago. I still remembered being blown away by the beauty. Thank you for sharing these here and sparking this memory for me.
much love to you!
ps. Reading about the Gratiot River made me laugh as there is a major blvd in Detroit (or one of the townships, I forget) named Gratiot and it took me forever to learn how to pronounce it correctly. I still think the pronunciation is awful!
our leaves have not even begun to turn. still in the upper 80’s each day. but the nights are cool. so there is hope!
walking through these pictures with you was a delight!
love xoxo and nose smooshes!
@Larisa: I am going to have to call you sometime, because I can only think of one way to pronounce it so I need to discuss this!
@Tammy: There is hope indeed! Though I will confess that I like thinking of leaves left un-turned somewhere in the US. It makes me feel like the magic of fall is always here with us somehow.