A friend called tonight to see if we were alright since I hadn’t blogged all week, so I figured I’d better get my act together and post something.  Thanks to great staff who held down the fort John and I took 2 days off this week and headed west.  We left Tuesday morning and meandered our way to Ashland. Went to the Boulder Junction flea market as we left town, it was the last one of the season so smaller than normal but we enjoyed seeing what was for sale as we never get a chance during the season. Found a great pair of earrings made from local porcupine quills.

We then headed north to Lake Superior and walked along the beach. The forecast had called for rain, but it ended up being very nice. The nice surprise of the day was finding a great Bed and Breakfast to stay at. John and I usually stay at B&B’s when we travel. This one was exceptional. It’s called Second Wind Country Inn in Ashland. If you are ever in the area treat yourself to a wonderful place to stay with very gracious hosts!

After talking with our hosts until noon on Wednesday we headed to the Great Lakes Visitor Center that has an exhibit on the history of Lake Superior. It was free admission and very well done. The treat there ended up being one of their rotational exhibits on the history of resorts in northern WI. Amongst the pictures they had hanging we found two of our resort when it was Wilsie’s White Birch Lodge. They had a picture of the bridge and the front desk area. How neat to be a part of the rich northwoods history.

We ended the day at Copper Falls State Park. It is a beautiful park along the Bad River with several waterfalls.  The 1.7 mile hike loops around two falls with many steps. wE got our exercise that day.  Enjoy the pictures from our hike.

The first falls you walk by is Copper Falls. It the past 90 years it has gone from a 30 foot drop to about 12 feet today.

The second falls you walk by is Brownstone falls. This one drops 30 feet and is where the Bad River and Tyler Forks river merge.

The gorge that was formed here was very impressive. God's beauty surrounded us!

One of the many mini falls along the way.

WE ended the hike by climbing up to the observation tower. Between this stair case and the staircase of the tower it was a total of 242 steps! Our legs had a workout between these steps plus all the steps on the hiking trail.

On Wednesday we took a trip up to the Porcupine Mts and then headed over to Bond Falls. It was a beautiful day, sunny, a nice breeze (so no bugs) and temperature around 70. I couldn’t have asked for better hiking weather.  Porcupine Mountain State Park is an easy 1 1/2 hour drive from the resort and located on Lake Superior. It’s a great day trip. We also drove over to Bond Falls which is about a 45 minute drive from the resort and is one of the prettiest waterfalls in the UP of Michigan.

Our good friends Denny and Riva joined us for the day. Lake of the Clouds is behind us.

Manabezho Falls on the Presque Isle River flows into Lake Superior.

The suspension bridge you cross to get down to Lake Superior.

View from the suspension bridge.

Bond Falls is gorgeous this year with all the rain we have had.

Perfect view to end a great day!

The 14th Annual Journey’s Marathon started here at the Village this morning at 8AM. The full marathon begins right in front of our fitness center building and goes all the way to Eagle River. This marathon is a pre qualifier for the Boston Marathon and brings people here from all over the country. we provide coffee and goodies for the starting line. It’s fun to see everyone here.  the race begins with the singing of America the Beautiful, an Irish Blessing and the count down. All is down with loud speakers and County K filled with people. It’s a fun sight. Especially this year with the snow.

Getting Ready.

These 3 men begin the marathon.

Waiting to hear the starting gun go off.

And they're off!

Klondike Days is a  family oriented gala event in Eagle River featuring a variety of turn-of-the-century activities. Enjoy our pictures from yesterday.

John learning to throw a tomahawk. He hit the bullseye on his 3rd throw.

Learning about turn of the century life in the Living History Village.

The chainsaw carving was amazing! It's unbelievable what some people can do with a chainsaw.

Cutting through the log with the big saw...winning time 10.47 seconds!

On to the chainsaw cutting. They had to make 3 cuts on the log....winning time 4.5 seconds! What a difference power makes!

You couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day for the 2nd annual Winter Fest in Boulder Junction. Winter Fest was held on Boulder Lake and all proceeds are used to help maintain all boat landings on Boulder Junction area lakes. There was an ice fishing contest, ice golf and driving contest, snowshoe relays and tug-of-war, and snow baseball. Free chili, hot dogs, cookies and hot chocolate was served all day. 

26 inch Walleye...nice fish

4 holes of ice golf using clubs and a tennis ball. Next winter there just may be an ice golf course on White Birch Lake!

Over 50 people tried their hand for the prize for the longest golf drive. Using a driver and a tennis ball, the winning drive was 238 feet.

John's team didn't win the relay race, but his team did win the tug of war. Sorry no pictures of the tug of war, Sue was serving chili in the food tent.

Just north of Boulder Junction off County Road B is the Catheryn Wolter Nature Conservatory. This wilderness area consists of 2,189 acres of northern forest and 15 lakes and ponds. The lakes and surrounding forests provide habitat for many native plants and wildlife, including loons, otters, fishers, bear and timber wolves. The preserve is open to the public from sunrise to sunset for hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, birdwatching,a nd other low impact recreational activities.

We snowshoed there today and they have a 2.5 and 5.2 mile loop you can go on. It was a beautiful trail. We look forward to going this summer and enjoying it during a different season.

Great trails for either snowshoeing or cross-country skiing

For our next snowshoeing adventure we decided to go cross-country instead of on a groomed trail. We parked our vehicle on Camp 2 Road just north of the Ballard/Irving boat landed. We headed out on the old logging road that runs parallel to Ballard. We snowshoed all the way to the channel at White Birch and then finished snowshoeing across the lake. Except for the 2 times we passed snowmobilers (who had no business being out there since it’s not a snowmobile trail) we had the land to ourselves. it was a very peaceful and balmy 15 degrees day!  

Breaking trail in a beautiful setting!

We met many trees we had to either climb over or go under along the way. It only added fun to our day.

Weventured off the logging road to see this beautiful meadow. It's good the snow had a hard crust on it as it was 3 feet deep here. We sunk in a couple of times. John and our boys have done a lot of exploring here in the fall. John enjoyed seeing it in the winter.

Great winter landscape.

The fun part of the day was all the animal tracks we encountered. This track is of a grouse drumming. We also saw, squirrel, rabbit, fox, deer and coyote tracks.

The channel in the winter.

Leaving our tracks on White Birch Lake.

When we went back to pick up our truck we saw this otter coming through the ice at the boat landing.

You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day! On January 16th the sun was shining and the temperature was a balmy 25. The Northwoods was sparkling! We decided to hit the trails. We got new snowshoes for Christmas and are looking forward to trying out all the area snowshoe trails. We’ll keep you posted. We started close to home on the Star Lake trail. I’m sure many of you have walked the trail in the summer, but WOW what solitude and beauty in the winter.

Start of the Star Lake NAture and Hiking Trail

Which way to go? We chose the 2 1/2 mile trail.

John heading around the bend.

John wanting a photo opportunity at one of the benches along the way.

The pileated woodpecker was having a busy day. Lots of fresh woodchips were all over the ground.

Natures picture frame

One of the signs along the interpretive trail.

The Black Lagoon in the winter.