Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach I feel it in the air, the summer’s out of reach Empty lake, empty streets, the sun goes down alone I’m driving by your house, though I know you’re not home -Don Henley
There’s still some summer left to squeeze, but these cool nights tell me it won’t be long before the summer out of reach!
Twelve falls ago, I featured this passage along with a different photo from Gowtham. He took this one at Bond Falls in the UP way back in 2009. While he doesn’t seem to be doing a whole lot these days on Flickr, you can for sure follow along in the journal on his website!
Travel Marquette shares that Yellow Dog Falls are a bit of a drive from Marquette, but well worth the drive time & not that difficult to reach with a trail along one of the wildest streams east of the Mississippi, with multiple waterfalls in just a two mile section of river.
The Yellow Dog River is one of the cleanest and least contaminated rivers in Michigan with water quality above and beyond drinking water standards that is considered a cold water fishery and a blue ribbon trout stream by the State of Michigan. Read much more from the Yellow Dog Watershed.
The Perseid meteor shower is a summer staple & fast approaching the peak!! Our friends at EarthSky say that the early mornings of August 11-13, 2024 are your best bet for meteor action, but you can usually see them between midnight – 6am. That’s perfect because there’s an excellent chance of Northern Lights for the next couple of days & they are usually strongest between midnight – 3am.
EarthSky writes that the August Perseid meteor shower is rich and steady, from early August through the peak. The meteors are colorful. And they frequently leave persistent trains. All of these factors make the Perseid shower perhaps the most beloved meteor shower for the Northern Hemisphere.
This photo of a Perseid meteor over Bond Falls that I shared back in 2013 remains one of my favorite michpics ever! Sathya wrote on their blog:
The deafening sound of 500 gallons of water / second from 50 feet The tranquil silence of the dark night Milky way adorning the skies A (Perseids) meteor fireball streaking across the horizon Definitely a moment of serenity and one I would cherish!
For sure check out Like the Ocean to view & purchase prints and a whole lot of amazing photos & amazing thoughts about some of the most beautiful places on this planet.
Gabbro Falls is on the Black River and is as impressive, if not more impressive, than its more celebrated neighbors downstream along the Black River Scenic Byway. This is a largely wild waterfall with no fences or barriers of any kind. It consists of three separate drops. When the water is high there is a fourth drop that is the height of the other three combined. The main drop falls into a narrow crevice between two large rock formations.
Gabbro Falls is relatively easy to find but there is some confusing information out there. The waterfall is also known as Baker’s Falls, and it is often mistakenly called Garbo Falls (gabbro is a type of rock).
Ontonogon County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is full of waterfalls. Pasty.com shared: The name “Ontonagon” is derived from the Ojibway word “nontounagon,” which means “I lost my bowl.” Local legend surrounding the name stems from the story that a member of Chief O-Kun-De-Kun’s band was washing bowls near the mouth of the river when she was startled by an unkempt stranger in a canoe. The woman inadvertently dropped one of the bowls into the river and exclaimed “nontounagon”. The white man took her declaration to be a reply to his question about the name of the area.
I have also heard that it refers to the bowl shaped harbor – maybe a reader will have the answer, and if you want to explore Waterfalls of the Keweenaw has a whole list – collect them all!! ;)
Slate River Falls is, unsurprisingly, on the Slate River. This is the largest of many drops over a three mile stretch of the river. This is a wild waterfall, with no fences, and the only trail is one left behind by the curious feet of others.
The falls are located along Skanee Road between L’Anse and Skanee, about 10 miles east of L’Anse. There is a sign marking the Slate River, so the falls are easier to find than some.
If you continue upstream past the falls a few hundred yards you can find two smaller falls, Slide Falls and Ecstasy Falls (so named by kayakers). About 3 miles upstream you can find Quartzite Falls, Black Slate Falls and more unnamed drops.
…is nestled amongst virgin pine and hemlock trees. There is a small parking area and a half-mile trail with an observation deck overlooking the falls. Wagner Creek falls over a stratum of erosion-resistant dolomite into order to flow into a shallow gorge containing the Anna River. The Anna, soon afterwards, flows northward into Lake Superior.
GoWaterfalling’s page on Gabbro Falls has directions to this western Upper Peninsula waterfall and begins:
Gabbro Falls is on the Black River and is as impressive, if not more impressive, than its more celebrated neighbors downstream along the Black River Scenic Byway. This is a largely wild waterfall with no fences or barriers of any kind. It consists of three separate drops. When the water is high there is a fourth drop that is the height of the other three combined. The main drop falls into a narrow crevice between two large rock formations.
Tom swung by Tahquamenon Falls over the weekend and shares:
Amazing! I have never seen it with such a large volume and flow as today. It’s supplied by the spring melt-off and rain. Another benefit of the run-off is the intensity of color – again, never seen such deep rich color. That is why it’s aptly referred to as “root beer falls”.
Tom shares, “Interstate Falls is an 18-foot waterfall on the Montreal River, along the Wisconsin / Michigan border, at the edge of the City of Ironwood, Michigan and Hurley, Wisconsin. A 0.3 mile trail through hardwood-hemlock forest leads to the falls, and is a popular attraction to residents and visitors of the Gogebic Range.”
Michigan in Pictures 