Not at Tahq
Not this year. Two years ago I was at Tahquamenon Falls on our North Country Trail chapter’s annual gathering there. We used to rent a couple DNR “lodges”. They are comfortable albeit not fancy lodgings. Built for families to use as living quarters, they each accommodate 8-10 people. Something like that.
The last time we drove up for one of those junkets was two years ago. COVID was lurking but we weren’t sure what to do about it yet and so went about our business, in my case with some trepidation. Last year there was probably a day hike. This year there is a day hike. The GG tried to make it happen but the few area motels are NO VACANCY this weekend and driving up and back from the UU’s house in Gaylord is 2.5 hours each way. That’s waaaaay too much driving, especially with a five mile hike in the middle of it all and whatever snow Old Man Winter decides to spew at the yooperland and the northern lower.
The Tahquamenon Falls state parks have changed immensely since I was a kid. We would drive there from the moominbeach and if we took the shore road it took forever because it was a crappy old potholed gravel road. We would have lunch (PBJ sandwiches, etc.) at the Tahquamenon river mouth. I remember my grandparents were with us once. I guess I was about five. After the river mouth we still had something like 20 miles to go to get to the parks.
Back then, the parks were a tourist attraction but they were soooo hard to get to that they were usually not crowded. And I’ll just throw out that most of the folks there were WASPy type people like my family.
Nowadays? It’s a LOT easier to get to Tahq and the parks get visitors from all over the world. You can stand on the platform by either of the falls and listen to people talk to each other in multiple languages that are not English. And then there was the year that the young DNR gals outfitted a multi-generation Indonesian family with snowshoes and after considering the miniature grandma for a bit, put her in children’s snowshoes. Our DNR gal had also passed the fam doing snow-driving up to Tahq. They were going 45 miles an hour at the most. I am HAPPY to share Tahq with the world and LOVE all of our world visitors.
Oh there is now a brewery at the Upper Falls park. I have not been there since two years ago when we squeezed all kinds of people into one table. Maybe someday we’ll be able to dine inside again. I’m not ready yet even with my possible but probably temporary covid immunity.
February 9th, 2022 at 9:04 pm
I love falls; they are hypnotic to me, very calming. I’m not ready for “normal” yet either. Not even sure what that is anymore.