we found Finland in Michigan :)
+best frozen waterfall hike in the Midwest!?
This past weekend I headed over to the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan to find some snow on a project with Visit Keweenaw! The Keweenaw Peninsula gets almost 300 inches of snow a year on average due to lake effect— as you can see on my handy little map below (a google maps screenshot) the Keweenaw is surrounded by Lake Superior on three sides meaning that basically if the wind is blowing over the lake, it’s snowing in the Keweenaw.
Wondering how lake effect snow forms?! Read this handy write up!
I got off work at 4pm Central, cleaned up a little around the house, and then my fiancé Andy and I hopped into the car and headed east and north!
is this the best winter waterfall hike in the Midwest?
There are just a few places1 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that remain on my list to check out, and until this weekend O Kun De Kun Falls was one of them! At the southern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula, this waterfall is on a well-maintained trail on the North Country National Scenic Trail.
Even though the snow was deep, the path was trafficked and packed enough that we just hiked out in our mukluks. We saw other hikers in snowshoes and skis too, but the mukluks were perfectly fine for the job.
The trail itself here is gorgeous all covered in snow like Narnia, and the waterfall itself is really pretty, but easily the best part of this hike was across the bridge and on the far side of the waterfall.
Over here, you can hike behind the waterfall and pop out in a small, cave-like feature pictured above2. All of those frozen plants are from waterfall spray! If I’m ranking my favorite winter hikes, this one ranks near the top for sure.
Small business spotlight: Takka Saunas
There is truly nothing more satisfying after a hard ski or winter hike than a trip to the sauna with your friends! Takka Saunas has two locations— one on the Portage Canal in Houghton-Hancock (pictured below!) and one up on Lake Superior.
For a very long time I did not get the sauna hype, but it turns out I was simply not doing it right. Go after an outdoor winter hike or ski, one where you get sweaty, and go with some friends, and actually get into the temperature difference. It can be a super fun experience beyond just a novelty, and you actually feel great after.
my cross country skiing journey (a journey straight into a tree, if you will)
One thing about me is that I actually didn’t grow up all that outdoorsy— I got into camping, hiking, and eventually working as a coastal kayaking guide at the end of college. I most certainly did not grow up on skis.
Learning to cross country ski as an adult has been a pretty humbling experience for me to say the least, especially as most of my friends up here, including Andy, did in fact grow up on skis.
But the best way to learn something, especially as an adult, is just to do it and keep trying, and be okay with being bad at it. Even though my only current method of slowing down is literally crashing into a tree I really enjoy cross country skiing. And you know what!? This weekend was the first time in a long time I went out and didn’t fall!
(Although I did nearly pass out trying to keep up with my friends).
Laurium Manor Inn and what it’s like to stay in a historic Manor (as someone who usually stays in a tent in the dirt)
For someone who lives in a tent most of the summer, staying somewhere cool feels like a real treat. I’m 28, and it wasn’t until recently that staying anywhere but the most budget-friendly of hotels and campgrounds was even a possibility for me— something I think is true for a lot of people in their 20s. The reality of travel is that camping is the cheapest, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Now though, both through work projects like this one and through having a dedicated budget for travel I’ve had the opportunity to stay some really beautiful places this year, and have quite a few more fun stays lined up for the rest of the year!
In the Keweenaw, we stayed in the historic Laurium Manor Inn Bed and Breakfast, which, with all the snow we had, felt like a hallmark Christmas movie come to life. Or, as Andy put it, The Shining. We actually ended up talking to the host about the potential for ghosts in the historic manor and he shared that a while back some mediums came to the manor and were extremely disappointed to not find ghosts, but swore you could still smell cigars in the evening in one of the game rooms upstairs.
Ghosts or no ghosts (and it does seem no ghosts), the Laurium Manor Inn is full of history and a really beautiful place to stay.
Eating my way through Houghton-Hancock
I think my favorite part of travel is the food. Maybe that’s not true, maybe it’s the hiking, but a little bit I think it’s the food. The joy of not having to cook, or meal plan, or clean. Can you tell I’m in my late 20s? Nothing is more late 20s than feeling overwhelmed by having to come up with an idea for dinner every night.
We started our trip with pizza at The Ambassador then got breakfast at Nisu bakery, which for me is an all-time favorite in the Keweenaw, then it hit Fitzgeralds which is truly one of the coolest restaurants in on Lake Superior but you for sure need a reservation!
on adventure weekends in the winter…
It’s getting lighter outside, and with that things are getting a little easier, at least for me. One thing I’ve noticed is that November, December, January for me all fall into this slowing down period, and in February I start to move around and come out of my shell. Looking back through all of my winter pictures, I think most of the scenic winter adventures I’ve had have been taken in February and early March, this sort of late winter-early spring period.
As I’ve started to spend my weekends out and about again instead of inside watching TV and knitting I’ve sort of re-remembered how much I like the whole season.
winter weekend adventure ideas…
Minnesota’s North Shore is easily one of the best winter destinations in the Great Lakes Region with saunas, hiking, bakeries, frozen waterfalls, and coffee shops!
Bayfield, Wisconsin is another great winter destination, but far more under the radar; here you can find a handful of unique stays, waterfalls, and great winter hiking!
And of course, the Keweenaw! Both times we’ve gone have been over Winter Carnival, but there’s so much to do here throughout the winter.
New to getting outside in the winter? It doesn’t have to be intimidating! Start here for a beginner’s guide to winter outdoor adventures!
new on the blog, in case you missed it…
Hello Stranger blog updates regularly with new guides, regional midwest travel tips, and resources to help demystify outdoor adventures. Here’s what’s new lately:
Check out the best women’s hiking boots (and alternative shoe types!) on the market
Spring Break is coming up! Here are some spring break ideas for Midwest adventurers!
Planning a road trip? Here’s your guide to sleep systems, packing, planning, and more!
the “i met my younger self in a coffee shop trend”…
The prompt “take your younger self” for coffee is trending on Instagram, but she and I would not get along, and in fact did not get along in our early 20s. Everyone shared there wholesome stories of how there younger self would be proud, or surprised, or at least content, and all I could think of was how my younger self and I are not on good terms yet.
And if you feel that way too, you should read Bad Tourist by Suzanne Roberts because it made me feel seen in a way I never had before in the midst of leaving behind the person I was when I was younger and becoming the person I am now.
Anyhow, here’s my take on the trend (text only below):
I took my younger self for coffee and she is horrified by me because we have different versions of success. She is 16, I am 28. She wonders aloud how I let myself stop running and gain so much weight, I try to tell her, gently that there are more important things than her pants size and she’s going to be a lot happier when she realizes that, and she will. She asks if we’re a doctor now, at least, and I tell her no, we’re a writer, is she really surprised by that? We’ve always unapologetically gone for what we actually wanted. I tell her we’ve kayaked with orcas and through fjords and slept under the stars for nights on end and she doesn’t understand. We argue over coffee, her a matcha tea, no sweetener, me a coffee black about what our lives should be like, what happiness should feel like, an argument I’ve already lived out real time in our early twenties and she will soon.
“I don’t even recognize you,” she finally says, feeling betrayed. “I know you very well,” I tell her, but I don’t tell her that even today I struggle to find grace for her the same way she cannot find it for me.
What’s on my list you might ask? I want to circumnavigate Grand Island by sea kayak, visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, visit Kitch-iti-kipi, explore Escanaba, Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness… I could definitely go on.
Truly hard to convey how stoked I was when we popped out here! That feeling of stumbling upon a really really cool place ? unmatched.
Loved reading about your trip in the Keweenaw. I've always loved the area up there, though it's been a while since I've been there. The wife and I have always talked about going to Copper Harbor in the winter.
Looks like an awesome adventure Maddy!!!