Marquette with Cathy - Day 357

  Cathy walked with me for about 8 miles today through Marquette. Then Doug picked her up and they continued on their trip to visit family.

This section is urban trail, but that does not mean ugly. Here are some highlights beginning with the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse.

In the summer, this area is all green grass in a park. The tower is a memorial to firemen. Notice the fire bell.

Of course, Marquette was a really important harbor on the Great Lakes during iron mining days. This is the old ore dock. You can also see it behind the tower in the picture above. The very top level was a railroad line. A bridge over where we are standing allowed ore trains to run out on to the top. Boats would pull to the sides of the dock and the ore would run down the lowered chutes into the ships.

Here's another important piece of the iron equation. Charcoal was made in this kiln. It was filled with hardwood and then controlled to burn slowly for days until it all turned to charcoal. The charcoal was taken to blast furnaces for use in making iron.

A long portion of the trail has been designated as the Iron Ore Heritage trail. Decorative mileage markers and many interpretive signs line the way.

After Cathy left, I continued walking on past town. I got to the next section of woods trail and passed Levasseur Lake. It's picturesque, dotted with islands.

Miles today: 15.4. Total miles so far: 4121.3 and I may have under 700 to go.

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