We had an incredible storm this week – or last week, I
guess. It was on Wednesday, and it’s Monday now – I lose that sense of what day
it is when I’m not on a Monday-thru-Friday schedule. I’m usually off
Wednesdays, but I had agreed to work an extra day this week so that Marc could
cover at one of the other visitor centers.
We had known there was a big weather system moving in. I was
warning people all day Tuesday – there is a storm coming, with strong winds and
heavy rain. A small craft advisory for the lake, with a gale warning and waves
up to 18 feet expected. Chance of rain 100%! You don’t often see a forecast
where they have there is NO room for
error – you know they’re serious when you see that!
It had rained during the night, but it was not raining when
I got up Wednesday. I was surprised, having expected to be driving to work in a
downpour! It was cloudy, and chilly, and windy, but not raining. And it kept
holding off; I just kept waiting for it to break loose! I didn’t have very many
people come in. There was one pair who was planning to camp at the backcountry campsite
about 2 miles down the trail; I warned them a bout the weather. It was just
starting to spit a little at this point, around 11:00.
When the rain finally came, it came hard.
This was not just sheets of rain falling,
but bedspreads! Falling hard and heavy. It was very loud on the roof,
and the wind had picked up even more. The few brave souls who ventured forth in
their raincoats said that the waves hitting the cliffs were spectacular. I
could have gone to look for myself when I closed up for lunch, but I didn’t
want to lose my umbrella walking out there in that wind! I could hear the roar
of the waves from the parking lot, though.
While I was sitting in my car eating lunch, the temperature
really started dropping. It had been chilly all day, but now it was cold. I got chilled just sitting there,
and didn’t realize it until it was too late. The visitor center isn’t heated,
but there is a space heater behind the desk, and I kept it going the rest of
the day.
I had a few more visitors come and go. Not too many hikers,
but some who came in telling how theyu had decided not to camp or hike, or had missed the boat tour because they were
canceled due to the weather. There’s not much to do when it’s raining that
hard, but I told them about the paved paths to the overlook, and the one at
Munising Falls, and the boardwalk through the marsh…
Late in the afternoon a couple came in who had been hiking –
planning to try to backpack despite the weather. They had started at Munising
Falls before the rain had really gotten started, and had kept going because the
woman had really wanted to make the
trip happen. But after slogging through seven miles of pounding rain – and even sleeet, someone
else said later – they were giving up. Even with their rain gear on, they were
completely drenched, and water had gotten inside the covers of their packs. It
was another two miles to their assigned campsite – climbing down to Miner’s
Beach, then up again to the other side – and even if the rain did let up, they
had no way to dry off and would be at serious risk for hypothermia.
They hung out in the store for some time – it was warm, at
least compared to outside, and it was a relief for them to just not have rain
falling on them. She kept trying to call the shuttle company to arrange a
pickup – their car was in Grand Marais, and they had been dropped off at
Munising Falls with the intention of hiking the length of the park. People do
that all the time – but it was just not going to happen this week.
They almost didn’t get the call through – she had to call
back once after it was dropped – but they did manage to arrange a pickup, just
before the phone died. A very expensive ride across the park.
It was about 20 more minutes before the shuttle arrived, and
I was very glad to see that they made it. I know people have sometimes been
able to hitch a ride from Miner’s Castle, with other visitors, but
there was nobody else around to even ask! If they had been going toward
Munising, I would have offered to take them myself, at the end of the day – but
this was an hour in the opposite direction. I had become invested in their
plight, and I was very glad to see them getting out safely.
The storm was still raging at the end of the day. There
never was any thunder or lightning, just wind, rain, and cold.
Around 8 pm the power went out at the house. We’re out at
the end of the road, so I was worried they might not get to it for a while – we
went around making sure all the windows were shut to conserve the heat. I made
some phone calls, talking to family members I’d been wanting to get in touch
with. And it was still only 8:30! I made
one more call – to the Hardees in town, to see if it was open. Open until 10
pm, and no mention of a power outage… And I knew they had wifi! So I packed up
my laptop and headed into town to ride out the evening where the lights were
still lit. (I would have gone even if there wasn’t wifi – I’m always happy with
a book, too!)
As I drove to town I saw a truck already working where a
tree had fallen on the power line. When I got home around 10:10, my clock said
12:25, so it had only just come back on.
Thursday I was off. I had planned to do a big hike out at
Beaver Basin, but after three inches of
rain I was not even going to think about it! The weather was still awful, too –
not raining, but dark, cold, and the wind was blowing stronger than ever. This
was the day I decided to bake the bread and calzones – it was a good day for
staying inside.
Friday was lighter out, but still gray, cold, and storm-like
winds. Saturday we finally saw the sun again, but it was still cold and windy.
Sunday, yesterday, started out sunny but was gradually overtaken by clouds and
scattered showers – and what warmth there had been in the morning faded away.
The day ended on a bright note, though – the sun peeked through a sprinkling of
rain just as I was leaving, and I got just a glimpse of a rainbow!
Today was a breakthrough – it was sunny the entire day. The
forecast had said “mostly sunny”. And tomorrow’s forecast just says “sunny” –
with no room for error! And a high of 65 – but we’ll have to wait and see about
that.
The wind has died down to normal, too. It seems that the
storm has finally passed.
After work today I went and hiked out to Miner’s Falls. It’s
been a few months now since I was down there; there was a little more brush in
the understory, but otherwise the trail was about the same, so it went pretty
quickly. The light on the hills off in the distance was gorgeous, but it’s hard
to take a good picture through trees!
The waterfall was flowing quite strongly. I wasn’t
surprised.
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