Cliffs Tag | Jacob Emerick's Blog

Return to Mulligan Cliffs

The cliffs along the southeast wall of Mulligan Plains is one of the most rugged and tempting hikes I've found since I first viewed them in late 2008. Towering hundreds of feet above Mulligan Creek, often with sheer rock faces that are rare in the Upper Peninsula, they promise of awesome views of the plains below and hold back wild, unvisited highlands spotted with swamps and lakes. This area has multiple impressive cliffs near Stager Lake and Red Road, but these cliffs are the tallest and most difficult to visit.

Up at one of the bluffs

I had spent the night next to the Rocking Chair Lakes. My journey up here had not been easy, with several clumsy stumbles into swollen, thigh-deep puddles in the twilight. Waking slowly with the wet, foggy morning I ventured south along the ridge line. It was slightly tempting to climb one of the two outcroppings on the east side of both Rocking Chair Lakes, both of which offer a commanding view of the plains below, but my hike today was a long one. I was planning on backtracking my ...

• Tags:
• bushwhack,
• cliffs,
• dead river,
• mulligan plains,
• rocking chair lakes

Norwich Bluff

A cold, misty morning wrapped around Norwich road like a tunnel as I barreled south from Ontonagon. I was meeting a friend at the North Country Trail parking area near FR630 and was running late. It turned out that Emily was also behind schedule, and we met at the small parking area at the same time. We both donned extra clothes in hopes of keeping dry through the slow drizzle before jumping into my car and driving up Victoria Road.

Misty two-track on the way to Gleason Falls

The Norwich Bluff hike had been on my radar for several years. Most of my hikes tend to be circular - I dislike backtracking and usually have access to a single vehicle. This adventure was a bit too linear to make a good circle. Starting at Gleason Creek, we were going to follow the the edge of a south-facing bluff over hilly terrain to Norwich Road. If there was a single vehicle, I'd have to either walk along Victoria Road for three miles or retrace my hike over the rough terrain. Thanks to Emily and her truck parked on Norwich, we could cut out several extra miles of ...

• Tags:
• cliffs,
• north country trail,
• ontonagon,
• ottawa national forest,
• trap hills,
• waterfalls

The Numbered Lakes above Red Road

Nestled north of Red Road and between Mulligan Plains and the Clark Creek Valley, the numbered lakes are perched almost 300' above within thick and wild highlands. Lake 8, 2, and 3 (going from west to east) are each around 10 acres in size with shorelines ranging from deep rocky outcroppings to shallow wetlands. There is no road or easy path to any of these lakes, even though there is an old open cabin on Lake 8. I had visited Lake 8 several times before, but today I wanted to see all three of the numbered lakes on a single grand adventure.

Looking south on Lake 8

Ever foolhardy, I made the mistake of spending the night on the north side of Lake 8. The Mulligan approach involves climbing the 300' up an overgrown four-wheeler trail for a mile around fallen trees and deep pools then bushwhacking a few hundred yards through a small marsh. By the time I reached the lake both my gear and I were soaked through thanks to the all-day drizzle. I rolled out of the tent early in the morning clad in already wet clothes shivering in the ...

• Tags:
• cliffs,
• huron mountains,
• mulligan plains,
• old growth,
• peshekee highlands

Hills Lakes

I woke up early with the sunrise, still sore from yesterday's hiking. Dressing quickly, I rolled out of the tent and started a small fire. The coffee didn't take long to make and I was soon standing on the shore of the northern Rocking Chair Lake, watching the sunrise over the tall eastern hills and enjoying the warm aroma and taste of the brew.

Without much forethought I had spent the night halfway up Mulligan Plains on a small DNR campsite. My plan of sleeping on the southern terminus and hiking to these lakes in the morning had backfired thanks to recent logging activity. I was still debating on heading south to follow the southeastern cliffs of Mulligan, but the tall hills and trees to the east beckoned me. After gulping the rest of my coffee I started east to new territory with false bravado - I was heading straight into some of the thickest woods on this side of Superior.

Sunrise over the Northern Rocking Chair Lake

The southern Rocking Chair Lake drains north to the one I was camped on, and so my first ...

• Tags:
• bushwhack,
• cliffs,
• mulligan plains,
• old growth,
• rocking chair lakes,
• swamp

Why (some) Client-Developer Relationships Suck

Some web development projects don't turn out. The blame falls on both the web developer's and client's shoulders, though most developers will pine about the 'Worst Client Experience Ever'. It doesn't matter if the project is related to a full-time position or a one-time contract... things don't always work out. A combination of misunderstanding and miscommunication can ruin the best of working relationships, pushing back deadlines and frustrating both parties. There are two main causes for why this happens.

Web Development is New

The entire field is brand new, and whether a developer has been working for the past few months or the last decade, it's important to treat it as such. While the majority of people understand how to use the internet, there's a great deal of mystery about the experience. This goes beyond users not understanding the difference between Flash and Javascript and straight to developers themselves. Payment, expectations, and techniques differ greatly between individuals and projects. Also, it's far too easy for a ...

• Tags:
• bushwhack,
• cliffs,
• mulligan plains

Snowy Drive Down the Peshekee Grade

Katie and I woke up at a small Ishpeming motel to find the ground covered in snow. This was more than a little surprising, as it was the second week of May, but the Upper Peninsula likes to misbehave in the late spring. We packed up the car with Logan and headed west on US-41 towards the Peshekee Grade to find the remains of the Iron Range & Huron Bay Railroad.

Straight portion of the old grade

During the turn of the century, when the Champion-area iron was first discovered, an ambitious plan was made to build a 36 mile-long railroad to Huron Bay, MI. The track would go through the Huron Mountains and involved deep rock cuts, woodland trestles, a huge ore dock, and a dangerously steep northern grade. Because of the grade and the poor quality of work it was torn up, never to be used. $2.2 million was spent with only vague remnants of the grandiose plan.

We turned north on the Huron Bay-Peshekee Grade Road, which follows the railroad's route fairly close (at least the southern portion of it). The first section of the ...

• Tags:
• bushwhack,
• cliffs,
• old growth