On Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008, State Representative Mike Lahti cuts the ribbon for the dedication of a new 9 K cross-country ski trail near the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. Also pictured, from left, are Keweenaw County commissioners Don Keith, Carol Rose and Frank Stubenrauch; former State Representative Paul Tesanovich, representing State Sen. Mike Prusi; and Dr. Steve Rowe, trail designer and builder. In the background, from left, are Don Kauppi, Keweenaw County Trails and Recreation Committee chairman; Sharon Lahti; and Tom Collins, board member of the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District. The event marks the beginning of a fundraising effort to acquire a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant for acquisition of 1900 acres of recreational land in Keweenaw County. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photo © 2008 Gustavo Bourdieu)COPPER HARBOR -- The "Extraordinary Event" to kick off fundraising for the purpose of acquiring, through a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant, 1900 acres of land for recreational trails near the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge began with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 13. The dedication took place at the trailhead of a new cross-country ski trail built near the Lodge this summer.
Acquisition of this land is contingent on a Trust Fund grant worth more than $800,000, 25 percent of which needs to be raised by the local community. The trail dedication preceded a fundraising dinner, "Babette's Feast," modeled on the film of that title and prepared by Chef Malcolm Hudson and a volunteer community staff.*
In the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge kitchen, Chef Malcolm Hudson prepares a foie gras stuffing for Quail in Puff Pastry with Truffles and Foie Gras, the main course of the very French $100-a-plate fundraising dinner that followed the trail dedication on Dec. 13. Watch for a STORY ON THE DINNER, coming soon. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)State Representative Mike Lahti was on hand to cut the ribbon, officially opening a 9-kilometer cross-country ski trail, six kilometers of which are in the woods and three on the golf course. The trail has five loops.
"It's another big day for the Keweenaw," Lahti said. "What they do in Keweenaw County really makes the Keweenaw a great place to live and a great place for tourists to visit. It's a beautiful setting here -- a 9-K course. It's set up well."
Lahti expressed thanks to the builders of the trail, particularly Dr. Steve Rowe, who designed and built it this past summer.
After a quick ski on the new trail, Dr. Steve Rowe, second from left, designer and builder of the trail, and Sam Raymond, left, vice president of the Copper Harbor Trails Club, chat with State Rep. Mike Lahti, right, and Keweenaw County Commission Chair Don Keith during the dedication of the new trail near the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)"It's going to be another attraction for winter business here in Keweenaw County and for our whole area," Lahti added. "It's nice to be here for this dedication."
The symbolic ribbon cutting represents the potential of purchasing -- for additional silent sports trails -- an area of land located primarily between the Mountain Lodge, owned by Keweenaw County, and the State-owned land at Lake Manganese. It includes about 93 acres of land currently owned by the Fort Wilkins Gardens Conservancy. The proposed trails will be used for hiking and mountain biking in the non-snow months and cross-country skiing (both classic and eventually skate-ski trails) and snowshoeing in winter.
Former State Representative Paul Tesanovich represented State Senator Mike Prusi at the trail dedication.
"I work for Senator Mike Prusi," Tesanovich said, "and I just like coming up here."
Tesanovich, now a resident of Herman, near Baraga, Mich., noted he first came to the area in the spring of 1976, when he worked at the Mountain Lodge cleaning cabins, weeding the garden, raking and getting the golf course ready -- and fighting black flies.
Originally from Gary, Ind., Tesanovich said he knew then that he wanted to live in the Upper Peninsula. Eventually he was employed by Michigan Tech University and served as District 110 Representative in the 1990s, the position later held by Rich Brown (D-Bessemer) and presently by Mike Lahti (D-Hancock).
Three Keweenaw County Commissioners -- Don Keith, County Board chair, and Commissioners Frank Stubenrauch and Carol Rose -- were on hand for the dedication.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Stubenrauch warm up in the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge as they await the trail dedication ceremony on Dec. 13. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)Stubenrauch said he wanted to commend all the volunteers who put so much work into building the trail.
"I hope they get a lot of use since they've put a lot of effort into it," he noted.
Sue Ellen Kingsley and Terry Kinzel of Hancock Township, both avid cross-country skiers and owners of the Churning Rapids trail at Maasto Hiihto, skied on the new Copper Harbor trail on Dec. 13 and attended the dedication and dinner celebration.
"The trails are wonderful," Kingsley said, "narrow enough that you feel you're enclosed by the woods and you're eager to see what's around the next curve; and at the same time the curves are never too difficult (no sudden turns at the bottom of inclines); and the hills are exhilarating, never overwhelming. We were lucky that Saturday was pretty still, which meant that the perimeter trail around the golf course was clear. If there's a wind, I'm sure it would be covered with snow, but it has a nice long hill out in the open that was delightful that day. Steve Rowe has done a tremendous job laying out these trails and we thank him."
The trails also accommodate beginning or novice skiers, according to Gina Nicholas, board member of the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District, who skied there with her family on Dec. 13.
"Rex, Nick and I skied some of the new trails on Saturday," Nicholas said. "It was Nick's first time out and my first time in 15 years or so. The trails were beautiful, and even as novices we all had great fun. As soon as we finished, Nick was asking when we could do it again."
Jay Green, Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club board member, who also skied the trail on Dec. 13, noted "no real steep ups or downs except one down swoop on an open section of the trail; mostly nice rolling terrain, perfect for beginner and intermediate skiers."
The Copper Harbor Trails Club is working with Keweenaw County on the Trust Fund grant application and fundraising for the match.
Aaron Rogers of Copper Harbor, the Club's president and summer trails coordinator, said he designs and builds all the hiking and biking trails (separate from the ski trails built by Steve Rowe). Rogers is the Club's sole paid employee and works full-time.
Aaron Rogers, Copper Harbor Trails Club president, points to an area on the map that potentially would include more recreational trails, should the Trust Fund grant make the land acquistion possible. (Photo © 2008 Michele Bourdieu)"I'm a snowboarder," Rogers said. "I do cross country skiing and snowshoeing. In the summer I'm a mountain biker by choice."
Rogers said the club now has 150 members, most of them from outside the area.
"We've been building our mountain bike customer base in the last few years," Rogers explained. "The mountain bike population has grown exponentially in the last two years."
Rogers said the mountain bike trails are used for snowshoeing in the winter.
Lori Hauswirth, associate planner for the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR) and also a member of the Copper Harbor Trails Club, is assisting with the grant application process. She mentioned that volunteers from outside the area also help with trail building; for example, a trail care crew from the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) built a trail near Copper Harbor last summer.
"They did a two-day trail-building school here," Hauswirth said. "It included a classroom session at the Copper Harbor Community Center and a trail-building session at the Michigan Nature Association Garden Brook Preserve."
Houswirth noted the group re-routed an existing trail between the Mountain Lodge and Copper Harbor so it would be more sustainable.**
Meg Vivian North, former Grant Township supervisor, who teaches science at the Horizons High School in Mohawk, praised the work of the Copper Harbor Trails Club.
"As a resident of copper Harbor I've seen what the Trails Club has done for Copper Harbor," North said. "When I'm skiing or hiking on the trails, there's never really enough of an opportunity to say thanks; and to be part of an evening like this gives you a chance to do just that. They're responsible for the trails that allow me to step out the back door and enjoy the Keweenaw on skis, and that is pretty much my dream. That is why we live here."
Tom Collins, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District Board member, and his wife Sandy also attended the ribbon cutting for the new trail. They are part-time residents of Keweenaw County, spending much time in Lac La Belle.
"Hopefully it's the beginning of a wonderful start to the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge winterization project and promotion," Tom Collins said.
"And," added Sandy, "enjoying our beautiful Keweenaw."
Cormac Ronan, manager of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, said the goal is to have the Lodge open year round. Right now the Lodge is open during the day on weekends -- from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, through December and January. Some menu items and hot drinks will be available.
"We're doing that to test the waters," Ronan said. "The trails will be open seven days a week -- as late as people want to ski. Those trails are beautiful. I walked the trails when Steve was building them this summer."
Dan Dalquist of Hancock, president (for life) of the Keweenaw Trekkers, a group that meets weekly for cycling or snowshoeing, also commented on the Copper Harbor trails.
"We really are blessed with a marvelous system of trails," Dalquist said. "What's happened to Copper Harbor in the last five years is amazing. "We've got a world-class system of trails for year-round access -- biking, snowshoeing, all that fun stuff."
Anyone who wishes to support the future the Copper Harbor Human-Powered Trail System (for silent sports) with a donation to secure land acquistion projects, please send contributions to:
Copper Harbor Trails Club
Attention: Land Acquisition Fund
PO Box 37
Copper Harbor, MI 49918
Editor's Notes:
*Watch for Part 2 of Copper Harbor's "Extraordinary Event," an article coming soon, on Malcolm Hudson's $100-a-plate fundraising dinner served at the Mountain Lodge the evening of Dec. 13.
** See photos of the IMBA trail building session in Copper Harbor on the IMBA Web site. Visit the Copper Harbor Trails Club Web site for more information about the trails and the Club's activities.
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