Black River harbor

A short drive from Mercer WI is Black River Harbor in the Ottawa NF. After filling up with Steven’s good water we drove to the campground with a quick stop at a grocery for eggs. Steven, Sarah, and Clay had left around 6 AM for Houghton MI for Clay’s freshman orientation at Michigan Tech.

Our site at the campground is especially private and large. There are few people here so it is very private. After setting up and hunting for wood for a dinner fire, we took a trail to Lake Superior — round trip was just under a mile. There are so many flowers and flowering plants — forget-me-knots, thin blue berries, wild geraniums, bird foot trefoil, lupine, daisies, and more that I couldn’t identify.

David cooked a steak, potatoes, and onions over the fire. Unfortunately it started to rain, but with our new replacement awning, we enjoyed sitting outside but chose to dine in. The site has a picnic table and fire ring. There are water hydrants in the campground but they are not operational for 2026. We have no ATT service except when we walked down to the lake.

The rain continued into the night, and a bit in the AM. After a quiet morning reading in the van, we headed out to the path to the falls, only to find it was closed for reconstruction, but we bypassed the barriers and hiked along the upper ridge. Unfortunately, at the point where that path descended to the river, the path was too steep for Janet to attempt, so we returned to the van — 2.2 miles.

We finally drove to the beach where the river joins the lake and walked to the beach where there were lots of other people.

Dinner was ham hash with onions, peas, and olives.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)