Feeding Trout at Horseshoe Falls
August 10, 2021
Murals coat the old brick sidings of the narrow row-house shops that line the streets of downtown Munising, along which are parked countless camper vans and Jeep wranglers. They have been lured, as we have been, by the adventure gear and gadgets that adorn every shop window. I turn my head from green mountain backdrops that frame the town to see ocean views opposite them. Though it is not actually the ocean, I’ll bet Lake Superior could have fooled a sailor.
My love takes me by the hand and walks me past a life-sized bronze statue of Bigfoot and a Native American tiki totem pole to a red and tan cottage gift shop, out of which echoes oldies music. Inside, we find homemade ice cream, cabin kitchenware, woven dream catchers, geodes and gems from the mining towns of Michigan’s upper peninsula. The gift shop is situated at the base of a botanical garden surrounding a small waterfall, which empties into a bubbling creek.
We cross the creek on a pretty array of pedestrian bridges beneath tree branch archways, and I feel the temperature change as we leave the trickling falls. Their fresh smell lingers, and I can taste icy cold droplets in the air. As the sound of the waterfall dissipates, it is replaced by the melodic splashing of a nearby water mill. It draws us deeper into the diverse garden community, where there live sweet-smelling apple trees, paper birches, weeping willows, purple-leaved ferns, and pine trees with long draping arms that reach for the water of a pond filled with rainbow trout.
I grin at the sight of a vintage quarter machine containing fish food, rush toward it and turn the knob. The gears click and vibrate as I empty 25 cents-worth of potent-smelling kibble into the cupped palm of my hand. The scent of fruity floral roses overpowers it as I bend over the wooden rail of the platform they surround. There, I see dark iridescent shapes glide gracefully in the water, barely visible except for their movement. The surface of the pond reflects the clouds and tree silhouettes in mercury hues.
With childlike anticipation, I release the pellets into the sky like fireworks, and watch as they land on the silvery surface. Ripples reveal a change beneath the water’s surface, but the fish are not the only hungry creatures on the pond. In an instant, ducks scramble from all sides in an attempt to snatch the food, but they are too slow for the swiftly swimming trout. Torpedo-like shapes slice like arrowheads through the water, flashing pink gills, white mouths, and speckled sides. Their suctioning gulps and tail-slapping splashes startle the ducks as they make triumphant getaways. The would-be prey take on a predatory stance, stalking around the platform like sharks awaiting the next wave of pellets, unnerved by their fowl fiends.
As we leave, I marvel at their gumption, and hope that I may, too, be fearless as I chase my dreams upstream.
Experienced During
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
Horseshoe Falls & Gift Shop
602 Bell Ave, Munising, MI 49862
