The Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Well, I am getting further and further behind on my posts. Why? Not sure. Travel doesn't always allow the time and mind space for writing. It doesn't work when we are visiting people, out on the trail, too tired, with poor or no Internet access or just having too much fun. So, over the course of the next 500 miles I will attempt to get up to date. Please keep in mind, I post date the blogs to correspond with the date we departed from a particular region.

July 18. We drove and drove from Lake Placid, NY to Grand Marais, MI on Lake Superior's Upper Peninsula. Did you know that there is a Grand Marais, MN also on Lake Superior? Neither did I. Unfortunately. Because at 11:30 pm, Philip discovered that our campground reservation was at the other Grand Marais...the Minnesota one. Fortunately, there was still room for us at the quaint Woodland Park Campground in the right Grand Marais. Long day. Long story. Happy ending.

Our first view of Lake Superior from the bridge into the US from Canada...you know that country where your health care costs won't bankrupt you, they don't use their guns to hunt humans and Sarah Palin can never be President. Now I'm getting off the track.



A foggy morning bike tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We visited Sable Falls, Log Slide and the Au Sable Light Station.



Logging operations were big business here in the early days. During that time, they would slide huge logs down this steep embankment to be transported over the lake to saw mills.









A Grand Marais attraction, the Pickle Barrel House was actually a residence for ten years. After touring the museum (if you insist) drop by the Lake Superior Brewing Company for some great brews and delicious white fish.



Lake Superior views from hiking trails along Miner's Beach to Mosquito Beach. We didn't encounter mosquitos, but the biting stable flies keep you hiking at a fast pace. To explore the west side of the park, we camped at Bay Furnace State Park. I'm sure you remember the now historic heat wave of 2011. Lake Superior is the place to be. The lake temperature range from cold to cold and we enjoyed chilling down at the Au Train beach.















Yes, there is skiing in the UP. Did you know the residents here are called Yoopers? Totally unrelated thoughts...



Further west, you will find Porcupine Mountains State Park. We camped along the lake shore at Union Bay and explored the coast in our kayak. This is Lake of the Clouds, and it lived up to it's name during our visit.



The sun broke through later in the day and we enjoyed a hike into the forest along the South Mirror Lake Trail. And the mosquitos enjoyed us.






We were surprised by the small number of visitors in this area of the UP. The small towns along the way are struggling for business. It is beautiful, green and refreshing. Worth the effort to get there.

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