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1998 |
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| My friend Jon and I started our trip by camping at the Presque Isle campground. Once we set up camp we hiked around the river and the many falls that are adjacent to this campground. The river has a neat copper color to it as it falls over the falls. We hiked down to Lake Superior only to be greeted by many black flies. Later we went back down to Lake Superior when the sun set and watched it go down. The view was excellent. We went back to our campsite and made a fire, then we went to bed. It was June 20 and being so far north the sky did not darken until 11:30 EST (this area was actually in the CST by a couple of miles). THe next morning we packed up our gear and headed towards the Summit Overlook. At this overlook one can see Lake Superior and the rolling hills of the Porcupine Mountains. The weather was great and we headed towards the Lake of the Clouds. The view of the lake was excellent and were took several pictures before we were ready to go hiking. |
| We left the Lake of the Clouds and followed the Big Carp trail along the escarpment overlooking the valley below. The view was awesome. We stopped for several minutes to watch the falcons fly high in the sky. The trail then took a turn and we were headed downhill into the woods. We hiked among the trees which gave us some protection from the sun as it created a canopy. Several hours later we decided to make camp near a place called Shining Falls. Our tent was set up near the river's edge. We soaked our feet for a while because they were sore from the hike. After dinner we took some pictures of the Shining Falls, which was hard to get to. This particular waterfall was down an extremely steep hill where the water dropped 10-15 feet. We decided not to be too risky and we took a few pictures from up above. We hung our food in a bear sack and strung it up a tree. We relaxed next to the river for a while and then we went to bed. |
| The next morning we woke up and packed up our gear. After hiking for about an hour we made it to Lake Superior. It was somewhat overcast which meant that the flies were not out. We took a few pictures and continued down the Little Carp trail. At one point we had to cross the river by walking on a log. It was not easy but we both made it without falling in. The trail followed this small creek called the Little Carp River. We passed Trappers Falls and Greenstone Falls. We stopped and had lunch at Greenstone Falls and soaked our feet in the water for a while. After lunch we continued on and passed Lily Pond and many more trees. The terrain was winding and up and down. Although the hardest was yet to come. We finally arrived at a campsite on Mirror Lake during the late afternoon hours. We set up camp and made dinner. That night we relaxed as the stars came up over the lake. It was nice and quiet except for the loons on the lake. |
| We woke up to another nice and sunny day. After we packed up our gear we were heading back to the Lake of the Clouds overlook. The trail followed a swampy area as it was winding through the forest. At times we hiked on wooded planks. Then we finally made it out of the swamp ony to have to hike these never ending mountains. The trail went up one mountain and then down and then up again. This area was heavily infested with pine trees so there were pine needles for a trail and plenty of ruts for you to trip on. This part of the hike was hard on our knees. We finally made it to the Lake of the Clouds, however, we now had to climb up to the overlook. This was no easy task but after an hour or so we made it back to the car. We had hiked 25 miles from noon on Sunday to noon on Tuesday and we were tired. We got in the car drove to Berglund for some lunch, took pictures of Bond Falls, Agate Falls, and continued onto Marquette for the night. |
