PORKIES II
We
broke camp on Sunday morning and drove back to Porcupine Mountains State
Park. This time we visited the Presque
Isle portion of the park, on the southwestern end of the Porcupine Mountains. We drove straight there, and got a great
campsite (#39) on a wooded bluff above Lake Superior. It was a spacious, shady site with a fair bit
of privacy. The facilities there were a
bit more spartan (pit toilets, no showers), and
getting water from the only spigot required a serious feeding of the
mosquitoes, but those were only minor drawbacks. It was easily the best campsite of the trip,
and it only cost $14.
We
set up camp and had an early lunch. That
afternoon I did a hike while Christy relaxed on the beach below the
campground. For my second hike in the
Porkies, I had Christy drop me off at the Pinkerton Trailhead on South Boundary
Road. My plan was to hike the Pinkerton
Trail to Lake Superior. From there, I’d
follow the Lakeshore Trail / North Country Trail back to the Presque Isle River
and the campground.
I
started my hike at 1pm, and did the first 3 miles on the Pinkerton Trail
quickly. The Pinkerton Trail wasn’t
terribly exciting, though it does pass through some pleasant old growth
forest. It also featured some nice views
of the Little Carp River and Traders Falls, which is really just a minor
cascade.
I
reached the Lakeshore Trail after an hour.
I took a quick detour down to a bridge over more cascades on the Little
Carp River. Then I started on the 6 mile
hike back to the campground. This
stretch of trail is not one of the highlights of the Porkies. Although I was close to Lake Superior, the
trail stayed in the woods the whole way.
The forest was pretty at times, but I only saw the lake once, and that
was from a spur trail leading to a lakeshore campsite. Another spur trail leads to a cabin on the
lake, but that area was off-limits except to the cabin occupants. For the most part, the hike was a
bug-infested trudge through mud and steep ravines.
The
best part of the hike was the Presque Isle River and its cascades. I followed the trail across a bridge below a
nice run of cascades to reach the actual Presque Isle. A second bridge over a flume with rapids,
cascades, and potholes followed, before I reached a trail junction. At this point, a boardwalk trail heads
upstream towards the first of four waterfalls.
I skipped that for the moment, and headed straight back to the
campground. I met Christy there, and we
drove back over to the river to see the waterfalls.
We
started out at Manabezho Falls, which is the farthest
downstream. The waterfall is only about 20’ high, but it is extremely wide and
quite scenic. We enjoyed the view from
the official overlook, but it didn’t provide an ideal vantage point for photos. I scrambled down to the base of the falls,
which provided a much better angle.
After a few photos, I rejoined Christy for the short walk upstream. We continued up to the base of Manido Falls, which is a nice, wide cascade. The view from the base is good, but I
actually liked the vantage point at the top of the falls better. From there, we could see Nawadaha
Falls a couple hundred yards upstream. Nawadaha Falls is another small but wide cascade. I thought about hiking upstream to it, but
the trail is steep and rugged. Christy
balked, and it looked like a closer vantage point would only provide a marginal
view. I decided to skip it.
There
is one more waterfall, farther upstream, that would’ve required driving to
another trailhead. My understanding is
that this one is also more of a cascade, so I skipped it, too.
We
headed back to camp, and Christy made a wonderful dinner of Indian food. While she was cooking, I went down to the
beach for a quick swim. The sandy beach
is quite nice, with fine views of the mountains above Lake Superior. I returned to camp, and we had just started
eating when I noticed the beginning of a spectacular sunset. I set the food aside, grabbed my camera and
tripod, and dashed down the lengthy staircase to the beach. I joined a small throng of people there in
time to catch some spectacular color.
After dark I hurried back to camp, reheated my dinner, and ate it by the
fire. A couple of Moose Drools provided
a fine ending to another great day in the Porcupine Mountains.
We
got up early the next morning and broke camp.
I was determined to get an early start, as I wanted to get photos of Bond
Falls before leaving Michigan. It was a
clear morning, so I knew that the ideal light for waterfall photography
wouldn’t last long. We left Presque Isle
at 6:30. However, Bond Falls is in the
middle of nowhere, and the drive took longer than I anticipated. We arrived at Bond Falls State Park around
8am, and had the entire place to ourselves.
A short walk down a paved trail brought us to a wide, developed overlook
just downstream from the falls.
Bond
Falls is spectacular. It’s probably only
60’ high, but several hundred feet wide.
The light for photography was marginal, particularly on the right side
of the falls. Luckily we were early
enough that it wasn’t hopeless. I took a
bunch of photos before we moved on to the next event of the day. Our last stop in Michigan was at Agate
Falls. We drove about 15 miles from Bond
Falls to a highway rest area, which also serves as a trailhead. We followed a paved path along the creek to a
developed overlook high above the falls.
Unfortunately, the view from there is poor, and there is no trail to the
base. Of course I didn’t let that stop
me.
Christy
headed back to the picnic area to make breakfast. Meanwhile, I negotiated the steep slope down
to the base of the falls. Fortunately,
the view from there was worth the effort.
The waterfall is in a deep hollow, and the light was still pretty good
for photography, too. I took some photos
from the base and farther downstream before climbing back out. I returned to the picnic area just in time
for breakfast. Christy made a great
meal, which was a nice way to end the Michigan portion of our trip.
We
hit the road, heading towards the Wisconsin Dells. After a short distance, we briefly picked up
a cell signal. Christy had a message,
from the race director. Her wallet had been
found, and it was at the recreation center in Bayfield! This was great news, except that Bayfield was
in the wrong direction. There was no
real choice in the matter though – we had to go get it.
We
drove straight back to Bayfield and picked up the wallet. Then we headed back south to Ashland, where
we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch.
From there we headed towards the Wisconsin Dells. Along the way we drove by the Wild and Scenic
Namekagon River (http://www.nps.gov/sacn/index.htm). At one point we had considered renting a canoe
and spending a few days paddling the river.
In the end we decided to visit to the Apostle Islands instead.
We
made it to the Wisconsin Dells that evening.
We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn, where I’d booked a free room. Afterwards we ventured to the local Wal Mart so I could pick up groceries for the Montana
portion of my trip. Then we had dinner
at a local restaurant and brewery, where I tried hard root beer for the first
time. I like booze and a like root beer,
but the combination just didn’t do it for me.
I guess it was just too sweet.
I
spent most of that evening packing for my trip to Glacier National Park in
Montana. This was a little tricky, as
some of the camping gear we’d used in Michigan had to go with me to Montana. Leaving something important behind would be a
disaster, since I wouldn’t have a car once I arrived in Montana. So packing was a careful process. I brought everything in from the car, and
then sorted it there in the hotel room.
I put most of the food and gear in my backpack, which I’d wear onto the
train. Extra clothes and few other items
went into a duffel bag. I also brought a
plastic bottle full of denatured alcohol.
That is forbidden per Amtrak’s rules, but it is the only fuel my stove
runs on. It can’t be purchased anywhere
in the park or in the town of West Glacier, so bringing it with me was my only
option.
We
had a great breakfast at the hotel while trying to decide how to spend our
day. The Wisconsin Dells looks like the
Gatlinburg of Wisconsin, with outlet malls, amusement parks, water slides, and
restaurants in every direction.
Initially I thought it might be a fun place to end the first half of the
trip. Once I was there though, I had
second thoughts. After a week and half
of camping, it just seemed…loud.
The
Wisconsin Dells also features some natural entertainment options. In fact, “The Dells” refers to a gorge on the
Wisconsin River. We talked about
kayaking the river, or even tubing it.
In hindsight, that would’ve been a great choice. Instead, we ended up visiting Mirror Lake
State Park. Entrance to the park was a
bit expensive (I think it was around $10), and it really wasn’t that
exciting. We ended up at a beach on
Mirror Lake. We considered renting
kayaks there, too, but ended up just taking it easy. Unfortunately it clouded up shortly after we
arrived, so conditions weren’t optimal for lounging in the sand.
I
would be on the train to Glacier National Park for at least 28 hours, so I
really wanted to stretch my legs a bit that afternoon. Christy joined me for a short hike on a mostly
paved trail to Echo Rock. I was
expecting a nice view of the lake from there, but it was largely obscured by
trees. We finished the hike down at the
lakeshore near a restaurant on the edge of the park. Later I did another short walk on a series of
trails at the other end of the lake.
Those trails would’ve been great for running, but that wasn’t an option
because of my calf injury. For walking,
they were ok I guess, but honestly it was a bit boring.
Later
that afternoon we made the 20 minute drive to Portage,
Wisconsin. We found a Chinese restaurant
downtown, where we had an early dinner.
Then Christy took me over to the Amtrak station. We parked, but got yelled at by a railroad
employee for parking in the wrong place.
We moved the car across the street, but that seemed sketchy. I checked in the station and discovered that
we had parked in the correct place originally.
I went and moved the car back, but parked towards the far end of the lot
to avoid the wrath of the asshat we’d encountered earlier.
We
arrived 30 minutes early, per Amtrak’s instructions, but that proved to be
unnecessary. The station was basically a
bench, on a platform next to a freight yard, with a small enclosed waiting
area. There were no employees on hand,
and no other passengers. There were a
few people there waiting to pick people up, and I chatted with one fellow
briefly. During our conversation, I
discovered that he was an alumnus of the University of Montana. He was amused to find out that I would be
finishing my trip in Missoula at the Montana / Appalachian State football game.
The
train was scheduled to arrive at 5:30pm, but was running late. I checked on my phone, and discovered it was
already 45 minutes behind schedule. That
was pretty sad, considering that it originated in Chicago earlier that
afternoon. Christy had planned to wait
with me, but she still had to drive all the way back to Marsha and Ian’s in
Saint Joesph, Michigan. That would take her at least 5-6 hours,
depending on how bad traffic in Chicago was.
We said our goodbyes, and I settled in to wait.
The
train arrived a little after 6pm. I
boarded, stashed my luggage in one of the baggage areas, and followed the
conductor to my seat. The train pulled away, bound for Minneapolis, Fargo,
North Dakota, and – eventually – Montana.
But the first stop, ironically, would be the Wisconsin Dells.
The
first part of the trip had been great, but I was really looking forward to
getting back to Glacier. My first (and
only) visit had been way back in 2007. I’d
been away too long.
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