GET U.P. OFFA THAT THING
The
drive through northern Michigan was rainy and uneventful. The Mackinac Island Bridge, which connects
the Michigan mainland with the U.P. (Upper Peninsula)
is pretty famous. To some Midwesterners,
it’s terrifying. I didn’t really see
what the big deal was. The bridge is
impressive, but it didn’t seem any more dramatic than the Cooper River bridge in Charleston, SC.
We
drove through the vast emptiness of the Upper Peninsula en route to Tahquamenon
Falls State Park. Most of the drive was
through marshy meadows and dark forests.
The whole area looked like prime moose habitat, but we weren’t lucky
enough to see one.
We
drove straight to the Lower Falls Campground in Tahquamenon Falls State Park,
where we had reservations for one night.
The campground was insanely expensive, by the time you counted the
camping fee, the advance reservation fee, and the out-of-state day use fee
(twice). The cost didn’t seem to be
stopping anyone though, because the large campground was full. In fact, we went ahead and purchased an
annual pass so that we wouldn’t have to pay any additional day use fees. We ended up saving a few dollars doing this. At least the campground was nice, with full
amenities including hot showers.
Fortunately the rain stopped shortly before we arrived, so we were able
to set up the tent. We then drove to the
upper falls on the Tahquamenon River.
In
terms of water volume, Tahquamenon Falls is the third largest waterfall in the
Eastern United States. During our visit,
the river was running at 1,437 cubic feet / second. Seeing the falls was one of my top priorities
for the trip. It requires only a short
walk on a paved trail, so it was something that Christy could handle, even with
her bad knee.
We
parked in the Disney World sized parking lot adjacent to the brewery (!) and
made the short walk to the falls. We
reached an overlook of the falls high above the gorge, but it offered only a
modest view. Unfortunately, getting a
better look requires descending lots of steps.
Nothing is harder on Christy’s knee than steps. She waited for me while I descended to the
brink of the falls for photos. The
vantage point at the brink was surprisingly good for photography, and I took
several shots from the side and the very top.
I
then returned to the main trail before descending more steps to reach a
viewpoint downstream. Unfortunately the
sun was now out, and the light was terrible.
From the brink photos had been manageable, but from downstream it was
completely impossible. I thought about
waiting at the brewery for the sun to drop, but that would’ve taken an hour or
two. It was getting late, and we were
both hungry. Christy is allergic to
gluten, and the brewery didn’t offer much in the way of food or booze that
Christy could consume. Instead we headed
back to camp to make dinner. We had fish
tacos and Moose Drool, so I wasn’t too distraught about missing out on the
brewery.
I
planned to get up early the next morning to get more photos, but the weather
had different ideas. We had just
finished our fish tacos and I was starting on my second Moose Drool when the
rain returned. It rained all night and
into the following morning. We had a big
day planned for Wednesday, so waiting around for better weather wasn’t an
option.
We
broke camp in the rain, but skipped breakfast.
We drove to the tiny town of Newberry, and stopped for breakfast at
Timber Charlie’s. Timber Charlie’s
featured good food, hot coffee, and an annoying atmosphere. By annoying, I mean that there was a TV, and
it was tuned to Fox News. Listening to
Fox News first thing in the morning has roughly the same effect on me as
inhaling paint fumes for an hour or two.
OCEAN SIZED
From
Newberry we drove through more vast emptiness to Grand Marias, which is located
on Lake Superior at the eastern end of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I had planned to visit the Grand Marias Sand
Dunes, but it was still drizzly and foggy.
Instead, we did a short hike to Grand Sable Falls. It requires only a short hike, but most of it
is on steps. Christy waited at the top,
while I descended to the base for photos.
The waterfall was quite nice, with surprisingly high water levels
courtesy of an unusually rainy summer.
From
there we followed a paved but narrow and winding road through the Lakeshore
towards Munising. We turned off that
road to follow a dirt road down to Little Beaver Lake. There’s a small, pleasant campground here,
but reservations are not accepted.
My
plan was to hike from Little Beaver Lake to Lake Superior. From there I’d follow the North Country Trail
/ Lakeshore Trail west along Lake Superior to Spray Falls. I’d then return by the same route. The hike is 8 miles, and I expected it to
take 4 to 5 hours. Originally Christy
was going to relax at Little Beaver Lake, or hike
with me to the beach on Lake Superior.
However, once again, the weather was not cooperative. Temperatures were in the upper 50’s, and it
was damp, foggy, and overcast.
Conversely, the weather forecast had been for sunny skies and
temperatures in the low 70’s.
Christy
decided to drive into Munising. She’d
then return to pick me up. I briefly
considered having her pick me up at the Chapel Trailhead. That would’ve enabled me to complete a
one-way hike without any backtracking.
However, that hike would’ve been considerably longer, and we still had
to drive several hours to get to our campground for the evening.
The
parking lot at the trailhead was nearly full.
A large group of teenagers had just finished a backpacking trip, which
accounted for several of the cars there.
I followed an access trail from the parking area down to a creek. This stretch of trail was muddy and slippery,
and featured one steep, rugged stretch that would’ve given Christy problems. Once at the creek the hike was quite
easy. I passed through a lovely forest
to a junction with a spur trail to the campground. A few minutes later I followed another spur
trail down to Little Beaver Lake. The
lake is lovely, but once again the overcast sky diminished my photos.
From
there I hiked through more lovely forest, passing an impressive cliff and a
couple of small caves. After a mile and
a half I reached a sandy beach on the shore of Lake Superior. This is a fantastic spot, even if views of
the cliffs to the east and west were obscured by the fog. There are campsites near here, which offer a
great destination for a short backpacking trip.
The area features an extensive trail network, so longer backpacking
trips are also possible.
From
there I hiked 2 ˝ miles west on the North Country Trail. The North Country Trail extends from New York
State to North Dakota, but this must be one of its nicest stretches. From the beach I hiked along the tops of the
cliffs, enjoying broad views of the lake, which is so large it disappears at
the horizon. Waves pounded the base of
the cliffs below me, and the wind howled through the thin veil of trees
clinging to the bluff. I passed numerous
impressive rock formations, too. Most of
the hike was easy, though there were a couple of steep stretches.
I
reached a signed overlook for Spray Falls an hour later. I followed a spur trail out onto an exposed
bluff. From there, I had a great view
across a cove to the waterfall. Spray
Falls plunges off a 70’ cliff directly into Lake Superior. The stream is fairly small, but the wet
summer had provided an impressive amount of water volume. Although the fog continued to linger, it had
lifted enough to allow a view of the falls, which is several hundred yards
away.
I
took a break there and endured the wind as long as I could. After a snack and lots of photos I headed
back the way I’d come. The return hike
was uneventful, though I saw lots of other hikers. I found Christy waiting for me at the trailhead. Christy had been pretty disappointed by the
town of Munising. She had taken a short
hike to Munising Falls, and had spent some time walking on the beach.
We
took a few minutes to organize the car before resuming the drive. We drove through Munising, but stopped a few
miles west of town to check out Scott Falls.
Scott Falls is a cute little waterfall on a small stream. It free-falls about 15’ in
front of a neat, mossy grotto.
Scott Falls reminds me a bit of Sweet Thing, a small but pretty
waterfall in the mountains of South Carolina.
The
sun finally came out as we drove west through Marquette. We continued on to Porcupine Mountains State
Park, as we had reservations for 2 nights at the Union Bay Campground.
Back to Michigan
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!