Jules and I recently backpacked in the Porcupine Mountains, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Here are some photos.
Our route:
Day 1:
Yellow - Big Carp Trail (8.9 miles)
Day 2:
Blue - Big Carp Trail and Lake Superior Trail (6.0 Miles)
Day 3:
Magenta - Lake Superior Trail and Road (MI-107) (6.0 Miles)
The mileage is not huge, but much of our route had 4-6 inch thick mud to walk through. We also had some decent climbs and descents, as well as two "un-bridged river crossings".
The first river crossing without a bridge was not too bad, a little over ankle deep.
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| Big Carp River |
Cool tree bark.
Almost all of the camp sites we saw had a bear pole with a second, loose pole that allowed us to hang our food bag without and ropes or tricks. Very convenient.
Hastily set up tent in the rain on night 1.
Big Carp River near our first campsite. Too bad it was too rainy to enjoy it much. Very clear water.
Some of the muddiest areas had some man-made 2x8 crossings. Here is Jules making her way across one.
Very cool campsites along the shores of Lake Superior. Our trip was mid week and we saw very few people and had this great campsite to ourselves. Julie is in the shadows looking out over Lake Superior.
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| Love the stone chairs |
I thought the patterns on this tree were cool.
Hello frog...
Lighting split?
We camped the second night at a spot called Lone Rock...I guess this is where the name came from.
I have a minor obsession with U.S. Forest Service signs. When I read them, I imagine that at some point, a ranger hiked in with the sign, a hammer and some nails. Now the sign is being useful for me. Here are a few we saw:
Day 3, we started to climb up and away from the shores of Lake Superior. Here you can see Lake Superior peaking through the tree tops.
During our 3 days, there was only one point where the direction of the trail was a bit confusing. Thankfully, someone etched this arrow in the ground.
Does it look like the little bear is picking something out of the big bear's butt????
