We visited the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park area, about 25 miles north east of us, situated along the Lake Superior shoreline. The park is the largest state park of Michigan, mostly all wilderness and established to preserve the largest old-growth trees in North America west of the Appalachian Mountains. Three days in a row of sightseeing is quite unusual for us - the weather forecast was to be rain starting Friday, possibly Saturday and then Sunday so we opted to maximize the good days to see the area.
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| Driving along inside the park, the forest was dark |
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| Loved how the canopy of trees enclosed the road |
Driving to the visitor's center on the eastern most side of the park was at times a little harrowing. The road was narrow for the most part and there were some pretty dicy broken pavement and made for a bumpy ride at times. But seeing the tree canopy overhead, beautiful. Something else - there were turn off areas to do hiking/sightseeing and not well marked, we did not see the turnoffs until we were almost past it. The park needs to do some major trimming back and setting up signage way before the turnoffs.
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| Paved walk up to observation of Lake of the Clouds |
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| The sign says - stay off the cliff - danger |
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| Looking north west - that's Wisconsin in the distance |
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| Pretty - see the people on that cliff to the left? |
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| Stupid - one good gust and she's gone |
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| Hiking trails are the only way to get down close to the lake |
At the visitor's center we watched the intro movie, talked to a ranger about what to see, and then we decided to drive to the most eastern point - Lake of the Clouds lookout. Driving along Lake Superior was very scenic. People picnicking, swimming, having a nice time. The parking area where we needed to be was crowded, okay, she said that it was the most popular attraction. So be it. Walked up to the observation area and took a few snaps, impressive, but lets find some place to take a hike.
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| At the trailhead for Little Carp River Trail |
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| First peak at the river, beautiful |
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| How tannic the water was, very red but clear |
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| 3/4 mile - heck yes, especially after the last couple of day's treks! |
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| Well worn trail, followed the blue dot on trees (North Country Trail) |
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| Slice of heaven |
Drove back around to the western area (the boundary road of the park is 30 miles long) and stopped at the Little Carp River Trailhead. Donned our hiking gear and off we went. The trail we were to go on was known as the most scenic and also where we could walk in the forest where the ancient trees are.
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| Eastern Hemlock - a very big tree |
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| No matter where I aimed the camera, great picture |
As we were walking along I kept thinking - if I could find that perfect downed tree that is laying across the river, I would get on it and sit and watch the world go by. Remembering of when I was a kid and playing the woods, and sitting across a downed tree that rested over the river, in that case it was Plum Creek (crick). Loved childhood playing in the woods, dangling my legs over so that my feet were in the water, just enjoying being outside. Same feeling came back to me - those good ole days playing outdoors in the summer.
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Enjoying our walk so much, we did not realize we walked beyond the falls,
enjoying every little falls/rapids as they came along. |
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| Was looking for that perfect downed tree to climb up on and stay |
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| And back to the start |
Lovely walk. Well marked trail, definitely in the old-growth forest. Actually went beyond the Greenstone Falls, turned around and came back. Just a wonderful hike. Would probably visit this trail many times if I lived in the area.
