In August 2022, we had a family wedding to attend in Grand Rapids, Michigan (congrats Molly and Olin!), so we decided to do a multi-week tour of the Upper Peninsula. After the wedding, our first stop was Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan, so that we could break up the long drive to the UP. We spent two nights at DH Day Campground and did a couple of nice hikes. Our first stop in the UP was Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We spent two nights at the Lower Falls Portage Campground and enjoyed a great hike from the Lower Falls to the Upper Falls. The Upper Falls is the second largest waterfall by volume east of the Mississippi River and is quite impressive (up close video and more distant video). We also had fun identifying new (to us) wild flowers.

Then we headed to the Munising area for four nights at the Bay Furnace Campground right on Lake Superior. We arrived around mid-day and got set up just before it started pouring. Our first adventure was a fun guided kayak and hike at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We booked it months in advance and were a bit concerned the night before, as the forecast called for thunderstorms, but we ended up having perfect weather. The scenery while we were kayaking was amazing and we even got to paddle under the cliffs at one point (entry video and underneath video).The next day, Cato and I snuck in a quick morning hike to Rock River Falls before the storms came in during the afternoon. And on the last day, we all did a 12+ mile loop hike that passed by eight lakes and a river. Fortunately, the hike was flat, but we all slept well that night. Our next stop was the Porcupine Mountains in the far west of the Upper Peninsula. We spent three nights at the Presque Isle Campground and got to see two amazing sunsets over Lake Superior. And we did some fun hikes through the splendor of virgin North Woods forest and saw several waterfalls.

The final segment of our Michigan adventure was a visit to Isle Royale National Park. We started by driving to Hancock and spending a night at the Hancock City Campground. The next morning, we crossed the canal to Houghton and boarded the Ranger III passenger ferry for the six-hour trip to Isle Royale. Shortly after leaving the dock, we went under the Portage Lake Lift Bridge, which is the world’s heaviest and widest double-decked vertical lift bridge. We passed through some fog in the middle of Lake Superior, but otherwise the weather was good and the lake was relatively calm. We spent our first night on Isle Royale at the Rock Harbor Lodge and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The next morning, we strapped on our backpacks and headed into the backcountry for three nights. After hiking the rugged Rock Harbor Trail for three miles, we arrived at Three Mile Campground by mid-morning and snagged one of the shelters for the night. After lunch I did a long hike, climbing the Mount Franklin Trail and traversing the Greenstone Ridge to Lookout Louise and back. The following morning we continued down the Rock Harbor Trail for another four miles to the Daisy Farm Campground. We were happy to get another shelter, as a storm rolled in just after we arrived. After a nice post-lunch nap, the rain stopped and we hiked up the Mount Ojibway Trail to enjoy the view from the lookout on top. The next morning we headed back to Three Mile Campground and scored one of the lakefront shelters. That afternoon I hiked back up the Mount Franklin Trail, enjoyed the view from Mount Franklin, and then dropped down the north side of the island to check out Lane Cove. The next day we hiked back to Rock Harbor via the Tobin Harbor Trail and spent another night at the lodge before catching the ferry back to the mainland. It was an awesome trip to an amazing place!