You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
Few can turn away from the call of the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on Lake Superior.
We're settling into the second of the two cottages on Lake Superior in Michigan, Cousin Rob and Elke in the main one, and just time to excuse oneself for another little nap. 26 August 2010.
Yawning, stretching, an hour later, staggering to the lake shore for a look at it
Ah, the beach is already occupied.
Someone suggests a walk up the shore to the mouth of the Flintsteel River, and why not?
Kristin gets out to an early lead.
Almost out of sight, in fact. We'll put the camera away and catch up.
Local driftwood ingenuity (all the mod cons)
The mouth of the Flintsteel River. Or where it used to be. Drought.
Disappointed, we return down the beach.
Kristin and Elke rustling up the dinner as we work through our exhausting spiritual exercises
The next day, 27 August, we're off on the Little Carp River Trail in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park . . .
. . . a trail that's very well provided if the rains ever come back.
We don't really want the Little Carp River Trail, but it's the only way to get to the Cross Trail, so here we are.
Oh, thanks, very thoughtful.
The Cross Trail, and five miles onward to Lake Superior. Great views, on every side, of the trees.
Ah, mushrooms. There goes the hike!
We're on the move again, with a plastic bag of mushrooms.
The Belle of the Porkies!
The Logambulist
The Cross Trail meets the Big Carp River. "Carp" refers, evidently, not to fish, but to the Escarpment upriver.
Rob and river
A bridge at the river's mouth for shoreline hikers
The mouth of the Big Carp River on Lake Superior
Now we're just a mile and a half southwest along the shore and up the Pinkerton Trail, gazing down as we pass the Little Carp River again.
Anytime is a good time to take stock of things.
Taking stock of things
In the world of mountain wildernesses, the ones with little bridges across all the tiny creeks are friendlier.
Pinkerton Creek (probably) and, momentarily, back to the (other) car. A preposed car is a must for this hike.
Rob and Elke have gone back to Wisconsin and this new Panasonic Lumix ZS7 has been turned loose in Pat's Foods in Ontagon. We love, abjectly but unashamedly, malls and big food stores (though we think the only real US-style mall we've ever seen was in South Korea).
We love the festive atmosphere, the bright lights, and most of all the insane cornucopia of things you can buy, what plenitude, what opportunity for gratification. We can almost never think of anything we want to buy, but the potential is thrilling. Sometimes we buy something stupid that we didn't want, like a packet of biscuits, just not to be abnormal, and we leave happy.
Sunset on our last night on Lake Superior for this year
Kristin's making dinner as we're catching up on our spiritual exercises and Bob is just sitting there being a cat.
Back to Wisconsin after a brisk clean-up for the next holidaymakers.
Dwight Peck's personal website
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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 6 October 2010, revised 7 October 2014, 1 October 2019.
