Porcupine Mountains - the trip home

Leaving a place of such beauty is never easy.  We packed up and got on the road around 6:45am.  This meant we'd get back into Grand Rapids around 6pm, based on how many stops we made on the way up.  The trip home was pretty uneventful.  We dropped Michelle in Greenville and hopped on the road for the remaining trek back to my house.  Once back, Queenie and I said our goodbyes, they left, and I unpacked the car.

While this trip may not have been one on my bucket list, it was still wonderful to get away.  I can't wait for my next adventure!

Day Three - Porcupine Mountains

Today we're hitting up Presque Isle, Lake of the Clouds, & the Folk school for their Midsummer festival. Presque Isle was cut someone short because of my friend's ankle injury.  We did get to two of the three falls though. 

Afterward, we went back to the cabin for lunch & a nap.  From there, we went to the Folk school for their Midsummer festival.  That was actually pretty cool.  They did an eclectic ceremony where they welcomed in the elements and asked for their blessing.  From there, they played finish music and we got to sing along.  I felt like these were my people.  I even got somewhat teary eyed during the ceremony.  The place just made me happy.

Around 8pm, we decided to cut out early in order to make a trip up to Lake of the Clouds.  Unfortunately, because of the angle of the mountain, we couldn't see the sunset from the Lake of the Clouds viewing area.  We had a great encounter with a deer in the parking lot.  It was pretty cool. 

After Lake of the Clouds, we ran back to the cabin for a quick snack before heading out to the lakeshore to watch the sunset.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  You don't see sunsets like this in the city.

It was too windy for a campfire, so we called it a night early.  The alarm is set for 6am.  I'm going to miss this place.  I always do.

Day Two - Porcupine Mountains

Today we decided to hit up the Union Mine trail, which is roughly about 1 -1.5 mile trail, and it's about as easy as you can get here in the park.  Both of the friends I brought with me had health conditions that limited what they could do, plus we had a 2 yr old with us.  It took roughly 2 hours to do the hike, which is slower than I'm used to, but faster than I expected with a small child in tow.  Afterward, we went back to the cabin for lunch and naps.  It looks like there is more rain in the forecast for tonight.  I'm really hoping to catch a sunset.  Plus there is a midsummer festival tomorrow night, which may be interesting.

Day one - Porcupine Mountains

The trip started out ok... a little bit later than we had originally planned.  This, along with a lot of stops, meant we didn't get to the park until 5:50pm.  The visitor center closed at 6pm, so we just made it.  That didn't stop a shitty park attendant from locking up early.  I made it in before he locked the doors, but my travel companions weren't as lucky, which sucks when you have to pee.  Looks like I may be filing a complaint with the parks department, because closing 10 minutes early when visitors are trying to use the facilities doesn't make for a very welcoming experience.  I had rented a rustic cabin in the park, which meant no electric or running water, and it turned out to be a pretty nice place.  It reminded me of a summer camp cabin actually.


We spent the rest of the evening unpacking and getting settled in.   We had a little bit of a sprinkle happening so we didn't build a fire, which in hindsight, we probably should have because it turned out to be the best night for a fire out of the three nights we were there.