Madeline Island Lockdown Escape

How’s everyone holding up out there? It seems trivial to post about what I’m doing when so many are suffering, but I’ll give it a shot.

First off, I’m grateful all my friends and family are safe. There are a few silver linings to living in lockdown. My garden is looking fantastic. I’m caught up on all the shows I wanted to watch. 

But I’m going stir crazy. No friends and limiting my adventures hyper-locally is getting dull. With summer is going into full swing I figured/hoped a weekend camping trip is an ok socially distanced activity. 

If you pretend both the air and water temperature are 20 degrees warmer, Madeline Island can feel almost like you are somewhere tropical. The azure blue water of Lake Superior and sandy beaches certainly look the part.

Our pandemic splurge was a set of paddle boards. Big Bay Town Park was a nice spot to play with them. Lake Superior was calm and we played with them on the gentle waves. The next day we took them out on Big Bay Lagoon which was even better. The water was glass like and there were a number of nooks to check out.

There isn’t a lot of hiking in either Big Bay Town Park or the adjacent Big Bay State Park. But the roughly 1.5 mile boardwalk trail connecting the two parks is a nice stroll between the bay and the lagoon.

On our way home Lake Superior was again very calm and we took the paddle boards out to the sea caves in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It was an amazing trip, but I was too scared to bring my phone out on the open water. Sadly, no photos.

If you go:

• Big Bay Town Park

• Big Bay State Park

• Madeline Island

• Big Bay Beach Hike

Pictured Rocks Group Trip

The North Country Trail through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of my favorite stretches of trail. Part of that is due to the scenery and part is due to the fact that I’ve been coming up here since before I can remember.  

Last year I did the whole 43 mile stretch in one go for the first time. This year we’re doing 36.4 miles from Miners Castle to Au Sable Falls. There is a hiker shuttle that runs between Munising and Grand Marais, but with a group the car shuttle is pretty easy, the trailheads are only about an hour apart.

We got started just after lunch and headed the 5 miles to Mosquito Beach Campground. The next morning we broke camp and started the walk by climbing to the top of the Pictured Rocks themselves. The forecast called for a front coming in from the north sometime in the late morning. Sure enough around 10am a bank of clouds started building to the northwest. For the next hour we watched the clouds inch closer until suddenly they were upon us. The temps dropped about 20 degrees and the winds picked up to gale force, it was awesome.

Sure I’d prefer the warmer, sunnier temps but witnessing the sudden transition really reminds you who is in control. The wind continued through the rest of the day and made for a dramatic sunset over the lake at the Beaver Creek Campground where we spent night 2.

It was a cool and drizzly morning on day 3. Last year I had the pleasure of calm weather and was able to walk a large stretch of twelvemile mile beach along the beach itself. This time around we stuck to the forest.

The highlight of the day was the surprise that I knew was coming. For the most part the trail stays a few miles off the main road through the park but near the Au Sable Lighthouse the trail nears the road. Before meeting with 2 members of our group a friend and I managed to stash some beers under a log just off the trail. Nearing the end of our day the team was tired, hungry and wet. When I told my unsuspecting friend to “see what’s under that log...” I got a death stare. But after some coaxing he obliged me and gleefully pulled the bag of beers out. Definitely a morale booster to walk the last two miles of the day with a beer in hand.

The sun came out for our final day and we had good views climbing up to the top of the dunes and down through the forest to our car at Au Sable Falls. We made a beeline for the Dunes Saloon in Grand Marais for a well earned burger and beer before heading back home.

If you go:

• Miners Castle TH (start) / Au Sable Falls TH (end)

• Trail Map

• Pictured Rocks Backcountry Planner

• Al Train Hiker Shuttle

• Dunes Saloon in Grand Marais

A Short Jaunt on the Lake Superior Trail

Getting into the woods with my uncle hardly ever means roughing it. Don’t get me wrong, we did hike 5 miles in to a spot of Lake Superior, so we did something. And considering the circumstances, I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a while.

My Pictured Rocks backpacking trip last November wasn’t supposed to be a solo trip, but my uncle needed emergency heart surgery (he’s fine now, he’s obviously on this trip). After the surgery he made me promise that we’d do a “consolation trip” as soon as he healed.

It’s been six months but I’m not sure spending 3 days backpacking in temps of lower 40s by day and mid 20s by night (not to mention the wind chill never really getting above freezing) is really doctor approved. But for a guy who was bedridden all of cross country ski season I don’t think no was an option.

So back to roughing it… Food is always central to any trip with my uncle. Night 1 was his meal to cook.

Makes my night #2 fire-cooked tacos look downright pedestrian.

The trip itself was fairly mellow. Walk in to camp on the Lake Superior Trail from the Pinkerton trailhead on day 1, go for a day hike up the Carp River on day 2 and walk out day 3.

The weather up the Carp River Trail was actually very pleasant, near 60 and not windy. Probably would have made the most sense to camp there but there is a certain draw to being near Lake Superior that I can’t shake. The sun was out in the afternoon and even with the wind chill it was nice to look out over the lake, or as my uncle put it “it’s fairly pleasant in the sun, with five layers on.”

I’m not entirely sure what the story is with this, but it makes an appearance at every camp my uncle makes.

If you go:

• Pinkerton TH

• Backcountry Map

• Porcupine Mts Website

Speakers Cabin - Porcupine Mountains State Park

[Read about my 2021 trip to Speakers Cabin here]

The hike into Speakers Cabin is hardly constitutes a hike (it’s about a mile), but the cabin has arguably the best view of Lake Superior of all the cabins in the Porcupine Mts. It also sits on the Lake Superior Trail making for nice day walks in either direction.

About a foot of snow fall near Summit Peak a few days before had us daydreaming about some snowshoeing, but other than the drive from ranger station to the Speakers Trailhead there was no snow at lake level. (We did learn that our little 2WD RAV4 can power through the snow surprisingly well, yay!)

Arriving at the cabin in late afternoon we cranked up the woodburning stove and got it nice and toasty. Then, glancing through the log book, we noticed multiple warnings to NOT get it too hot. Why? If it gets too toasty hundreds of flies resurrect and delight in the warmth… It was already too late, the buzzing had begun. We spent the rest of the weekend trying to find the sweet spot of keeping warm but not so warm that the flies would come back to life.

After the fly drama we settled into a relaxing night looking at the many guidebooks left in the cabin and a few board games we packed in (the luxuries of a one mile hike).

On day two we did the short 2-ish mile hike to the Presque Isle scenic area. It was fairly flat and had a decent amount of water on the trail, likely from the storm that dumped the snow higher up. The hemlock trees lended a spooky ambiance on an overcast day.

Had lunch at the falls, ambled back to the cabin and were treated to a gorgeous sunset before heading back in to a warm (but not too warm) cabin. The next morning we headed back to the car and back home.

If you go:

• Permit Pick-up (Visitor Center

• Speakers TH

• Backcountry Map

• Porcupine Mts DNR Website