A peaceful spot overlooking Lake Superior

 

We heard about Woodland Park Campground, a Burt Township Park in Grand Marais on Lake Superior, from David & Sherry.  The sites have water, 50amp electric and cable, but no sewer . . . and they are in a beautiful location!

They don’t take reservations, but we called and were assured that we would not have any trouble coming in on Monday or Tuesday.

So, we were surprised to arrive on Tuesday and see the campground pretty full!  The Park Manager pointed out a few sites that she knew were empty, but told us to go ahead and drive through and find a site we liked.  If there was no tag on the post, the site was available.  There was a motorhome and another 5th Wheel looking for a site at the same time, but fortunately we had the car and could maneuver more easily through the roads.

The motorhome was stopped in front of one of the lakefront sites,

so we just drove around them and continued on to the next site.

Site 7 was a large site at the end of the road,

across from the playground and the open area overlooking the lake.

It seemed like both of the other campers may have been interested in this site, but we just pulled the car onto it, and called Nicolas on the radio to bring the RV around.

We got set up and had some lunch, and then Tom and the boys went to play basketball while I got some work done. 

It was a beautiful day, and the lake looked really inviting . . . so they decided to try out the water!

Tom thought they were a little crazy.

 

The beach was beautiful!

The boys put their feet in the water, but it was pretty cold and they didn’t get much further!  Casey was ready to go in, though!

Nicolas found a stick to throw for her, and she dove right in!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think she was shocked by the cold, though . . . she wasn’t too anxious to go back in again!

Later in the afternoon, the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up quite a bit.  This was more how I remember Lake Superior!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s still a beautiful sight, though!

What a difference a day makes!

Wednesday’s temperature was a lot cooler than Tuesday, and it was still a little windy, but the lake had calmed down and we had a beautiful sunset!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep – it was a pretty nice location!

Yooper Country!

 

From Ontonagon, we travelled about 100 miles east on M-28, until we reached the little town of Ishpeming, just west of Marquette.

On previous trips through the U.P., we just breezed right on through Ishpeming, but it really is a nice little town!

We knew that our friends, Roger & Joyce, spend a good part of every summer at this RV Park, so we decided to try it out and hopefully meet up with them.  We called to check availability, and although we weren’t able to get a 50 amp FHU site, we were able to get a 30 amp W & E site, right behind where Roger & Joyce would be when they arrived!

Originally, they were going to be arriving on the day we left, but we were able to stay one more day, so we’d have time to catch up with them.  As a bonus, the “basic” sites were eligible for the 50% Passport America discount for all 4 nights!  At $19/ night, it was a really good deal . . . and pretty much the only park around with a pool!

We had some warm days coming up on the weekend, so we were going to be able to make use of it!

This is a really nice RV Park, with nice big sites with lots of room between them!    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We settled into site #93, and prepared for a weekend of relaxation!

The campground is part of a nice little “village” area – with a grocery store, meat store (we got a 10% off coupon at check-in!), movie theatre, laundromat, and a couple of restaurants . . . there were other businesses, but those are the ones we checked out.

One well-known business that calls Ishpeming home is “Da’ Yoopers Tourist Trap”.

You can’t miss it when you drive past, so we stopped to take a look around.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are lots of interesting “Yooper” vehicles!

 

Bryce liked this tractor,

and Nicolas thought this snowblower was awesome,

but my personal favorite was the Yooper Riding Mower . . . look closely – it really is a mower!

Outhouses also seem to be a common theme . . .

and fun places to take a rest!

 

 

Besides all the fun stuff to look at outside, there really is a business here – a typical “touristy” giftshop where you can get “Da Yoopers” musical CDs as well as T-shirts and other souvenirs – and also a Rock Shop.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked through the shops, and Tom finally found “UP” stickers to add to the collection on the car and truck.  Definitely a fun and entertaining place to visit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Monday, our friends Joyce and Roger arrived and got set up on the site just across from us, and they introduced us to one of their favorite places in Ishpeming – Congress Pizza – and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner together.  Back at the RV, we sat outside until the mosquitos chased us inside, and our friends Lynn & Dave stopped by, too . . . they had just arrived Monday, also, to a campground just a few miles down the road from us.

Joyce & Roger

Dave & Lynn

It was a great evening of catching up with friends and sharing camping stories!

Exploring the Porkies!

We stayed an extra day in Ontonagon so that we could enjoy a nice sunny day in the Porkies.  Just 15 miles from Ontonagon, it was an easy drive down to Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park.

We stopped in at the Visitor Center to pick up a map and plan our day.  Our first stops would be along the southern boundary road.

Summit Peak is the highest point in the park, and provides a beautiful view of Lake Superior.  We took the Summit Peak Trail through the woods,

and stopped at the observation platform to view Lake Superior,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

before continuing up to the Observation Tower.

 

It was a nice clear day, so I guess it was safe to go up on the Tower!

 

 

 

We could see all around the park from up here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Summit Peak, we continued along the south boundary road until we reached the far western edge of the park, at Presque Isle River.  We found a picnic table in a sunny spot (less mosquitos!), and had our lunch before setting out on the trail along the river.

Before going upriver to see the waterfalls, we walked down to the Swinging Bridge,         

where we could see the river flowing into Lake Superior.

Bryce clearly didn’t read the sign!

 

From the swinging bridge, we followed the trail along the river.

At times, we were walking on boardwalks,

and at other times, we were on gravel paths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trail that we were on, the West River Trail, is a section along the North Country Trail which goes from Michigan all the way across the country to North Dakota.

In some areas, it was quite rugged, requiring us to climb on rocks and tree roots.

The first waterfall that we reached was Manabezho Falls,

the largest of the falls on the river.

The water in the river was copper-colored, as much of the lakes and rivers are in this area of Michigan, but we were surprised that the river wasn’t higher.  Considering all the snow they had this past winter, we expected the water to be really high, but there were lots of areas where the rocks were exposed.

It was a beautiful walk along the river.

The trail had overlooks where you could see each of the falls,

and places where you could get right down next to the water.

 

Always the daredevil – it looks like he’s standing in the water, doesn’t it!!??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mandido Falls were next,

and a beautiful view upriver.

The trail got really rough as we made our way to the top of the last waterfall, Nawadaha Falls, and we couldn’t get a good picture since we were on the top of the falls.

From there, we made our way out to the road, walking back to the first parking lot where we picked up the trail again and spotted a deer in the woods.

From Presque Isle River, we could have walked 10 miles along Lake Superior to the other side of the park . . . but we took the car back! 

Our final stop was at the Lake of the Clouds Overlook Area.

We took the short, steep trail directly to the overlook, and I made sure that Tom took note of the warning sign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We reached the overlook,

and as promised, the view was spectacular!

We even saw a bald eagle circling over the lake, but it was much too far away for pictures.

 

We enjoyed a beautiful day of hiking in the Porkies, and from there we headed back to to the RV Park to pack up for our 100 mile move on Friday, and roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner.

It’s starting to feel like summer!