Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park MI

**Redoleary** · 09-01-2009, 20:22

Sunday Aug 16 my wife and I set out for what was going to be a 3 night 4 day hike on the Lake Superior trail in Porcupine Mtns Wilderness. We left our car at the Presque Isle campground and had arranged a shuttle to the Lake of the clouds which is about a mile from the trail head. But since I hadn't seen the lake since I was a little tyke and my wife had never seen it we thought, whats one more mile? So we enjoyed the views then headed out to an admittedly late 3pm start. However it stays light quite late up there so there was no real rush. The first couple of miles the trail is quite rocky, like, roll your ankle rocky so it requires some attention, but it was beautiful none the less.
When we got down to the lake the first designated site was already taken and we figured we could press on even though we were tiring. The next site, tho free was not to our liking and we moved on to at last to a third site which was "just right", Goldilocks style. Our version of just right became less specific the more tired and hungry we got. So we set up shop, got in a swim (that was surprisingly warm for Lake Superior, to the point of being enjoyable) and had some dinner. We hung our stuff from the bear pole and hit the hammocks.
The next morning dawned a beautiful day and by the time we make and enjoy breakfast and get packed up its noon:30 but we're in no rush and enjoy relaxing. We hiked about 5 or 6 miles to Little Carp river camping area, that was a beautiful area. The river has some nice pools for swimming, and easy access for getting water, and the lake is right there too. As the evening wore on it became more and more apparent that we were going to get wet, and when it hit it did so with purpose. It was raining nearly sideways, but I had us battened down pretty well and we stayed snug and dry, unlike some neighbors who didn't bring a rain fly for their tent in an effort to save weight. It didn't rain ALL night but it rained a lot, but the wind was blowing a hurricane all night and all the next day, which made it easy to dry the tarps before packing up.
So the morning of the third day was really windy but not too damp, and back in the woods a little it was nearly dead calm, and thats where most the hike was so, it turned out to be a most pleasant walk again. However, when we got to the designated area for the last night it was a less than inspiring location, and although we could have legally done the stealth thing we decided to just hike the last 2 miles or so back to the car. So we cut it down to a 3 day 2 night hike and enjoyed every minute of it. The trail is well marked and quite beautiful, and I might add not too strenuous so its an all around winner, plus a bonus, virtually no flies, so who could ask for more.
Attached are a few of the sights along the trail. Enjoy.

Good Luck
RED

**BER** · 09-01-2009, 20:52

Sounds like a nice trip Red! Love the Porkies though it has been several years since I've been up there. Amazing pics! How'd you get the little yellow slither to pose for that pic???

**treehouseguy** · 09-01-2009, 23:25

Awesome pictures! What camera do you have?!? I've been kind of looking around for one for a while!

**Redoleary** · 09-02-2009, 05:09

Thanks guys. Luckily the snake showed up when he did to add some interest to the scene.
The camera is a Nikon D200. Not the lightest choice out there for backpacking but you get far more control over what's happening than with a point and shoot. I also use a gorilla-pod tripod thingy that, on its own is of marginal utility, but when you lash three trekking poles together and wrap the gorilla-pod around the handles it makes a far more functional tripod. I don't know why the lashing idea took so long for it to occur to me but the night before the hike we were in a hotel prep'n things and it was like a lightbulb went off!

**peanuts** · 09-02-2009, 05:34

i , too love the porkies. miss the area. you mid-western folks are making this yankee really feel home sick

beautiful picture, specially the black-white ones

**VegaMike** · 09-02-2009, 06:34

Thanks for sharing that part of the world with me. You have a good eye for composition. I like the idea of the Gorillapod lashed to trekking poles. Agree about SLR, can't stand my p/s but my Canon 10D is too much bulk and weight for anything but long day hikes. I'm hoping the Olympus/Panasonic micro 4/3 standard cameras show promise (like today's announcement of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1).

Again, thanks for the prose and views.

**jofish** · 09-02-2009, 08:51

Hey Red,

Do you need permits for overnight camping in the Porkies? If so, are they difficult to get?

**stormcrow** · 09-02-2009, 09:08

Like another poster said, great eye for the shots you took! I am also sad before each trip when I grab my little p/s (I could think of other words that fit those letters...) and look over at my Nikon D80 and it is looking back at me with its sad "eye". One of these days I will just bite the bullet and take that sucker.

Stormcrow