PORKIES II

 

 

We broke camp on Sunday morning and drove back to Porcupine Mountains State Park.  This time we visited the Presque Isle portion of the park, on the southwestern end of the Porcupine Mountains.  We drove straight there, and got a great campsite (#39) on a wooded bluff above Lake Superior.  It was a spacious, shady site with a fair bit of privacy.  The facilities there were a bit more spartan (pit toilets, no showers), and getting water from the only spigot required a serious feeding of the mosquitoes, but those were only minor drawbacks.  It was easily the best campsite of the trip, and it only cost $14. 

 

We set up camp and had an early lunch.  That afternoon I did a hike while Christy relaxed on the beach below the campground.  For my second hike in the Porkies, I had Christy drop me off at the Pinkerton Trailhead on South Boundary Road.  My plan was to hike the Pinkerton Trail to Lake Superior.  From there, I’d follow the Lakeshore Trail / North Country Trail back to the Presque Isle River and the campground.

 

I started my hike at 1pm, and did the first 3 miles on the Pinkerton Trail quickly.  The Pinkerton Trail wasn’t terribly exciting, though it does pass through some pleasant old growth forest.  It also featured some nice views of the Little Carp River and Traders Falls, which is really just a minor cascade.

 

I reached the Lakeshore Trail after an hour.  I took a quick detour down to a bridge over more cascades on the Little Carp River.  Then I started on the 6 mile hike back to the campground.  This stretch of trail is not one of the highlights of the Porkies.  Although I was close to Lake Superior, the trail stayed in the woods the whole way.  The forest was pretty at times, but I only saw the lake once, and that was from a spur trail leading to a lakeshore campsite.  Another spur trail leads to a cabin on the lake, but that area was off-limits except to the cabin occupants.  For the most part, the hike was a bug-infested trudge through mud and steep ravines.    

 

The best part of the hike was the Presque Isle River and its cascades.  I followed the trail across a bridge below a nice run of cascades to reach the actual Presque Isle.  A second bridge over a flume with rapids, cascades, and potholes followed, before I reached a trail junction.  At this point, a boardwalk trail heads upstream towards the first of four waterfalls.  I skipped that for the moment, and headed straight back to the campground.  I met Christy there, and we drove back over to the river to see the waterfalls.

 

We started out at Manabezho Falls, which is the farthest downstream. The waterfall is only about 20’ high, but it is extremely wide and quite scenic.  We enjoyed the view from the official overlook, but it didn’t provide an ideal vantage point for photos.  I scrambled down to the base of the falls, which provided a much better angle.  After a few photos, I rejoined Christy for the short walk upstream.  We continued up to the base of Manido Falls, which is a nice, wide cascade.  The view from the base is good, but I actually liked the vantage point at the top of the falls better.  From there, we could see Nawadaha Falls a couple hundred yards upstream.  Nawadaha Falls is another small but wide cascade.  I thought about hiking upstream to it, but the trail is steep and rugged.  Christy balked, and it looked like a closer vantage point would only provide a marginal view.  I decided to skip it. 

 

There is one more waterfall, farther upstream, that would’ve required driving to another trailhead.  My understanding is that this one is also more of a cascade, so I skipped it, too.

 

We headed back to camp, and Christy made a wonderful dinner of Indian food.  While she was cooking, I went down to the beach for a quick swim.  The sandy beach is quite nice, with fine views of the mountains above Lake Superior.  I returned to camp, and we had just started eating when I noticed the beginning of a spectacular sunset.  I set the food aside, grabbed my camera and tripod, and dashed down the lengthy staircase to the beach.  I joined a small throng of people there in time to catch some spectacular color.  After dark I hurried back to camp, reheated my dinner, and ate it by the fire.  A couple of Moose Drools provided a fine ending to another great day in the Porcupine Mountains.

 

We got up early the next morning and broke camp.  I was determined to get an early start, as I wanted to get photos of Bond Falls before leaving Michigan.  It was a clear morning, so I knew that the ideal light for waterfall photography wouldn’t last long.  We left Presque Isle at 6:30.  However, Bond Falls is in the middle of nowhere, and the drive took longer than I anticipated.  We arrived at Bond Falls State Park around 8am, and had the entire place to ourselves.  A short walk down a paved trail brought us to a wide, developed overlook just downstream from the falls.

 

Bond Falls is spectacular.  It’s probably only 60’ high, but several hundred feet wide.  The light for photography was marginal, particularly on the right side of the falls.  Luckily we were early enough that it wasn’t hopeless.  I took a bunch of photos before we moved on to the next event of the day.  Our last stop in Michigan was at Agate Falls.  We drove about 15 miles from Bond Falls to a highway rest area, which also serves as a trailhead.  We followed a paved path along the creek to a developed overlook high above the falls.  Unfortunately, the view from there is poor, and there is no trail to the base.  Of course I didn’t let that stop me.

 

Christy headed back to the picnic area to make breakfast.  Meanwhile, I negotiated the steep slope down to the base of the falls.  Fortunately, the view from there was worth the effort.  The waterfall is in a deep hollow, and the light was still pretty good for photography, too.  I took some photos from the base and farther downstream before climbing back out.  I returned to the picnic area just in time for breakfast.  Christy made a great meal, which was a nice way to end the Michigan portion of our trip.

 

We hit the road, heading towards the Wisconsin Dells.  After a short distance, we briefly picked up a cell signal.  Christy had a message, from the race director.  Her wallet had been found, and it was at the recreation center in Bayfield!  This was great news, except that Bayfield was in the wrong direction.  There was no real choice in the matter though – we had to go get it. 

 

We drove straight back to Bayfield and picked up the wallet.  Then we headed back south to Ashland, where we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  From there we headed towards the Wisconsin Dells.  Along the way we drove by the Wild and Scenic Namekagon River (http://www.nps.gov/sacn/index.htm).  At one point we had considered renting a canoe and spending a few days paddling the river.  In the end we decided to visit to the Apostle Islands instead.

 

We made it to the Wisconsin Dells that evening.  We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn, where I’d booked a free room.  Afterwards we ventured to the local Wal Mart so I could pick up groceries for the Montana portion of my trip.  Then we had dinner at a local restaurant and brewery, where I tried hard root beer for the first time.  I like booze and a like root beer, but the combination just didn’t do it for me.  I guess it was just too sweet.

 

I spent most of that evening packing for my trip to Glacier National Park in Montana.  This was a little tricky, as some of the camping gear we’d used in Michigan had to go with me to Montana.  Leaving something important behind would be a disaster, since I wouldn’t have a car once I arrived in Montana.  So packing was a careful process.  I brought everything in from the car, and then sorted it there in the hotel room.  I put most of the food and gear in my backpack, which I’d wear onto the train.  Extra clothes and few other items went into a duffel bag.  I also brought a plastic bottle full of denatured alcohol.  That is forbidden per Amtrak’s rules, but it is the only fuel my stove runs on.  It can’t be purchased anywhere in the park or in the town of West Glacier, so bringing it with me was my only option. 

 

We had a great breakfast at the hotel while trying to decide how to spend our day.  The Wisconsin Dells looks like the Gatlinburg of Wisconsin, with outlet malls, amusement parks, water slides, and restaurants in every direction.  Initially I thought it might be a fun place to end the first half of the trip.  Once I was there though, I had second thoughts.  After a week and half of camping, it just seemed…loud.

 

The Wisconsin Dells also features some natural entertainment options.  In fact, “The Dells” refers to a gorge on the Wisconsin River.  We talked about kayaking the river, or even tubing it.  In hindsight, that would’ve been a great choice.  Instead, we ended up visiting Mirror Lake State Park.  Entrance to the park was a bit expensive (I think it was around $10), and it really wasn’t that exciting.  We ended up at a beach on Mirror Lake.  We considered renting kayaks there, too, but ended up just taking it easy.  Unfortunately it clouded up shortly after we arrived, so conditions weren’t optimal for lounging in the sand. 

 

I would be on the train to Glacier National Park for at least 28 hours, so I really wanted to stretch my legs a bit that afternoon.  Christy joined me for a short hike on a mostly paved trail to Echo Rock.  I was expecting a nice view of the lake from there, but it was largely obscured by trees.  We finished the hike down at the lakeshore near a restaurant on the edge of the park.  Later I did another short walk on a series of trails at the other end of the lake.  Those trails would’ve been great for running, but that wasn’t an option because of my calf injury.  For walking, they were ok I guess, but honestly it was a bit boring.

 

Later that afternoon we made the 20 minute drive to Portage, Wisconsin.  We found a Chinese restaurant downtown, where we had an early dinner.  Then Christy took me over to the Amtrak station.  We parked, but got yelled at by a railroad employee for parking in the wrong place.  We moved the car across the street, but that seemed sketchy.  I checked in the station and discovered that we had parked in the correct place originally.  I went and moved the car back, but parked towards the far end of the lot to avoid the wrath of the asshat we’d encountered earlier.

 

We arrived 30 minutes early, per Amtrak’s instructions, but that proved to be unnecessary.  The station was basically a bench, on a platform next to a freight yard, with a small enclosed waiting area.  There were no employees on hand, and no other passengers.  There were a few people there waiting to pick people up, and I chatted with one fellow briefly.  During our conversation, I discovered that he was an alumnus of the University of Montana.  He was amused to find out that I would be finishing my trip in Missoula at the Montana / Appalachian State football game.

 

The train was scheduled to arrive at 5:30pm, but was running late.  I checked on my phone, and discovered it was already 45 minutes behind schedule.  That was pretty sad, considering that it originated in Chicago earlier that afternoon.  Christy had planned to wait with me, but she still had to drive all the way back to Marsha and Ian’s in Saint Joesph, Michigan.  That would take her at least 5-6 hours, depending on how bad traffic in Chicago was.  We said our goodbyes, and I settled in to wait. 

 

The train arrived a little after 6pm.  I boarded, stashed my luggage in one of the baggage areas, and followed the conductor to my seat. The train pulled away, bound for Minneapolis, Fargo, North Dakota, and – eventually – Montana.  But the first stop, ironically, would be the Wisconsin Dells.

 

The first part of the trip had been great, but I was really looking forward to getting back to Glacier.  My first (and only) visit had been way back in 2007.  I’d been away too long.



Continue reading about our trip as I continue solo to Glacier National Park in Montana

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