Section Hikes of 2016: Great Lakes Road Trip - Pictured Rocks

Friday, September 16, 2016:

Truth be told, I had basically been killing time in Lower Michigan enroute to the Upper Peninsula. My buddy Alex and I had planned a section hike of the North Country Trail there, but he has a job, so I still needed to find activities for five more days, and free or cheap lodgings for five nights. I do love the spontaneity of all this, and it's always exciting to see how it all shakes out.

I reached the trail head parking lot around noon and bid farewell to Nordhouse Dunes, where I had camped the past three nights. I decided to take the longer but more scenic drive up to the U.P., along the coast of Lake Michigan and the Grand Traverse Bay, through the town of Manistee to Traverse City, and on through Charlevoix and Petoskey.

The drive took longer than I had anticipated, and while I'd hoped to camp somewhere in the U.P., the onset of dusk and threatening clouds to the north forced me to alter my plan. I exited I-75 just before the Mackinac Bridge and drove through "hotel row" along the main drag just outside Mackinaw City, pulling over to check rates on various discount hotel websites. I ponied up $98 for a room, but it was nice to get a shower after several days in the dunes.

Amazing image of Mackinac Bridge by Alex "Money Shot" Maier.
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On Saturday morning, I enjoyed a free breakfast and hit the road. Only light showers fell overnight, but after crossing the bridge and heading further north and west, it was apparent there had been much heavier rain in those parts.

I wasn't really sure where to camp, but I wanted to get as close as possible to a 10-mile loop hike along Lake Superior in the Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore, which I would undertake early Sunday. I researched a spot called North Gemini Lake Campground, a state forest site, and set my phone's mapping app to get me there. The app identified the most direct route, the last hour of which had me driving through giant mud puddles on isolated logging roads, a bit unsettling. But I got there without getting stuck. I wrote a check for the fee and slipped it into the station at the kiosk, $13 for the camp site plus another $9 for a Michigan passport for using state parks and forests.

Car camping: a pussified version of backpacking

Pre-dawn moon beams

Hints of autumn over Gemini Lake

On Sunday morning, it took less than 30 minutes to reach to trail head parking lot at the end of Chapel Road. I hit the trail a bit past 9:00 a.m., and there were just a couple other vehicles, but with near perfect weather in the forecast, I expected it to fill up. The trail down to and along Lake Superior would feature Chapel Falls, Chapel Rock, Grand Portal Point, and Mosquito Beach. There are some very nice campgrounds at Chapel Beach and Mosquito Beach. Since I did not get back country camping permits in advance, it would be just a long day-hike this time.

A perfect 10-mile day hike

Chapel Falls

Chapel Rock

Rugged shoreline

Grand Portal Point

Impressive sandstone cliffs

On the NCT along Lake Superior

Mosquito Beach, a popular spot

Later in the afternoon, I arrived at the parking area, now filled beyond capacity. It was about an hour drive to the town of Munising, where there is a ranger station. I didn't know how late they would be open on Sunday, but luck was on my side. Shortly before 5:00, I met with a ranger and asked about dispersed camping in the Hiawatha National Forest. He gave me a pamphlet with maps to several beautiful and FREE dispersed camping areas maintained by the forest service. I decided that I would utilize a couple of these areas for Sunday night and Monday night, and then explore the Munising area during the day on Monday.

The dispersed sites are offered up on a first come basis as there is no reservation system. I followed the directions to get to a place called Hovey Lake. Unfortunately, the directions were not completely clear, and I was lost driving around gravel and/or dirt forest service roads for a couple hours. After retracing my route and basically starting over, I found Hovey Lake just before sunset. Only one of the four sites was available, so I nabbed it.

On Monday, I did a small hike around Sand Point and explored Munising Falls. Then I got a few groceries and carefully followed the directions to Council Lake, another dispersed site. This one was even nicer than Hovey Lake! I built a fire and enjoyed a delightful night under the stars. I was awakened in the middle of the night by dozens of honking geese that landed in the pond nearby, but they did not stay long.

Munising Falls

From my camp at Hovey Lake

Council Lake, beautiful and isolated campsite

During my time in Munising, I met a few people who were doing a thru-hike of the Pictured Rocks section of the North Country Trail. A shuttle can be hired to drive hikers from Munising east to the town of Grand Marais. From there, hikers trek 42 miles west along the shore, experiencing spectacular sandstone cliffs, dunes, bluffs, and lighthouses along the way. I did not have time to complete this since I was meeting with Alex in Grand Marais on Wednesday to hike a different section of the NCT. But I decided to drive over to Grand Marais a day early and hike a section, out and back.

I arrived at the Grand Sable Visitor Station just outside of Grand Marais late Tuesday morning. The ranger went over some options with me, and I got a back country permit for just one night at the Au Sable East campground. There is a $5 per night fee for the back country permit. There would be plenty of daylight to make the 7.5 mile trek to Au Sable.

It was a pleasant hike, and I stopped at the Log Slide area to take in the giant dunes extending all the way to Grand Marais to the east. The log slide is so named from the logging days, when giant logs were rolled down the bluff and then shipped to distant ports.

When I arrived at my camp, I was surprised to discover no other campers. I set up camp and hiked half a mile further up to the point to check out the lighthouse, which was closed on this particular day (bad timing).

Impressive dunes and a cool lighthouse
on this out-and-back hike

History!

Amazing dunes!

Just me...

...and this guy. Gnome sayin'?

Au Sable Light Station

On Wednesday morning, I got a very early start to get back to town to meet Alex and was treated to one of the most incredible sunrises I'd ever seen (full disclosure: I almost never wake up in time for any sunrise). I got a message from Alex that he would be a few hours late, so once in town, I went to get some groceries and just chill at the town park overlooking the bay.

Alex arrived from his home in Marquette, Michigan around 1:00, and we met for lunch at The Dunes Saloon. We had hiked together for the better part of three months on the Pacific Northwest Trail last year, so it was great to reconnect with him, if only for a few days. I'm proud to say I dubbed him "Money Shot" on our first day of hiking through Glacier National Park last year, a trail name that stuck. He is working on another nature documentary, a follow-up to the amazing film he produced of our PNT hike, this time covering all of the North Country Trail that goes through the U.P., more than 400 miles. I felt honored to be able to help out for a 60-mile section, mainly with nonsensical suggestions and shenanigans that would most certainly be edited out.

Dawn's early light

A great start to any day!

Money Shot and Fitty Shrimp, back on the trail!

We needed to work out some logistics for our section hike and hatched a plan for the strategic placement of our vehicles. We would leave my car at the south end of our section, a place called Trout Brook Pond. Then we would drive his car north to Tahquamenon Falls State Park, where we would begin our hike. More on this in the next blog entry.

Lodging costs for this segment:
Hotel: One night $98
State Forest: One night $23
Hiawatha National Forest (Dispersed Camping): Two nights $0
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Back Country): One night $5

Here is a video from my Youtube channel of the Chapel-Mosquito loop hike...