Rocks, Roots, and Waterfalls TR-Porcupin e Mountain

“Fuelbottle, Lukee1982, UPluver, IndyRob, and myself all meet-up on Friday at Union Bay Campground in the Porcupine State Park. We all decided to have breakfast at the Foothills Restaurant the following morning.

On Sunday, we all got up, and took our time getting showers, and packing-up. After pulling into the Foothills Restaurant to our shock, and horror the place was closed with a sign saying,”That they all had the flu.” This wouldn’t have been so bad if Rob, Joe, and I hadn’t eaten dinner there the night before. Right, Rob? Hehehe We ended-up at a gas station getting donuts, and coffee. After shuttling a car to Presque Isle we started our hike on the Enscarpment Trail in between Lake of the Clouds, and Government Peak. We headed West on the trail enjoying many ridge line views, until we came to Lake of the Clouds. Wow, what a great spot! The trees were about at their peak, and views were outstanding. After snapping many photos we all continued hiking down the North Mirror Lake Trail towards Little Carp. We made camp by Mirror Lake.


On Monday, we got up, and hiked to Summit Peak. It was a couple of miles of hiking with some good ups. The Peak is about 2000’ feet high with some of the best views in Michigan. We could see the Apostle Islands 30 miles away, and beyond. It was a little cool up there, so after snapping many pictures we retreated to the forest, and had a snack before hiking on. After hiking back to the Little Carp River Trail we soon passed-by Lilly Pond. Looked like a great fishing spot, and it lived up to it’s name with lilly pads all around us as we crossed a bridge. As we were hiking down the Little Carp we passed by many waterfalls which were great to see. We stopped at Trapper, and Trader Falls to name a few. Once we got close to Lake Superior the trail got rocky, and there were many tree roots to navigate, and slip, and slide on. We made camp on Lake Superior, and it was a little breezy that night. Rob was swinging pretty good in his hammock tent. 

On Tuesday, we hiked up to the mouth of the Big Carp which has some great views. There are two or three cabins there which would be great to stay in sometime. Hiking up the Big Carp we saw many waterfalls, and some nice schools of Lake Trout. Note to self: Bring fishing pole next time. Luke tried to spear a couple of fish with his hiking pole with no luck. So…I guess we stick with the Enertia meals for dinner. We decided to make this a short day, so we camped by the river just past the Correction Line Trail. We had a nice campfire that night, and enjoyed the sights, and sounds.

Wednesday, we hiked on up the Big Carp to several peaks which had some great ridge line views. We stopped many times to take pictures, and soak in the scenery. Before lunch we hiked back to the Lake of the Clouds. We stopped, and had lunch on a couple of picnic tables. After lunch we hiked back up to Lake of the Clouds to take in the view again. We then hiked down the Lake Superior Trail to Lone Rock, and made camp. We had a very nice campsite, and our own private beach. We all made our own rock chairs, and enjoyed throwing rocks in the lake, and the nice sunset.

Thursday, we hiked on down the Lake Superior Trail which was very rocky, and made for a slow hike in spots. The trail weaved, back and forth, between, hiking in the forest, and right on the beach. The hike down LST between Little Carp, and Presque Isle, had some great areas of,”Old growth forest.” Huge pine trees with a lot of mossy areas. We camped on Lake Superior just a couple of miles from Presque Isle. We had a great campsite that sat on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior. Looking one way you could see the coastline of Lake Superior with all of the rocky areas, and birch trees. Before sunset a Bald Eagle decided to fly by a couple of times.

On Friday, we all hiked out at great speed thinking of Cheeseburgers that Joe kept mentioning the night before. We did take a little time to check-out a couple of waterfalls by Presque Isle. You could see the many different layers of rock the water had eroded, and some very good waterfalls.

We hiked about 50 miles over 5 days, and saw a little bit of everything the park had to offer.”

“Nice report!

Ar first I read that you guys hiked 500 miles in 5 days.”

“Sounds like fun. Good report, thanks Salem.”

“Yeah, it was a great hike. I highly recommend going up there if you've never been there.

WK-You know we could've hiked 500 miles in 5 days if we had wanted to. lol”

“Nice report! I hiked a similar route years ago. I could envision your sights and stumbling. Only, you didn't mention bears!”

“Nice report and hey, I was on Lake Superior this past weekend! Got a trip report up, too.”

“ChicagoMark,

Yeah, we didn't see any bears. How about you?

Lizs,

Nice pictures on your report. I'd like to get over to the Boundry Waters one of these days.”

“a little breezy?????
it was raining sideways!! lol

And you forgot to menton that little hill you guys liked so much.....so much they threatened to kill me because I forgot to warn them about it in advance!!

It was a great hike tho, lots of awesome scenery, and great company (even tho they threatened to kill me...lol)

If I get a chance this weekend I'll get some of my pics online”