MUNISING, Mich. – We’ve been traveling through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan since Tuesday, hiking through old growth pine woods and viewing the endless expanse and wading in the temperate waters of Lake Superior.
In Copper Harbor, at the top end of the Keweenaw Peninsula, we enjoyed three hikes I would recommend. On our first night there, we drove to the north terminus of US 41 and then along a gravel road to the trailhead for Horseshoe Harbor. The trail led through thick woods to a secluded bay with a rocky ridge along one side. The next day we hiked to Hunter’s Point, along Copper Harbor, with the north segment taking us along the shore of Lake Superior. Strong winds were whipping up waves that one local told us were among the largest he had ever seen. On our last full day, we biked two miles to the Estivant Pines Nature Sanctuary, which preserves an original 600-acre forest of white pines, many more than 100 feet high.
On our last evening in Copper Harbor, we drove along Highway 26 to the town of Eagle Harbor, where we walked the grounds of the lighthouse. Like many lighthouses, it was automated several decades ago. On our agenda that evening was to view the sunset from the top of Brockway Mountain, which lies between the two towns and rises about 700 feet above the lake. Our friend Herb Ford and his family had enjoyed a sunset picnic at the spot on a recent vacation and he highly recommend it. Alas, I miscalculated our timing and we just missed the main event. A friendly fellow saw we had arrived too late and shared his photos of the sunset via iPhone Air Drop.
Yesterday we hauled the RV from Copper Harbor about 180 miles east to our current campsite just outside of Munising, Mich. For the next few nights we’ll be staying at the Silent Night Campground on St. Nicholas Road in Christmas, Mich. (I kid you not!) About 8 miles before our destination, we pulled over to a rest stop along a beautiful stretch of sandy beach. Lake Superior is normally cold, but this time of year its waters are relatively warm from the residual heat of summer. I said to Elizabeth, “I need to go swimming!” With the RV parked close by, I disappeared inside for a few minutes and emerged wearing my swimsuit and water shoes. The water was lovely and clear and the sandy bottom stretched out for a hundred feet from shore. Oh sublime joy!
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Before arriving in the UP, we enjoyed four days in my native state of Wisconsin. During our time in La Crosse County, we visited with my brother, a cousin, and two nephews and their families. I visited the family plot at Hamilton Cemetery outside our hometown of West Salem and placed flowers on my mother’s gravestone. (She passed away in 2017 at age 93.) I also took a bike ride along the Elroy-Sparta Trail that runs through town and rode past the home on Youlon Street where I lived until we moved to Minnesota in 1971.
On the way north to Michigan, we stayed one night in a wooded campground near Rhinelander, Wis. It was a challenge to back the unit into a narrow space, but the reward was a secluded spot surrounded by forest. We built a fire in the pit that evening and shared a s’more.
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