The Porcupine Mountains, which are often referred to as the "Porkies", are a group of small mountains here in the Upper Peninsula. They are located in the appropriately named Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park, the largest state park in Michigan. They got their name from the Native American Ojibwa tribe because their silhouettes resemble a crouching porcupine. Not being an expert on what crouching porcupines look like, I'll take their word for it.
The Porkies are located a little over a three hour drive from Munising. It was a long day's journey but both the journey and the destination were well worth the investment. The leaves along most of the drive were amazing, although in a few places they were past their peak and the trees were becoming bare. Additionally, part of the drive was along the Lake Superior shoreline. The lake was a little restless yesterday and waves that looked in the 3-5 foot range were crashing on the rocky shores and sandy beaches.
Surf's Up on Lake Superior........
We're not the type that make "minute by minute" plans of what we are going to do. We're more freelancers that have a general idea where we're going and what we're going to do, but it's always subject to change. On yesterday's journey to the Porkies we were more "freelancers" than usual. We knew we were going to the "Porkies" and we knew we were going to visit the Lake of the Clouds. Beyond that, we had no plan. What we ended up with, thanks to a friendly hiker who had been visiting and hiking in the porkies for twenty one years, was a triple feature of the park.
The first feature of the day was a stop at the Lake of the Clouds, where the temperature checked in at a slightly sub-tropical but comfortable feeling 39 degrees. The Lake of the Clouds is a 133 acre lake that is situated in the valley between two ridges of the Porkies. It is fed on the east end by the Carp River Inlet and on the west end of the lake, the outflow empties into Lake Superior by way of the Carp River. In earlier times the lake was simply known as Carp Lake, however Lake of the Clouds is certainly a more marketable name. Whatever you want to call it, the views from the vistas high above the lake are spectacular!
The Carp River....flowing towards Lake Superior.
After gazing at the Lake of the Clouds we were off to our next destination, although we really didn't have one. We stopped at a trail head thinking that we'd check out a short trail. At the trail head Beth asked our friendly hiker friend who looked quite knowledgeable if she had any suggestions. After talking for a minute she laid out the second and third feature of our trip to the Porkies.
Her suggestions were for us to visit the Summit Peak which was located close to the middle of the 60,000 acre park. As the name implies, it's the highest point in the state park. Interestingly, for a number of years it was believed to be the highest point in the state, but further geological studies have found two places that are slightly higher. At the end of a .8 mile hike was the Summit Peak Tower. The 3-4 flights of stairs took us above the tree tops for a great 360 degree view of the Porkies and blue waters of Lake Superior.
We wrapped up our triple feature in the Porkies in the Presque Isle River area at the far western side of the park. I'm beginning to think that up north they like the name Presque Isle. We enjoyed swimming in Lake Erie while visiting Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. The views of Lake Superior were great as we drove through Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Michigan. In the Porkies, the waterfalls of Presque Isle River as it flows towards Lake Superior were awesome.
Presque Isle River meeting Lake Superior
Lake of the Clouds, Summit Peak and Presque Isle River.........a triple feature in the Porkies!
This mornings sunrise on Superior
