Up North part 2

We began our time in the U.P. at the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Joe brought us first to a series of falls on their way to Lake Superior.

It was a fun trail, because we were on everything from regular dirt trails to boardwalks…

stairs made of roots…

and stairs made of boards.

There were multiple points to go out and wander around the flowing water

Joe always takes it as far as he can

Learning about potholes

The cherry on top of this area was following the water all the way to where it joined the big lake.

First the boys and I dove right into the waves, but Joe then redirected us to the actual area where river meets lake, which turned out to be a delightful little secluded and calm spot.

They practiced skipping stones. That’s a skill I gave up on long ago, and I’m fine with that.

But those three really enjoy it.

There’s Joe on the opposite shore. He’s an intrepid swimmer.

We stayed in Ontonagon, MI. Our motel was just across the parking lot from the main drag, including the restaurant we ate several of our meals at on their street-side patio. Charlie was feeling a little sun-toasted, so this was his solution!

The next day we hit Lake of the Clouds.

It was quite a view right up front, and then you could walk as much on the trails along it as you wanted.

We chose to just go a little ways and then head to some other trailheads. Next up was Summit Peak, which had a tall structure you could climb to get a good view of the area. Here’s Henry contemplating the stairs.

Charlie loves being up high like this, so he was so content taking in the view.

Henry was ready to get down low again.

Finally in the day, we hit a trail designed to show historic points and share information about a specific mine in the area. The U.P. has a huge history of copper mining. This was my favorite trail, because it had the informational placards that Charlie loves, but was also just a beautiful walk through woods and along a creek.

I told them to show me their “mining face.”

After we got back to the motel and ate some grub, we headed for an evening at the beach. We’d gotten an abbreviated time there the night before, but we were all anxious to get back to it again. It was a glorious beach, with soft sand good-temperatured water and a shallow depth for out as far as you could possibly want to go from shore. For Charlie, that was very, very far, while Henry preferred to mostly do excavating and building in the sand.

I love the beach!

That evening, I went for a long walk around town, and ended by walking  the full length of the beach while the sun set. It was amazing how drastically the sky changed as the moments ticked by.

I mean, look at this!

So gorgeous. Thanks, Ontonagon!