we made some ambitious plans of the "let's take the kids backpacking for several days deep in the woods" variety last summer, and then there were floods in our city and our basement felt threatened so we cancelled our trip and stayed home to keep an eye on the rising water. this year, no floods, and the trip was a go.
david chose the porcupine mountains state park in michigan's upper peninsula, on the shore of lake superior, because he has backpacked there, he's taken me there, and we were both itching to get back. we started at the little carp river trailhead and hiked an easy 2 miles along the north country trail to our first backpacker's rustic cabin at greenstone falls. easy, gorgeous, no problem.
once we arrived, these guys went for a dip in the pool at the bottom of the little falls.
after breakfast, we packed up and headed out, on a 6 mile hike through the wilderness to get to mirror lake, where our next backpacker's cabin awaited us, with 2 rowboats for use.
the mirror lake cabin sleeps 8, although there were only 4 of us, and it was luxury in the woods.
view from the front door. it doesn't get better than this.
we rowed, we swam,
we used the rowboat as a chair,
i used the rowboat for a sunny nap,
and david used it as a dishrack. very versatile.
dinner scene
bedtime scene, reading by headlamp
in the morning, we set off on our most ambitious day yet: 9 miles to our next cabin on lake superior. after the kids hiked 6 miles the day before, most of my worries about their ability to do this hike were gone. and then when they did it with the most minimal of complaint, i felt so proud of them, mixed in with that wistful feeling of "when did they get this big?".
mid-day break, with barefoot freezing river crossings. it felt unbelievably good on hot sore feet.
riverbank lunch
and back into the shady woods for a few more miles.
and then, we were there! our cabin was on a wooded bluff above the shore, and a short downhill hike took us to this private little stone beach at the mouth of the little carp river.
after a long a satisfying night of sleep in a tiny little cabin,
and one more visit to this golden place,
we said goodbye to our 3rd and last cabin of the trip,
and hiked a quick and easy 2 miles out.
where we immediately removed our boots and ate the rest of the snickers bars.
best family trip ever.
1 comment:
That's just a wonderful experience. I can see you doing Isle Royale one day.
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