What is it that drives us to do the things we love? The anticipation of looking forward to something in the future? The cumulation of past experiences that cloud the moment? What is now? Seriously, I needed to get out of town and bug out for a few days.

My summer has been busy in a bunch of ways and I was quickly realizing that I needed to get some time to do some self reflection before it was gone. Most of the activities so far have been directed to UP Overland scouting, which I do in fact enjoy but I needed something for me. The fact that there is just a huge list of places I want to explore and check out in the UP just proved to me it was time to load up the Rover and set out. Time to enjoy the moment, to live in the now.

I had a rough plan of where I wanted to go, but not a rigid plan of how to get there specifically or what I wanted to do when there. The Garden Peninsula extends south off of the UP into the northern portion of Lake Michigan 22 miles. From the tip there is an archipelago of islands that extend to the Door Peninsula of Wisconsin. It is rich in history with old historic townsites and old farmsteads still sitting as they have been for over a century. It is a place I have heard great things about but just had never gotten down to it.

As I packed up, I listened to the weather band. The forecast sounded interesting. Strong thunderstorm cells were forming across Wisconsin and the western UP. Tornado watches were posted, small craft advisories up for the open waters, mother nature was definately aggravated. With the strong south and southwest winds forecasted I decided to throw my playboat on the back of the truck to hopefully sample some good waves and get my surf fix on. Truck gassed up, loaded, I threw in some good books and hit the pavement.

I headed dead east on pavement from Marquette to the mouth of the Rock River on Lake Superior and the first coast of my adventure. This is the point where I said goodbye to the tarmac. Heading in a southern direction using state forest roads, national forest roads, and other random trails I got out into the woods. There definately was a distinct energy in the air. The skies to the west were steadily darkening. The weather band was blowing up with storm updates and warnings. It was getting exciting.

I crossed through the small town of Chatham. Chatham captures the feel of the classic UP town off the beaten path. It is basically just a couple of buildings and despite highway 94 running through town, is virtually always quiet and still. Something about the town though, and others like it that are scattered accross the UP that I love. The last holdouts perhaps of America's continuous homegenization, transforming every comunity into a mirror-like copy of the next.


Managing to negotiate the bustling streets of Chatham.... not quite.


Something peaceful about travelling through the endless tunnel of forrest in the central UP.




Using the Rapid River Truck trail along with some forest service roads branching off I saw few people, many rivers, lakes, marshes.

The wind was starting to pick up and thunder could be heard in the distance. Some rain started to come down, not too hard but as I worked myself south it seems I avoided the brunt of the first storm. Eventually I hit US 2 which cuts across the top of the Garden Peninsula. I drove pavement on the primary road that feeds down the coast. After grabbing a couple of last minute items at the tiny store in the town of Garden, I reviewed the topo and GPS and made a plan for making camp. My goal was to reach the very tip of the peninsula which is remote state forest land with no visible road on the maps. Using some local knowledge I did learn that there were indeed trails that crisscrossed the land out to the point. Game on.


The remnants of the ghost town of Sac Bay


The next wave of storms was approaching.


Working my way across to the east coast of the southern end of the peninsula out into the state forest land.


Cool skies!

I reached the east coast with no problem. The shorline was primarily limestone both loose and in shelves. Very different than what you see with the sandstone, quartzes, and black rock shorelines of Lake Superior. The beach was wide, with a rocky surface covered in a thin sheet of wildflowers.


To this point the weather was still holding off but not for long.

I began working south along the coast on a VERY narrow and tight trail. The trails down here are hardly used, mostly overgrown and have a unique feel. It is as if few folks ever get down there. There are many great spots in the UP that are way out there, but most see some kind of human traffic, whether ATV, truck, etc but this area is quiet, quiet, quiet. I like it.


The thick cedar forests made for quite a dark trek. The GPS had no record of this route and I was working down the coast. The trail was barely big enough for the Discovery to squeeze through. The roof top tent and the kayak were taking a hammering as I putter along the track. I imagined that if I was watching it from outside, it would appear that the cedar forest was giving birth to a Land Rover. Really made me wish I had installed some limb risers on it like the Cruiser. Think of them as you want, but there are places where they sure are handy!


I checked out several stretches of beach along the way. All, very rocky.


This stretch was overgrown with thimble berries which were exploding and plentiful. Kind of surreal driving through the dense cover.


Eventually I poked through to the point with a direct view of Summer Island. It was a narrow, rocky beach with no good place to camp other than in the thick woods which were crawling with mosquitos.


The beach at the point.

I found a great spot with a very wide beach and nice breezy space void of bugs just west of the point.

As soon as I had the tent up, I felt the first drops of rain. I grabbed my things and crawled into the RTT. This was the front edge of the big weather. At 9:30PM all hell broke loose. I was now camped out on the southern tip of the Garden Peninsula. I set up on a very exposed open area of beach. I was about to get it handed to me.


My entertainment for the evening...

It isn't that I seek out dangerous camping conditions, nor do I really get anything thrill from it, yet I seem to have a high propensity to get hit with some seriously fowl weather. Lightning in particular is something that freaks me out. I have had several very close calls (smelling burnt ozone from a lightning strike near me at 11,000 feet in CO comes to mind). Basically for the next 7 hours I was in some real deal weather. Wind gusts over 60mph, sustained at over 50. Lightning, thunder, rain (all the varieties, going up, going down, going sideways). I have had the RTT in everything from desert heat to duststorms, snowstorms, and rain before, but the intensity of this blow was in another league. All I could imagine was the tent frame crumpling under the intense buffets and loads it was experiencing. The Camping Labs unit did admirably, really, I am impressed. The outerskin is pretty darn impermeable for the most part but with this wind, it was forcing water through inperceptible seems. I thought any moment the fly was going to seperate from the tent and end up in Canada. The noise was deafening as the wind just battered me. I was actually experiencing lift in the overhanging portion of the tent. With me on it, it was trying to lift. Not a very comforting feeling! I tried to read, I tried to sleep, but it was pretty much impossible. The idea of retreating to the truck was even out of the question really. I was awake untill after 4:30am when the brunt of it passed. Yes, it was still extremely windy, but at least now the commotion was at an acceptible level, I knew the tent would survive now and I finally succombed to sleep in an exhausted state. What a night....

When I awoke, I found half of the mattress soaked from the water ingress through the storm, still dry on my side which was good. The wind was still cranking but seemed like nothing compared to earier tha morning. I crawled out of the tent expecting to see tattered remains of the rain fly, destroyed or missing awning supports, and who knew what else. In fact, outside of the spring steel supports being bent pretty badly, the tent itself was fine. Well done Camping Labs!


First dawn, unsettled sky after a brutal night....

A new dawn, a new day




Even these flowers took a beating in the storm.


How most of the awning supports for the tent ended up! Thankfully that was the worst of it.

The forecast was looking good now. My plan was to try to dry things out a bit, pack up and look for a good spot to enjoy the waves from the storm. The problem with the place I camped was that Summer Island blocked the wind fetch therefore preventing good waves from reaching that beach. I was going to poke around the peninsula yet but heading back north to the eastern side where the surf would be better. I debated going to see the old historic ghost town of Fayette State Park but decided that it would be cool but the them of the trip was to not be around people and see the less visited stuff.

A few hours later and I was enjoying the now sunny day on a nice beach and put the yak in to play around. Water is the universal solvent they say....

North shore of Lake Michigan.

Two coasts down, time to start meandering back north to the coast of Superior again. I drove to the town of Manistique then began north on county roads till I hit the Highwater Truck trail. This is a great route. A very little used road that cuts across one of the largest tracts of undeveloped areas in the UP. It is used primarily by loggers and connects you all the way up to M28 in the heart of the Seney stretch. Along the way I enjoyed the endless blueberries that were in full effect.


I had to stop and snack occasionally


Crossing the Manistique River, a great canoeing river if you are looking to escape for a remote 6 day trip.


A big 'ol wolf track


Big, vast stretches of nothing! Love it. The best thing about this route is that it brings you through the southwestern corner of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge.

I kept working my way north, using a couple of various routes that ended up dropping me off into the awesome little outpost of Grand Marais, on the shore of Superior. I bee lined it east to stake a nice piece of beach for my campsite for the evening. Great stretches of state forest land that is all fare game. I scored big. Got a great stretch of beach as far as the eye could see, either direction to myself. I had a nice breezy spot on a little hill over the beach in an open stand of pines. Life is good!

I spent the remainder of the evening, drying stuff out from the night before still, hanging out in the hammock enjoying the breeze and the view, cooking, eating, and swimming. Lake Superior is suprisingly warm already this summer. Very comfortable indeed.


Beach stones washed in color.


Bonfire bliss


What a difference 24 hours makes huh?




No words needed really....



After an amazing restfull night's sleep, especially compared to the night before, I awoke for the sunrise, rested and energized. What was the plan for the day? Well originally it was to pack up camp and start heading towards Marquette and checking out some more new stuff. Well, sometimes you have to go with the flow....... so I did nothing. Just stayed. It wasn't a tough decision, not seeing another soul, my own private expanse of beach. I decided to just chill out, read, swim, lay in the hammock, have a siesta, all those enjoyable things you do when you have nothing to do.


5 minutes of foraging yielded me a plate of blueberries, ahhhh breakfast. Not a bad thing having a camping site in a thriving blueberry patch..

It was one of those days that words don't attempt to touch. To describe it would be pointless, to put it into words would be to take from it.




Good night!

First light, last day.


View from bedroom, complete with alarm clock....



I packed up camp, said my goodbyes to my piece of paradise and headed back into the town of Grand Marais. The Great Lakes Sea Kayak Syposium was underway. Paddlers from all around the world were converged in the tiny town. Some paddling giants were there giving instruction in the bay.


Participants gathering on the beach


Old fishing tugs in Grand Marais


The breakwall in town.



I grabbed a great breakfast at the West Bay Diner in town. They have an old stainless steel diner car that was originally brought up from New Jersey and painstakinly restored. Very cool atmosphere and they make a mean omellete for sure. Fueled up I started making my way east. Grand Marais is the eastern boundary of the Pictured Rocks Nationa Lakeshore. I was planning on stopping at a couple of spots along the way on the way home. They are still in the process of making a paved route to connect Munising to Grand Marais but it isn't quite finished yet with a large portion of the route closed. Luckily there are some back up ways to get around it all like our UP Overland Route from last year or a couple of other nice dirt roads that connect it up.


The view of the Grand Sable Dunes


The mouth of the Hurricane River with a northwest breeze blowing in.

I picked up the blacktop through Munising and finished up back home in Marquette with right around 350 miles for the trip. I got home, hopped on the mountain bike, and did a properly epic ride on some of the new trails here in town. We have a dedicated trail crew building and upkeeping a very intensive network of truly world class trails. The ride was out of this world, I hit a new trail along a gorge that ends back in Marquette. I can safely say it is one of, if not THE most beautiful mountain bike rides I have ever been on, anywhere. I feel so fortunate to live here and get to enjoy all of this. I guess that really sums up my trip. I went out to gain a bit more perspective on my life and as always, it never fails when I get out there. Gained some great insights, some relaxtion, some excitement, some stimulus overload, and definately a bit too much sun exposure! haha Ended the day at Presque Isle Park to this...... which describes how I felt to a T...

Bad ass!

Excellent trip report as always Kristian.

Now that I have my PC working again, I will have to write one up about our trip to Bois Blanc Island last weekend.

Beautiful photos. Nice trip report.

Great write up Kristian!!! Awesome pictures!!!