Our last hike in the UP ~ Amazing.

Sunday  [September 13th] was the last day of our Grand Tour, Emily took this 'selfie' of us while we were still at the Miner's Castle Rock lookout which you can see behind us.

Jer was beside himself when we parked.

"Mom, close your eyes and don't look!" He grabbed my hand and we walked out on a board walk [I think] and I had to keep looking down at my feet as I didn't want any surprises to trip on.

When I opened them...

I

saw

this....

and gasped. 
I did take about 20 photos of the scene in front of me with different exposures so I could eventually pick a favorite.

Very long exposure so the water and waves blended.

Yes, I used a tripod.

This is what you see if you Google Miners Rock Castle on the internet.
100's of images taken from the same exact place.

OH, I was so pleased to see this iconic place.

As we walked to another viewing area, I stopped. This was the one shot I wanted. It is framed by the trees, ...

It doesn't look like all the other photos on the internet...

It shows water blasting through the cave...

and waves blasting against the rock.

To me, this is the one I'd pick to keep forever.

We walked around to another observation point and I took this with the cell phone. These are such beautiful and unique rock formations!

Back into the car we went and headed down some back roads. 

Miner's Beach was one of those places and I found it fascinating. The beach was beautiful and the trail above the beach had some amazing Lichen!!!! AND wild blueberry plants!!!!

Miner's Beach, surfs up!
This was a fantastic spot too. But I won't bore you with more photos right now. I'll pop some in at another time.

Lichen!!!!

Wild Blueberry plants!

The forest floor above the beach was covered in them. And yes, I tasted a couple of ripe ones.

DEEE-licous.

I'm going to skip some stuff and go right to our last hike which was to Mosquito Falls and Chapel Beach. 

What no one realized was that to make the whole loop, it was 10.5 miles. Well, we read it, but I guess it didn't click in our brains. [Ever try this with a 5 yr old????]

😮😯😲

Mosquito Falls and Chapel Falls via the Chapel Loop is a popular 10.5-mile loop trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising, Michigan

The trail was rather demanding in some spots and in other places, the Park Service was rebuilding some board walks over wet areas to prevent erosion.

It was drizzling and a quite overcast. However, that did not dampen our spirits or attitudes. We marched on past wet lands, over marshy areas, and over roots and rocks. 

We found Mosquito Falls and I was entranced. While Jer walked off to check out the falls in one direction and Mari and Emily went in another, I climbed around  and then knew I'd found the place. 

I told Jer that I was going to climb a small bluff and release some of Rich's ashes from my necklace.

He knew this was going to be an enormous cathartic moment for me. So he crossed the river and took this GIF of me. For a long time, I couldn't move or speak. My heart felt heavy and surprisingly a bit free. It doesn't make sense to me but I knew I felt that strong connection.

And he would have approved of the spot.

The view when I turned, was this.

This image, the sound of the falls and the soft rainfall will forever be embedded in my brain. The feeling of grief, relief, and the whispers in my head of our love for each other was so strong, it could not be denied.

Jer and Emily gave me the time I needed and didn't come up the trail until I stood up and wiped my eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Me.

"Oh yes. This place. I felt it. It was right."

I got a hug from them and we continued the trail through the forest.

I felt heavier and lighter at the same time.

 

Chasing waterfalls

After the sunrise at Brockway Mountain and the stop at Esrey Park, we hit the next place my son wanted me to see.

Silver River Falls.

I intended to take shots like the one below so I could remember each place we stopped. Nah, I didn't remember to do that. At least I can look it up on maps.

The roaring water was wonderful. I like waterfalls. I love waterfalls. I love rivers.

Apparently my son and Em and Mari do also. Mari played in the cold water [in a safe spot] while we walked around and I took some shots.

Jer brought the tripod, but I was able to do some hand held shots. 1/20th of a second exposures do give a sense of the motion of the water. The morning was heavily overcast, so it was easier than trying to expose in a glaring bright day.

There is a trail of sorts alongside the river that allows you to check things out. Me? I would have seen how far I could have hiked towards Lake Superior, but we had so many more things to see. 

We loaded up and headed towards Great Sand Bay.

Lake Superior is like visiting the ocean. It is windy, chilly, and loud with waves crashing into the shore.

Because of the blowing sand and water spray, I kept my camera in my backpack. But still, one can take some decent shots with a cell phone these days.

We spent quite a while 'beach combing' and enjoying the thunderous waves. The winds were so strong that the dune grasses drew swirls in the sand.

Jacob's Falls was our next stop.

This was the most curious thing I've ever seen on a roadside trail. Ashes? But in a way, I understood this completely. I doubt I'd have left a whole box.

This was my first glimpse of the falls and this is where most folks stop. Not my group. 

...and yes, I climbed up these roots to get higher while my son was climbing from the opposite side below.

See the blue jacket? That was my kid.

He survived, but I was worried that he'd fall in.

While I was gone, this project finished up.  There is just some touch up work left. But the new view out my back door is now pretty amazing.

 

Our exploration of Gay Michigan was interesting enough that it deserves its own write up. --> Soon.

Returned.

 

I went on a whirlwind tour of the Michigan Upper Peninsula.  No tour bus. Just my youngest son, his wife, and my 5 yr old grand daughter. 

We arrived predawn at Brockway Mountain after driving through the night. We packed the 4 of us into my Cross trek Subaru. After all, the car is newer and a much safer vehicle than what my son owns. It also tends to sip gas.

I made rules of course. No eating in THE car. I'm a stickler for keeping the inside clean.

Gas prices? Anywhere from 3.98/gallon to 4.29/gallon. 

That aside....

We drove all night to get to Brockway mountain to see the sun come up. 

The wind on the 'mountain' was so wicked we retreated to the 'Nose' Lookout to watch the sunrise over Copper Harbor.

We found a couple from Colorado who were standing quietly waiting for the sunrise. The clouds moved in and the sun started to try to peak through.

The couple left, their opinion was that the sunrise would not be worth watcing.  We waited patiently and moved around as the sky began to change.

We kept moving, and I went back to the 'scenic' lookout overlook and took this shot of Copper Harbor.

And as things kept changing my son kept waving me below the overlook to check out different views of this point. 

The old adage. Patience. 

Things will keep things changing and sometimes a person will be surprised and sometimes they will be disappointed.

We were NOT disappointed.

We explored the trails under the look out point and found more exotic views of Copper Harbor.

First Mission Accomplished.

I wanted to go back to another spot. I don't recall what it it is called, but it was the first spot we looked at for my son's impromptu April wedding.

I wanted to go back to this spot --taken in April with a wicked wind at predawn. [Cell phone shot in April]

This spot had so much potential with a bit more light. The rocks, the waves, the winds, the harsh environment was absolutely perfect. The tree on the right in the photo above was uprooted and gone.

However the stormy looking clouds and wicked winds still made for a great shot in B&W Infrared.

 

I handed my IR camera to Em and she took a couple of shots. Below is my son Jeremie.

Here is Mari. How she was not cold, was a mystery to me. We spent quite a bit of time here in this spot.

We explored this area thanks to a 5:30AM breakfast and strong coffee. This particular spot has so many interesting facets to it. Lichen, rocks, waves, winds, trees, plants, and clean toilets!

Here is Mari trotting down a trail next Lake Superior.

Oh to be a child again!

We noticed an elderly fella out by the shore and I grabbed a shot of him...

He was as obviously as intrigued as we were by the variety of interesting rocks we found along the shore.

This little 'wayside' intrigued me the most in the morning. Well, that was before we explored further.

Jer later asked me which part of the whirlwind tour was the 'best'. I started by naming each place we visited.

I don't really know. I need a lifetime of exploration of these places.

This is a somewhat close shot of the same place with my cellphone in April.

 

It is a worthy spot to explore more.

I guess I'll be spending some time sorting through the shots I took and trying to make sense of all the beauty I've seen.

I should be a wander-er.

I hope I can be! Pic by Jeremie. He is pretty good at catching me off guard.

We took the whirlwind tour, to see what I liked best. When asked...I said all of it.

We put 1,200 miles on the car from Saturday morning to Monday morning.

No regrets.

Just a feeling that I have to go back and explore more.

Carpe Diem.

My intentions with epic trips like this, is to take small portions of Rich's Ashes with me and let him explore amazing places that we had planned to see together. 

And maybe some not too epic spots! The town IS named Gay, and it is a tiny town worth exploring. --- It involves mining and not the what you might think. 

I think this is a very interesting part of the lake shore history. I will visit again.

So the name will throw you.

But it happens to be one of the best places I've visited in Michigan. 

Just not necessarily for the play on words.

But for the interesting history and scenery of Gay Michigan.

More to come.......

stay tuned.

My idea is to travel to places that Rich would have loved to explore and to drop a tiny amount of his ashes in each place we would have loved.

Yes.

I did that.

And it feels perfect.

 

 

Wild 36 hours

I'm not even sure how to explain this.

Friday morning I left with Hannah to drive 3+ hours to my son and his fiance's place in Wausau. We were going to drive north to the UP in Michigan that afternoon after the kids were gathered from school.

The first leg was peaceful and quiet. I decided to take Hannah and not both dogs. Charlie has always been a bit nervous in the car and does quite a bit of 'talking' and complaining. I left him at home where a neighbor was going to let him out and later, my grandson Dennis would come and stay at our house. Dennis offered to watch over the place, do chores, and keep Charlie company.

I thought that this would be great socialization for Hannah as well as seeing how well she travelled distances.

Hannah proved to be an easy traveler. It seems the car vibrations put her into a sound sleep. I took periodic stops for leg stretching and peeing. 

I'd seen the weather and apparently we were in for more wild weather at some point on Friday afternoon. I'd have avoided travel any other time, but this was a trip for a small informal wedding to be held at dawn in the U.P. It was crazy enough for me to be curious and not to back out on Jer and Em's wedding. 

As we left Wausau under blue skies, tornado warnings erupted just a few miles south of us in a town called Ringle. We found out just a bit later that 75 homes had been severely damaged.

We headed north as the weather caught up to us and by the time we hit Michigan we were driving in a wild rainstorm through snow country. The rains came down, the fog from the snowpack was intense. If I had been driving I would have quit and looked for a place to stay. 
We made Houghton, MI in the dark and the fog lifted.

At 3am WI time, we were up and the bride to be was getting her hair done.

It was an honor to be asked to be a witness but so far things had been a bit insane.

We piled in two cars and headed out to the proposed site.

The temperature was around 19 F with a fairly fierce wind. This is Esrey Park. Pre-dawn. I climbed the rocks with my head lamp and loved the view. It was the first choice for the 'wedding'. 

[sorry for the poor shots, it was dark!]

After scoping out two other places, we stopped at Hunter's Point Park and sought shelter from the weather while the vows were read.

The 'I do's' were said, the bride was kissed, and we piled back into the heated vehicles.

Jer and Em wanted me to see at least one of the fantastic waterfalls in the area. The rest of the parks and trails were deep in snow so we stopped at Copper Falls Park in Eagle Harbor and walked out on the footbridge to admire the roaring water.

We drove 4.5 hours back to Wausau were I picked up my vehicle and I drove 3 hours back home.

Wild and slightly insane is the best way to describe this adventure. However, it did peak my interest in the Michigan area and the beautiful shoreline of Superior. I can see taking this trip in the future at my own pace and exploring the copper mine museums and the sights of the Upper Peninsula. 

Sunday was spent with my grandson Dennis who helped me finish two fencing projects. He had come up Friday night after the storms went through and cared for Charlie and the animals.

I think Monday should be a day of rest for the dogs and I!