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.

 

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.

 

 

The Gremlin

Her Daddy calls her 'Martian'.

This is my youngest son, his name is Jeremie.  I call him Jer and this weekend I called him Daddy so Mari --- Amari, could figure out who I was talking to. He isn't her real Daddy, but he has been caring for her since she was born. 

She is the daughter of his fiancé. 

They don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. Jer suggested giving Mom a weekend off. He came Saturday night and we watched a movie he picked out.

Sunday, he asked what I wanted to do and I asked if he'd like to go 'hiking'. He does like hiking and we got the Reserve by 8am.

The day was going to be record breaking warm, so we got there before the temperatures rose and made the trails into slimy messes.

Mari usually wakes up very early. Like really early. 4:30 am early. I sent Jer back to bed. Afterall I'm a pretty good Grandma and I adore kids.

Mari and Charlie hit it off. He is such a kind hearted dog. Jer, who prefers cats also fell for Charlie. He quipped that he could so love to take Charlie home with him. 

Um. No. 

Here Jer is showing Mari a Pileated Woodpecker hole in a tree. Five year olds are curious about everything.

Mari has boundless energy and curiosity.  Jer and Emily, are taking her to one of the University Clinics to be tested for her neurodiversity issues this month.

I'd hiked this trail on Friday and knew it would be a perfect place to go on Sunday.

We found ice flows and explored bluffs together. We went to this ice flow or ice falls. Mari climbed up above and pretended to hide behind the tree. I was so happy that she stayed there while I got a photo of her and the flow.

Then Daddy convinced her to do this. 20 second slo mo of her first Ice Slide.

Just having fun....

The Kickapoo River was mostly frozen solid and of course my 'kid' wanted to see how far out he could go. I yelled at him. It is what mom's do even when their kids are no longer kids. And of course he didn't listen to me. However he did not fall through.

Jer and I sat on the porch later and watched Mari explore the yard and run back and forth. Fresh air, dirt, running, and hollering are all kid activities. 

So Mari didn't want to take a bath Sunday night. She was absolutely not having it. All she wanted to do was cry, moan, and say that she wanted to go home. Kids get that way when they are tired.

I asked her if she wanted to take a bath with Charlie. 

That changed her mind. 

So after she got in the bath, I picked up Charlie and put in in the water. Charlie played statue while Mari took a washcloth to him and rubbed his back and head. Charlie gave me 'the look'. I let him be in there for a few minutes and then took him out.

That was the trick. One happy bather, one unhappy dog. One clean 5 yr old.

For all the lead up and advertising for Valentine's Day finally had gotten to me. Even at the gym, it was the subject of the day in conversation. As the only 'widow' there I just was quiet.

Jer and the little Gremlin were exactly what I needed to distract me and make me laugh. 

I disconnected from the digital-interweb-internet- world for a couple of days. It was a good break.

 

Fun in ice

 My wayward son and his girlfriend came to visit on Friday. Of course Emily's little girl Amari was the highlight. I'm just a sucker for little ones...no matter what!

They call her Mari. And pronounce it Mar-eee. For whatever reason, Mari decided I was okay and made her intentions always clear with her hands with the universal 'kid' sign of UP! UP!

Come on, who cannot have their heart melted by a little one like this!

To be sure, she was also fascinated by my Skunk Hat. 

The trail was beaten down into pure ice and we all wore ice cleats except the little one. We took turns carrying her or steering her by her hood. It involved a lot of 2 year old gibberish and sometimes yelling by Mari. I told mom and son to let her holler all she wanted, we were in the 'wild' woods and it didn't bother me at all. 

After all, she has immense energy. Cold fresh air and a hike would be great for her after a 4 hour car ride.

To get into the ice caves/shelters is not easy on a good day. This day it was all ice from the recent rains. Mari has no fear at all. Here is a pre slide check. Emily is down the icy path ready for catching her daughter. Mari loved it.

Here Mari decides to run to me across the slippery ice.

Group shot. I set my little pocket camera on a mini tripod and set the delay for 30 seconds. I slid down the ice formation to the others and scrambled to get in the shot. My son was like: BE Careful Mom! And we all laughed when I slid past them to the dirt.

We ended out trek at Weister Creek's ice formations and headed back to the car.

My youngest, Mari, and I:

and Weister Creek:

I have to admit I had fun. It was a difficult hike with a little one and we did it. 

Next time I told them we'd take an easy trail that we could take a stroller on. Yeah...maybe!