Day 11 started with 2 simple goals. Visit the Lake of the Clouds, which was just 7 miles up the road from us, and find a decent, somewhat sandy beach for the afternoon, as the high was forecast to be mid-80s. The morning looked quite promising as I made my daily trek to the visitors center to snag enough wifi to write this and check on the outside world.
I imagine living up here (with any sort of Verizon-based device) must feel like our childhood in the late 70s. No calling ahead to check on availability, hours, etc. Just drive to the location, see if the doors are open, and if not, try to find a paper map since you can't search anything to find directions. It's a bit of a welcome change and a good throwback to teach Jordan how things were 'back in our day.' However, it is anything but efficient.
We knew where to go for Lake of the Clouds, as we had been here several years ago. Eventually we hope to backpack the Escarpment Trail, but today it was 300 feet of boardwalk.
The view from the lower platform is stunning in its own right. If you look in the upper left of the photo below, you can see the upper viewing platform as well.
The walk between viewing platforms is very scenic, and gives you a break between the hordes of people not even looking at the views.
The view of Summit Peak, the tallest of the Porkies at just a smidge under 2000ft.
Ok, minor rant incoming. At the upper viewing area, there is a bit of an unspoken protocol, as with almost every scenic natural attraction we have ever experienced. You take in the view, snap a few photos to capture the moment, then yield the area to the next visitors out of courtesy and awareness that there are more people visiting said attraction.
Tanktop bro was not interested in protocol. I waited patiently for well over 5 minutes before taking this, the first photo of their shenanigans. Each of his kids had a wrist rocket, which at first I respected. I hadn't seen one of those in actual use since my brothers and I were snapping the surgical tubing attempting to shoot rocks over the neighbor's house.
The issue - our sleeveless director had a specific movie shot in mind, which he carefully instructed each child the 45 steps of what he was looking for, then would review the video, critique, add some notes to the script, then repeat.
This was after at least take 7. The main problem I was having with this epic production was that at no point did any of them look at the Lake of the Clouds. Ever. This could have been shot in their driveway, or in the back seat of his Saturn, or in the parking lot of the local Hardee's (yes they still have those up here). Instead, it was happening here, and not only was Sun's out Guns out completely unaware of his surrounding and the line forming behind me, he was teaching these 2 kids how to be ignorant A-holes as well.
This entire experience made me think of this story I'm sure this dude was using the scenic backdrop to get likes. That's all cool, I love a good Instagram-worthy shot as much as the next person. But did they even know where they were until after viewing the video? Ok, I believe I have driven everyone off my lawn again, on with the pics.
Looking back at the group of 25+ junior high kids that had been steamrolling their poor chaperone/counselor and not listening to anything he said. Jordan and Kimberly waiting patiently on the right.
Back at the top - Jordan's favorite activity, jumping on rocks. There were no rehearsals, walk throughs, or stage preparations for this photo.
You would need to enhance this photo several times to see it clearly, but in the distance on that peak in the center you can see the Copper Peak ski flying hill. The map says it is 20 miles as the crow flies.
The walk back to the parking lot. Everything is part of nature's playground.
With goal #1 accomplished, we set out to find a beach. There is accessible Lake Superior coastline all along the 107th Engineers Memorial Highway, but much of it is rocky shores, and we were after the full beach experience. Our very limited search from the visitors center wifi showed a public beach in nearby (that term takes on a new meaning up here - today it meant 25 miles) Ontonagon.
We could tell from the drive that the storm from a couple of days ago had really churned up the lake, every river mouth had turned Superior a nice shade of brown. When we arrived at the Ontonagon beach, this is what we saw.
One lonely swimmer collecting sediment in her suit. We were not down with this plan, so we headed back to try our luck at one of the roadside access points.
Then we discovered Green Park, a roadside county park that fit the bill perfectly.
Jordan had brought her Rocks & Minerals field guide (oh yeah, she is all in) and started collecting and classifying rocks.
We tested the water (STILL COLD), and then noticed that the wind was really picking up, leading to some choice waves.
Waves? You had to know this was coming... (RIP Bodhi)
We braved the water temps and made our way into the waves, having brought our trusty boogie boards we picked up in Outer Banks years ago.
This went on for what seemed like weeks, and for a while Jordan traded and gave me the smaller of the 2 boards. Kimberly immediately started laughing, bringing this scene to mind:
We were pretty exhausted, but still had 2 things on the agenda. Jordan was still fascinated by the Yooperlite hunting process, so we waiting until sundown and headed over to Union Beach. Conditions were pretty, pretty good.
Here you can see a little of what to look for. As it gets darker they really start to stand out.
One of the last ones we found before one of us became a mosquito feedbag.
We made it back to the Big Truck having beaten our quota. We were about to settle in for movie night when we realized tonight was prime viewing for the Perseid meteor shower. We were beat, but also knew that we would likely never be in these kind of conditions again - there is zero light pollution up here. We shuffled across the campground to the boat launch, which had the most unobstructed view of the sky. Our necks were getting stiff and I was becoming pretty skeptical. Then:
Now obviously I don't have the gear up here to take a photo like that, but this is precisely what we saw. I didn't know what to expect, so I was losing it every time I saw one because they looked like a comet! (It also secretly reminded me of watching the best cartoon/anime series of all time when I was a kid, Star Blazers and their quest to defend the universe against the great Comet Empire).
That concluded quite a full day, with a partial movie night to close it out. Tomorrow - travel day to Fayette State park as we make the turn toward home.
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