SPF 100: 2020 Big Truck across the Upper Peninsula, Day 2

Day 2 began with a somewhat sluggish awakening before 7am to make a 45 minute drive to Munising in search of a campsite, while the female contingent slept in at Big Cedar. One plus to this situation - other than one vehicle that passed me early on, I was the only one making this drive. Literally no other cars going my direction for more than 40 miles. That is my kind of traffic. Felt like I was on US-50.

Upon arriving at Bay Furnace, I was crushed to find out that all sites were not only taken, but reserved for at least the next several days. No departures sooner than Wednesday on the site tags. That plan failed spectacularly, so I headed over to Munising Tourist Park up the road. Again, immediate dejection upon reading the sign on the office window stating "All sites are full, please do not place belongings on an empty site to claim it, all sites are currently reserved." We rarely do the first come first serve thing for exactly this reason. While I was staring at the sign trying to figure out how I was going to explain this logistical collapse back at the Big Truck, a guy pulled up in a pickup, let his dog out and asked if he could help. I explained my dilemma and that we were looking for a site for the next 3-4 days, and he said he'd meet me inside. Turns out someone was leaving early and site #8 would be available. I said yes before he was finished speaking, and then he pointed out the window.

It's the site with the car and the giant pine tree. Directly on Lake Superior. Little did I know he had just given us the site that has the cover shot view from their website, looking out at Grand Island with a little path to the beach right out the back of the site. Incredibly fortunate. With the situation well in hand, I headed back to Big Cedar to pick up the rest of the family. We could not have left that place fast enough, and this time there was a bit more traffic on the Seney stretch, but nothing of issue. Downtown Munising is completely torn apart with construction on the main drag, so that was a bit of a complication, but we knew this was waiting for us.

There are few things in life Jordan enjoys more than beaches, water & swimming (zoos, aquariums, red cabbage, and not going to bed on time also make an appearance), so this was her immediate happy place.

Practicing hammocking skills. She's also pretty good with bowstaff & nunchucks...

Since we had a bit of a hectic morning, and the weather had taken a turn from 80/sunny to 60/22 mph winds, we decided we would stick near town and explore a bunch of local waterfalls. If you haven't been to Munising, there are probably 20 waterfalls within 10-15 miles of town, many of them minutes from town and easily accessible. We started with the aptly named Munising Falls.

What you don't see in these pictures is the herds of people quietly shuffling along, some trying to social distance, others staring a hole in anyone wearing a mask, and one guy in front of us proudly wearing pager on his belt and a Rambo survival knife (yes, you guessed it - complete with the leg strap) just in case he and his two young sons needed to live off the land and eat a feral hog.

In his defense, I also had one of those and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I was also 11. He had quite a scowl the entire time, I can only assume he wanted to get back into his lifted Silverado (Cheyenne longbox of course) and his collection of Tactical Life back issues, unless interrupted by an important page about a new catchin' deers hat release.

Next up was Memorial Falls, also known as Twin Falls, although today they were cojoined as the water flow was only enough for a single trickle. This hike was super cool for only being a mile & a half or so round trip. Plenty to explore - caves, roots, rocks, and stunning natural features.

We closed out our whirlwind waterfall tour with a quick stop at Wagner Falls, just south of town. It is very accessible, and therefore very crowded. This set of pics will help us to remember just how crazy of a time we are currently experiencing. There were so many people in fairly close proximity due to the size of the boardwalk & trail that most were wearing masks.

Editor's note: we were experiencing the exact same amount of freedom and liberty in both pics. The herds were politely waiting over 6' away. On the way back, Kimberly wanted a pic with her and Jordan. Jordan wanted to recreate a pose from Cloudland Canyon State Park back in Georgia, where she recalled going up on one toe. The result was me questioning whether she has a broken femur in this shot.

We stopped in town to look for some souvenirs, only to find most of the shops closed on Sunday. This Art in the Alley exhibit was pretty cool though.

Back at the campground we had to go check out the lake, which was surprisingly warm for Lake Superior. Tomorrow we will likely go for a swim.

As we got close to sunset, I was reminded of the significance of this day. 5 years prior, we were up here in the UP and got the news that my father had passed away back home. We immediately drove home and haven't been up here as a family since. I can't help but feel tonight's sunset had a little support from Marv up there looking out for us.