2020 Big Truck across the Upper Peninsula, Day 3

Day 3 started with this for an 'office'. Works for me.

Jordan was foraging for pine cones, one of nature's best firestarters. They helped us build a roaring fire despite last night's 20mph+ winds and 50 degree drizzle.

We had a few different options of what to do, and ultimately decided to avoid the Pictured Rocks herds and go explore some of the more remote waterfall hikes outside of town. However, the first one we chose was anything but remote. Horseshoe Falls, a locally managed tourist trap, seemed like a terrible idea at first. Why go to a place with a gift shop, that charges a fee to walk a few hundred yards to see a waterfall like any of the others you can see for free? This is why.

For Jordan (and us), the gnome scavenger hunt and tranquil setting was actually worth our time and then some. She had a lot of fun finding the 50+ gnomes hidden on the property, and I relished the fact that they named one of them Quagmire.

They had a lot of somewhat cheesy signs and sayings posted throughout, but this one really hit home. There are several (one in particular) of our governmental leaders that would do well to read this and emulate this behavior. Or maybe try just one for starters, being an evangelical and all.

The falls themselves were really cool, literally. They are fed from a spring and stay a pretty constant 40 degrees, and the temperature difference was pretty stark when you got close to the falls. 

Once we left the tourist trap (we did find all 50+ gnomes, I know you were concerned), it was on to Au Train falls. This one is a little further from town, and you really get to experience the true UP, often referred to as God's Country. I hear that a lot, but this definition of it - an area of civilization away from the frontier - was definitely fitting. 

Your first view from the parking lot reveals quite a climb/scramble down to the falls, but then you realize that there are no barriers, no viewing platforms, you can actually experience this waterfall as nature intended. We waited for some herds (one family in particular, not skilled in the arts of consideration, etiquette, awareness of their surroundings, or that maybe one of the kids could have left the family size bag of Bugles in the car instead of leaving a trail of them like he was Lewis & Clark), then finally had the falls to ourselves. 

With one exception - as Kimberly referred to him as, Technology Dad. He had a full on camcorder with the flip out viewer, then while we explored the top of the falls his somewhat odd looking backpack revealed his drone. Since his wife and kids had already deserted him for the car, he and his drone left us alone to continue to explore.

Not sure what this pose is, but they were really feeling it.

From the main upper falls, you can see 3 or 4 other trickles along the bank toward the parking lot, and Jordan was extolling the virtues of her water shoes every 2-3 minutes (interspersed with a full on narration of her every move - this kid has all the words). It was cool to be peacefully exploring and watching the enthusiasm build, for all of us. Perfect weather, perfect day.

It's a bit of work to get back up to the parking lot, especially knowing that we had a few more of these hikes in us today. We got out just in time, as the minivan contingent was strong in the parking lot when we left.

Next up  - Laughing Whitefish Falls. This one should win on name alone. You really start getting into the middle of nowhere, leaving paved roads and taking seasonal roads (fancy name for 2 track up here) and leading you to believe you have escaped the herds, until you enter the parking lot and see 3 King Ranch edition trucks pulling 30' trailers and the dads all have the same stylist.

We proceeded to hike down to the falls, a relatively easy stroll on a wide path that crosses a spur trail to connect to the North Country Trail.

The scenery in the forest is very serene - vivid colors, ferns everywhere, and a small stream with the root beer colored water to the right of the path.

When we got to the viewing platform at the top, we realized that this was on an entirely different scale than the previous falls we had seen. Some of us were quite excited.

Rightly so. This was awesome.

There are a bunch of steps to get to the bottom, where you really start to understand the scale of this thing.

Back up at the top, there is a viewing platform that juts out over the falls just enough to make the subjects of this photo quite anxious.

From there it is a mostly uphill hike back to the parking lot, and there may have been some whining and loss of energy.  The vibe got worse when we reached said parking lot and saw that it was overrun with weekend warriors, so we threaded through the laughable parking jobs and made our way toward Rock River Falls. 

Here's where things got good. The description of this one from our little waterfall guide just said this was in a more remote area of Alger county, and that it was 'for the adventurous'. That was all I needed to read, and this was the last of our planned hikes for the day. We had to leave pavement again, winding along a gravel road searching for our turnoff on a seasonal road. Once we found it, we soon realized that this was a full on 2 track. Something the Jeep (and its driver) have been yearning for. It did not disappoint.

It was 3.5 miles on this, then another 0.7 after an unmarked fork in the road, where a helpful dad in his now forever altered Nissan Maxima managed to let me know we were headed in the right direction.  This happened while his wife let him have it for letting mosquitos in the car after self-clearancing the air dam and adding branch-assisted pinstripes to all painted surfaces of their vehicle. I'm sure their return trip went smoothly.

In terms of rewarding hikes, this one was only just over 2 miles, but the drive to get here, the sense of being completely isolated, and the nature of the trail becoming progressively more difficult and remote as you reach your destination was building anticipation like crazy. 

The payoff. You definitely don't get the same feel seeing this in photos, but the setting is just cool. You are in this bowl carved out of the rock, and there is absolutely nothing near the falls that would tell you what century you are in.

Again, with no restricted viewing platforms or access and with us knowing there was no one else out here, this was the experience we were after. If you are considering any waterfalls outside of the main touristy ones in Munising (and don't mind a few (hundred) branches scraping your vehicle on the way) go here. It was by far our favorite.

As you can see, this path gets a bit less traffic than some of the others.

On our way back to civilization, we discovered a few unexpected souvenirs. We also may or may not have experienced several miles of spirited gravel road drifting that would have made Bo & Luke proud. Alger County road H-01. Do it.

We mixed in a well earned dinner stop at Eh Burger, one of the few local joints that was open on a Monday night. Food was great, they had a good selection of local craft beers, so for us it was the perfect combo.

Jordan had been talking all day about going for a swim in Lake Superior as our reward for a day of hiking and exploring. Kimberly was the smart one, opting for the photographer role. She happened to snap this as I was reaching a very critical juncture in the entrance to the water. Had this picture included sound, you may have heard some not so nice things. Jordan had lured me to the water by saying "It's like a hot tub!" It's Lake Superior, and the air temp at the time was 59 degrees. 

The day ended as it began, with the search for pine cones. Jordan dubbed us 'pine cone farmers', and her crops led to a very relaxing fire next to another beautiful sunset & crashing waves. 

Tomorrow - it is looking like our pontoon boat exploration of Pictured Rocks is doomed, today's boat reservations were all cancelled due to a small craft advisory and tomorrow looks to be the same. We will improvise.