TaGeez and I are on our third day of our UP adventure for the Michigan State Park GeoTour. Today we went from Marquette to Sault Ste Marie - sandy backroads, Lake Superior views, and the North Country Trail.
A full-day's drive along Lake Superior! We were lucky - weather was Pure Michigan blue, and, with the schools in, that left many of the parks practically empty.
MSPGT2-UP: Kingston Lake SFCG GCAPW39
This was our first find for the day. We left Marquette early in the morning, skirting the bay, and driving through Munising. Eventually we hit our first dirt road of the day. Lovely lake, so we stopped for a few pictures. Except for the rustle of birds taking off, it was so peaceful here.
Then off to the cache for a quick, fun find. Glad we read the directions earlier today and remembered to bring the water jug!
We replaced as found and dropped a trackable, running into another pair of Cachers as we left. Little did we know as we turned onto the dirt road that this would be the last pavement we would see for many, many hours.
MSPGT2-UP: Lake Superior SFCG GCAPW3B
Speaking of dirt roads, we had a choice to make. With construction on the "road", we had a choice of taking a 2-hour detour or driving along a several mile 2-track used by ATVs and lumber trucks. Well? We were in a rental, and the bonus is reliving the stories of our heroism later! WOW! So glad we rarely passed another vehicle. There was almost no signage and definitely no GPS so drove it by instinct, knowing that if we attempted to stop, we were stuck in the sand.
Traveling this road, we saw the cute little town of Grand Marais and the fascinating waterfall outside of the Au Sable lighthouse on the way.
These are not great pictures, but it was fascinating seeing the waterfall spilling into Lake Superior!
At the State Forest Campground, this has been my favorite cache of the trip so far! A beautiful Lake Superior beach, the North Country trail skirting the water, and that awesome container that made me laugh!
❤️ Fave point!
MSPGT2-UP: Mouth of the Two Hearted River SFCG GCAPW3J
After a very long drive on a very dirty road (and no data connection so navigating the old-fashioned way), we ended up on the North Country Trail again! This road was so sandy and rutted that we had to pull over several times for speeding ATV's and dune buggies.
It's amazing how much time it takes to go so few miles on a back dirt road. We finally made it to this rustic campground; Stage 1 was a quick, fun find, and stage 2 was close by. Afterwards we walked over to the water’s edge to check out the island in front of us.
So very peaceful.
MSPGT2-UP: Tahquamenon Falls SP GCAPW3P
Tahquamenon Falls is exactly the type of state park cache for this series! Beautiful views, nice shops and food nearby! It was also quite the culture shock after bumpy, dirty roads and rustic campgrounds.
We arrived later in the day (after spending hours on sandy roads only fit for ATVs!). TaGeez and I moseyed to several photo stops along the Upper Falls before solving the puzzle for the final. Good puzzle.
Afterwards we moseyed to the Lower Falls for some peaceful reflection, too.
Here we spent a lot of time sitting on benches and reflecting on our blessings. Really, as crazy busy as our lives have become with life changes occurring over the summer, we are lucky we could spend this time in this amazing state.
MSPGT2-UP: Whitefish Point State Harbor GCAPW3R
All that peace and wellness in the world fled at our final stop for the day! Normally I love Whitefish Point, but why is the final HERE? Do you have a contract with the hundreds of thousands of mosquitoes here?!! 😵💫Absolutely miserable!
After spending miserable minutes in the swamp, being eaten by skeeters and cursing anyone within hearing distance, we headed to the actual point to soothe our souls. Here we visited my Virtual... Did you know it's the 50th anniversary of the sinking this year?
And then we walked the boardwalk to the beach to let the cold, lake breeze cool our bug bites.
We turned to Sault Ste Marie for one last overnighter before heading home the next day.
My final thought? Amazing that we could have so many different experiences in one peninsula.