Michigan State Parks GeoTour 2: Upper Peninsula Adventure 3

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.

Michigan State Parks GeoTour 2: Upper Peninsula Adventure 1

TaGeez and I are in the UP on an adventure! We LOVE the Michigan State Park caches, and we needed some personal time away. We drove up to Mackinaw City (where we grabbed our first park cache) and then targeted caches from St Ignace to Ironwood on our first full day!

MSPGT2-NL: Straits State Harbor GCAPW4B

Surprise! Surprise! This cache is a half mile from our motel. Lovely walk out here as the sun was setting. Steve, me, and a million bugs! At least it was a quick find!

And then off to downtown for Joanne's Fudge! YUM! It's so quiet on a Thursday night and end of season. The views of the bridge were enchanting. That's the only word for it.

MSPGT2-UP: Hog Island SFCG GCAPW36

After a restful night, we crossed over the Mighty Mac while it was still dark - so cool and no traffic! What a lovely drive to this first cache. 

The fog was both surreal and scary - we were affected by it several times today. However, things cleared as we approached the cache, and we enjoyed taking pictures on the beach afterwards.

Hog cache!

Tracker is loving the beach!

Bay Furnace Ruins Virtual (GCAPW34)

Next, we headed northwest to Miss Good Stitch Quilt shop in Munising - she was quite the character with many great custom printed panels. Look at this one we picked up!

We wanted a cache to mark this detour when we spied this virtual.

This is my favorite type of virtual! Fascinating history! Abandoned structure! Lost town! Amazing bay view! Most definitely a ❤️ Fave point here!

MSPGT2-UP: Cedar River North SFCG GCAPW34

After stopping at another quilt shop in Escanaba, we made our way along the coast to this cache. The sky and water along Lake Michigan are an amazing blue, and the temps are perfect!

It probably took us longer to drive into the park than to find the cache. Now we are heading north towards Ironwood.

Artois (GC31YTW)

After grabbing 2 state park caches in the southern half of the UP, we turned towards Ironwood with a stop at Jerri’s Quilt Shop near Norway. (Great shop, by the way! Amazing fabric bundles at great prices). 

We left the shop and headed North, but it wasn’t long before we were screeching to a halt!

A ROADSIDE ARTESIAN WELL!

Love them! And, surprisingly, we had actually packed a thermometer! It was fun watching Steve balancing on the wet rock for a reading! The older couple filling their bottles must’ve thought we lost our minds! 

We both took a taste, and then we posed for pics!

Fave point for a fun experience! ❤️ This has been a great drive around the U.P., and I feel so much at peace even if we are listening to a murder mystery audio along these country roads!

Bond Falls Boardwalk (GCAWQJX)

Midway through our trip - we left the artesian well in Norway and enjoyed lunch at Carlos Cantina in Iron Mountain (that was a nice surprise!). We posed for pictures at the Welcome to Wisconsin sign and continued onto Ironwood when we realized how close to Bond Falls we were! 

My favorite waterfall in Michigan! Detour!

We had a lovely time exploring. This time of year and time of day, it was really quiet, and we practically had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed this cache and tried to enjoy the park as long as we could.

MSPGT2-UP: Iron Belle Trail GCAPW38

Ironwood is our last stop of the day. We thought we got here early enough before sunset, but the incoming storm darkened the skies earlier than expected.  Luckily, this was a quick find located between parallel trails.

Funny thing is, earlier this week I had posted on FB the announcement that the Iron Belle Trail finally reached Belle Isle (which is practically at my front door!) 2,000 miles completed!

World's Largest Stormy Kromer Hat (GC5AA9V)

I’m glad to finally make it here. I love giant roadside objects (I had WAY too much fun in Casey, IL last year!). Plus, I bought TaGeez a Stormy Kromer hat last year! 

World's Largest Calumet (GCB5F6)

Calumet = Peace Pipe

This is our last stop for the day. I’ve wanted this Virtual for years, but Ironwood isn’t exactly convenient from Detroit. We didn't linger - the storm is coming. One more roadside attraction off our list!

Tomorrow is another day of adventure from Ironwood to Marquette!