Plan B, The U.P.

[Haggis]

It was all set. Plans were made. Meet ups with some local friends where arranged. Passports were in hand. We were heading towards Newfoundland, an island I fell in love with and one I wanted to share with my family as they did not get a chance to experience it yet. Then my wife's workplace took back some of her requested vacation days, thus leaving us to little time to merit the long drive north. Not ones to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves, action was called for. We decide to make a trip that's been bubbling in our future travels cauldron for some time. We laid plans to head up to Michigan's UP and see some of those places our friends at U.P. Overland have been taunting us with. With the help of some of those fine folks we made ready to see new territory for us and have a great time in the backwoods of Michigan's northern territory.


It was the middle of June ’09, Fafhrd was loaded up with gear and hitched to the Clan’s Fleetwood Evolution E1 off-road pop-up trailer for a run up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We set out early one Friday morning heading Fafhrd towards I-80. Loaded with gear and supplies we were rearing to go! With good weather we pulled up towards the Mackinaw Bridge in less than 10 hours. We decide to spend the night at the southern side of the bridge at the Wilderness State Forest campground. The next morning we were rolling across the bridge early intent on making our way to our first stop, Drummond Island.

We found ourselves rolling down highway 134 taking in the lakeshore sights as we rolled east. When the mood hit we pulled off to the side of the tarmac to check out a stretch of dunes or roadside beach.

While we we're messing around on the shoreline a group of lifted Jeeps and one Land Cruiser drove by, honking their horns and waving. We later caught up with that group at the gas station in Detour and found out they were from the Great Lakes 4WD Club and that they were heading to the Island also. Here's a shot of us stuck in the middle of the Great Lakes crew waiting for the ferry.

We loaded up on the ferry where my Toyota was surrounded by Jeeps.

A couple minutes later we were on Drummond Island soil and heading towards the backwoods. Here we were on an island with no idea where we were going. Perfect! Just the way we like it. Checking out the maps we had at hand we decide to head north and see what we could find. Heading up Maxton Road we came to the Maxton Plains. It reminded me of New Brunswick with its cedars, hemlocks and white birch trees bordering stone filled meadows.

Next it was on to Colton Bay road...

About 200 hundred yards off the road we found a great campsite with a well-built firering, it was sheltered from passing cars by a crescent of cedars and white birches.. A steady wind blew from the NW and the skeeters were few in number. Camp was set. Fafhrd the Tundra was freed from his burden and ready to go explorin'....

 

[Haggis]

Drummond Island

With the Tundra freed up we spent the next couple of days putzing around the island. We poked into every corner we could find and down any road that looked interesting. One of the promises I made to Michelle was that we would keep trail riding to a moderate level as we were on our own with no winch and limited cell phone service. Sure I had two straps, a chain and a highlift, but I'd rather spend our vacation having fun then yanking on a highlift handle and listening to my wife scold me.

One of our first runs was up to the Fossil Ledges. Since it sat on the north shore of Drummond, we headed east from our campsite on Colton Bay RD and then turned north on Poe Bay RD. Where Colton was a sandy gravel road with a few whoopdedos and just a couple shallow waterholes, Poe was much more marked with waterholes and deep pockets.

With each turn the waterholes got abit deeper and deeper until Michelle was getting abit anxious, the kids on the other hand were having a good time. We had to pull off the road once to let some bikers and atvers pass. They were wet and mud splattered but had huge smiles on the faces and passsed us by with freindly waves. At one point we rounded a turn and faced a beaver marsh on the left and a deep waterhole on the road. Towards the marsh there was a berm of black muck and towards the right was a rock ledge. We eased through, the water up close to the rockers. But the bottom was solid and the Tundra push water with no drama to break back on dry dirt once again. Finally we found the sign to the Fossil ledges, pulled the truck off the road and hiked the couple hundered yards to the shoreline.

Here sandstone and limestone ledges ease out into the lake...

Underfoot fossil remains of aquatic plantlife are everywhere underfoot. We started hiking up the shoreline and with each step found cooler and cooler fossils...

The water was clear and cold, with a green blue cast to it. You could see a long way into the depths of the lake.

​

We spent a good bit of time wandering down the coast, checking out the fossils before heading back to the truck.

The rest of the day was spent trooping in the the north part of the island and then back to camp. I grilled up some chicken, rubbed in olive oil and spiced with a rosemary rub, over the coals of our fire while Michelle took slivers of parmesan cheese and made parmesan noodles to accompany the chicken.

Bellys happy, we spent the evening tossing Cam's football around, reading and exploring the woods around camp. Other than the riders, we only saw two vehicles all day. With the exception of an occasional plane droning on by, it was just woodland noises that we heard. Speaking of noises, as evening set, I was putting a stalk on some deer when I heard something big flying just out of my sight in the woods. It let out a weird whooping cry, and I could tell it was a big bird but had no idea what it was. I didn't find out till the next day that it was a sandhill crane. We spotted one the next day at the Plains and it let the same call out that I had heard the night before. First one I've ever saw.

Critters abound here on Drummond. We saw an untold number of deer, good sized examples to boot. Also we spotted cranes, grouse, bald eagles (about a dozen or so), snowshoe hares and a couple of ospreys. While we saw no bears here, on the old skid road leading away from our camp, a bear had recently walked that road turning over logs and rocks looking for ants.

We spent two days on Drummond mucking about, talking to some of the locals and walking the shoreline. We hit some of the "lighter" trails of the OHV network, trying to avoid those ones where we were told that a fullsize might be in for a bit of a squeeze or ones where we might find ourselves in a mud tank trap. Eventually we found ourselves exploring the south eastern end of the island. We drove down several different county roads eventually ending up on West Canoe Lake Rd down at Canoe Bay. There's a fair campsite here next to the bay and the inlet stream. A couple of hundred yards down from the bridge there's an access road with a few more private, though smaller sites.

After eating lunch at a beach on Bay Rd we found ourselves on East Canoe Bay Rd. What started out as a typical dirt road for the area slowly turned into a shallow rock shelf, waterhole truck trail. On one beaver pond we found the remains of an old lease log cabin rotting back into the environment...

While the roads are really well marked we did make a wrong turn and ended up in a logging job landing. Being raised in a lumber and logging family it was cool to see the type of harvesting they were doing and the smell of the harvested cedars was awesome. Michelle said it was the nicest smelling log job she's ever been on. Back on Canoe Bay Rd the track was getting narrower until we broke into an open plain. Michelle dubbed it the Serengeti for the solitary boulders and trees scattered around it.

As we were passing through this area, keeping between the orange road markers, we turned a blind corner and found ourselves in a goopy marsh. As it was too late to stop and the truck was in 2WD I gave the Tundra some juice and gunned through deep thick mud. Hoping the LSD in the Toy was a tight one I ripped on through and cleared the marshy section. But up ahead was a two hundred long pit of water with a steep climb out. We got out and checked the pit and there was around three feet of water with a gumbo bottom. The marshy area we blasted through was up to my knees when I went back to check it out. Deciding discretion was the order of the day, with Michelle spotting, I made a 27 point turn and Turned the truck back the way we had come. Then the Tundra was locked into 4 Low. Michelle grabbed the camera and said she was going to video my burying the truck in the marsh so she could blackmail me at a later date. With the kids holding on tight we powered through the marsh and back to more solid ground. Those Dean tires churned mud good I tell you, and Fafhrd proved himself that day as a dependable member of our Clan. After that we headed back to camp, cooked some campfire pizzas.

On the second day we headed up Glen Cove Road making our way towards Marblehead. The plan was to park the truck and hike the rest of the way in, but half way through the hike the skies turned black and the leaves inverted. A storm system was on it's way in and we didn't want to be caught in it while hiking. So we marched back towards the Tundra, getting there just in time for the skies to open up with a deluge of rain. Hail the size of marbles began pelting the truck and the winds ripped. By the time we got back to camp, it had passed through and the sun was shining again. This is when I realized that deploying the awning on the trailer wasn't such a good idea. A huge swarm of skeeters was holing up under the awning, seeking shelter from the rains, and it sounded like a dozen circular saws cutting hardwood. With a sooty torch and some deet spray we cleared the awning enough so you could get in the trailer and not be stripped of flesh and blood. That night we cooked up some venison burgers and some homemade Mac and Cheese, and spent the night playing games with the kids. Apple to Apples, Uno and Spit if I remember right.

The next morning found us on the Ferry and then north bound towards Whitefish Point.

 

[Haggis]

Whitefish Point

The day found us rolling back down highway 134. It was decide we'd make our way towards Whitefish Point and check out the Shipwreck Museum then we'd move on over to the Tahquamenon Falls. Michelle can't resist a waterfall. The trip up to Whitefish Point was a black top day though we did stop at a few spots along the road from time to time. Here's a shot along one beach where the waves were converging...

We stopped in the village of Paradise and gassed up the truck before heading up the the Point. Once there we checked out the Museum. While not a large one, the Shipwreck Museum was pretty cool. Well worth the time to check it out. Here's a couple of random shots of the Museum grounds...

This is the beach at the Museum...

As you can see on the horizon there is a land mass over there. Supposedly its some fabled land called "Kanada" or some such place. It is said to be a land of milk and honey where the people are friendly and say "eh" and "hoser" alot, plus they drink a lot of beer. I think it's a wives tale myself, much like Bigfoot.

A short time later we were down at the Tahquamenon Falls area, walking the boardwalks down towards the falls. There were tons of people here, it felt kind of strange after seeing so few people on the island. Anyway here's a couple shots of the falls.

After the Falls we headed up Rd 500 and we were back on dirt with the woods around us. The road were well graded, covered in a sugary sand of intermittent depth (just a couple inches really) and passed through jackpine barrens and an occassionial marsh. We spotted lots of deer heading north and had a few grouse run across the road in a game of "chicken" or "grouse" if you happen to be a grouse.

Taking Rd 414 of from 500 we worked our way west. Then it was onto 412, then 423 until we found ourselves up at the Two Hearted River Area. It was getting late, around 7:30, when we reached the area so we decide to use the State Forest campground instead of taking the time to find a dispersed sight. The campground is divided into two sections. Area #1 is more open hardwoods next to the river, while Area #2 is nestled back in a hemlock grove. We choose a site in Area #1 next to the river. There was less bugs with the wind off the lake than back in the hemlocks. In both sections there were only three other campers. Two in the hemlocks and one on the other side of the hardwoods from us. Once we got the trailer set up we headed over the swinging bridge to the beach.

It was awesome! A mix of sand and smooth rock beach stretch both to the east and the west. The sun was warm, the waves of the lake and the flow of the river mingled in our ears perfectly. Michelle took one look and said, "We're spending all day here tomorrow just doing nothing."

I went back, started a fire and when the coals were ready I fixed a supper of venison steaks and parsley red potatoes. After supper we headed down to the beach and watched the sunset.

 

[Haggis]

Two Heart River & Grand Sable Dunes

We spent that night and the next day and the next loafing about the Two Hearted River shoreline. We hiked a couple of miles both to the east and the west, waded in the cold water and checked out cool rocks, sat on the beach and read, skipped rocks (there are some wicked skipping stones here), tossed Cam's football around again, and napped in the trailer when the sun got to hot. Basically we enjoyed just spending time together with nothing to do; it's something we don't get to do enough in our regular lives.

And a couple of random shots....

And then it was onward and westward again...Loaded up and rollin', we pulled out of Two Hearted as the sun was just raising. Fafhrd pulled back down 423, his grill and bumper covered with the grisly remains of the UP's six legged blood ninjas. Those Yuppers should consider investing in some bats...say about 6 million of them or so. How about a $0.01 bounty for each skeeter and fly killed? Anyway...

...we headed west on 412 then took 410 through the Reed and Green area. At Perch Lake we turned north on 407 bound for the lakeshore. Finally the dirt ended as we pulled through Grand Marais. We stopped long enough to get some supplies, then we were trucking on down H58 towards the Grand Sable Dunes Area.

Our first stop was at Sable Falls. Did I mention Michelle really loves waterfalls? A short hike and 165 stair steps later we had a great view of the falls...

Then we headed down the other trail to the west and visited the Grand Sable Dunes. The sand is like a vast pile of sugar and my backwoods PA legs don't like walking in it. Cam, though, had a blast running up and down the dune trails.

Here's the Clan...Cam, Michelle, and Allison. A more barbarous, gang of mercenary raiders you'll never find.

And a shot of the dunes looking west up the coast.

Soon we were back at the Sable Falls parking lot, marveling at a building that had running water and these things called "toilets". You tend to appreciate modern conveniences a little more after a couple of days in the woods.

Next we drove bit down the road and checked out the Log Slide Viewing Area. Back in the day there was a log flume built to slide the harvested timber down a natural cut in the dunes, logs whizzing on down to end their ride splashing in the lake.

Here's a shot of the the cut were the slide was. This photo does not do justice as to how steep and how long the slide would have been...

You can't see the undercut even steeper section which makes up 4/5ths of the rest of the slide. The steep part starts where that kid is resting.

Now my boy was all gung ho to run down this dune. After explaining to him that it was far steeper and longer than he was realizing, and flat out telling him it wasn't going to happen, two young bucks came into view coming up the slide. They said they’d spent the last hour and a half trooping back to the top and they were both whipped. At the first flat spot they plopped their hides down to catch a breath. The sad part is when the mother of the two asked the youngest where his shoes had gone, he realized he had left them at the bottom of the slide. D'ohhh!

This is the best part of The Log Slide Area; the view looking back at the dunes was spectacular...

I've been a lot of places but have never seen a shoreline quite like that.

 

[Haggis]

Pictured Rocks Scenic Area

From the Log Side Overlook we headed back on H58 and pointed the Tundra towards the Hurricane River area. Michelle wanted to camp at Twelve Mile Beach, but just as 58 went from wide blacktop to more interesting twisting dirt the road was closed ahead for construction. So while Hurricane was open, Twelve Mile was closed. Seems the powers that be are widening the section of 58 from Hurricane River to Little Beaver Lake. I guess that the mega RVers need smooth surface and easy turns to enjoy the "wilds".

We checked out our maps and Gazetteer and decide that we would head down the Rhody Creek Truck Trail and follow it down to Highway 77. At the intersection of Highway 28 we went just a short way west and jumped onto Road 450 and we were back on dirt again. We finally got our bear sighting here on 450. A nice sized boar, around 300 lbs. or so, ambled out of the bush right in front of the truck. He was in no particular hurry as he sauntered across the road. Of course none of us thought to grab a camera, expecting someone else to get a shot. So no bear picture here. But he was a pretty bugger. This area of the UP reminds us a lot of home, the resemblance to the dirt roads around our neck of the woods was surprising...

Our new plan was to try and find a camp site at Little Beaver Lake campground, so we followed 450 to 454 and then unto H58 once again. The road into Little Beaver is pretty nice but the campground was full and there really wasn't much room in the sites for both truck and trailer. Plus the sites are really close together. So we headed back the way we came and made camp back in the State Forest campground at South Gemini Lake on Twin Lake RD. We picked a spot next to the pond down in the hemlocks. There was nobody here and it looked like it had been unused for some time. Trailer set up we realized that the kids were running low on clothes. We ran into Munising, found a laundromat, hunted down a pizza shop and watch a local girls softball game, chowing down on pizza as our clothes got washed. Then it was back to the campsite where we listened to the bullfrogs and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

The next day we headed up to Pictured Rocks and spent the day roaming about.

Then we decided to hike on back to Chapel Rock and walk some of the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore trail. Of course the main reason was because there was another waterfall back there. I have mentioned that Michelle loves waterfalls didn't I? The trail is really easy as it follows an old logging/mining road. 1.5 miles later we arrived at Chapel falls and it was my personal favorite of the trip.

Then we slogged on back to the lakeshore another 1.5 miles or so and found ourselves at Chapel Rock...

We walked the Lakeshore trail for a bit but came to the conclusion that to see the Pictured Rocks the best you need to be on the water. Add that to the list of things to do the next time we come up. As dusk crept in we took a last look at Lake Superior...

Then we headed back to camp, fixed up some homemade chicken noodle soup and called it a night. In the morning it was time to head home and the ride back to the clanhold was uneventful. I still can’t believe it’s been four years and that we haven’t had a chance to get back. But someday we will...

 

[Scott C]

I was watching tv and reading at the same time. I thought you said the kids were running around with no clothes. I need to pay more attention. The UP looks like something on my bucket list.

 

[Grumps]

Great report. I think I may have read this somewhere....
Chapel Falls and Chapel Rock looks inviting. Can you get closer or is the area cordoned off? I never realized the Great Lakes could be so scenic.

-Andy

 

[Haggis]

Great report. I think I may have read this somewhere....

Yep, I'm bringing my older trips reports from other sites to live here and doing some cleanup on some threads I started whence we fired this puppy up.

Chapel Falls and Chapel Rock looks inviting. Can you get closer or is the area cordoned off?

When we were there you could though theres obviously no climbing on the rocks.

I never realized the Great Lakes could be so scenic.

The Lake Superior shoreline is spectacular, deep clear waters with hues of blue and green. I was surprised as our Lake, Erie that is, ain't so scenic. The UP definitely has a far Superior Lake than us...see what I did there?

 

[TangoBlue]

That was good Mark. You're a pretty bright fellow; I bet your dad used to call you "son."

 

[Dave]

Nice report Mark, well written and a great travel pictorial as always!

 

[CLynn85]

Mark, great report. Great timing for the repost too since it looks like the U.P. might be our "Plan B" trip for this year due to the wife's work schedule. How many days did you spend up there total?

 

[Haggis]

We had planned on a 10 day trip and we were going to run the whole Peninsula from Drummond and then along the Superior coastline all the way through the Keweenaw and then finish the trip up in the Porcupine Mountains. In actuality we spent 8 days....1 day of travel to get there, 2 days on Drummond, 1 day going through Whitefish to the Two Hearted area, 2 days at the Two Hearted, 1 day travelling to Pictured rocks, 1 day mucking around there and then 1 day to drive home. We would have spent the whole ten days but the weather turned from awesome to horrid and as the last couple of days available to us were going to be nothing but thunderstorms we elected to head home with memories of good weather.

What we found was that it was way easy to lose track of time with all that the UP offers. There's so much outdoor goodness to immerse yourself in, we felt just dashing through would be cheating ourselves. We only made it half way through our planned trip and ended it in Munising. We're still planning on exploring the western half of the UP as soon as we can get it worked out. Michelle going back to college as sort of derailed that for bit but she finishs up this Fall sooo...maybe next year in early September.

 

[Haggis]

I might as well migrate this "Appendix" over too, as it has some planning info we gathered in our travels in the UP...


UP Appendix...as it was relevent circa 2009..

*The ferry over to Drummond Island, located in Detour, is very casual. Just line up on the right side of the road and when the ferry's ramp drops and the passenger vehicles unload, head on up and into the ferry. They'll collect the fare while in transit (ours was $25 with truck and 12' trailer). No need to hold onto your reciept as there's no other way off the island, so just pull back onto the ferry when it's time to head back. The schedule is fluid as they come and go as traffic demands. It starts after 6:00am and runs to 10:00pm, though later times can be arranged for a price.

*The trails on Drummond are really well marked with orange diamonds with the County Road Numbers written within them. Stay between the orange markers and your good to go.

*The local Merchants Association has a good trail map of the island with an accurate representation of what is state lands and what is private. This is the map that Dave (timbercruiser) of GL4WA and UPO gave to us when we were waiting for the ferry. It is a very helpful map that clearly shows what public areas are available to use, I wouldn't do Drummond without it. The website for the Drummond Island Tourism Association is Drummond Island Chamber

*I gassed up in Detour before crossing over though there is one the island. I drove all over the island and used just a quarter tank. Power Wagons, FCJ80s and Jeeps might not be so lucky.

*Head north were there's lots of inland water and your going to find bugs. If you go just prepare you're mind, and those of your family, to simply accept the fact that you're going to get chewed on. A headnet, light weight long sleeve shirt or bugshirt, long pants and socks will go along ways to making the worst way more bearable. Deet only seems to last until you sweat it off and at times seems to attract them. If I was tenting, I'd take along a easy up bug shelter to cook and hang out in. Drummond was overrun with rocks and ants, having vehicle based camping system such as the ability to sleep inside, a trailer or RTT might make camping more enjoyable. Driving stakes into Drummond's soil requires a sledge and strong stakes.The boys at UP Overland recommend late August and early September as the best months to both enjoy the weather and aviod the bugs.

*The State Forest campgrounds are self service and at that time cost $15 a night. Fill out a form, deposit the envelope with your cash and camp away. From what I understand the state sites are self supporting, monetary wise, so be sure to do the honorable thing so these places stay around for all of us to use.

*Supplies are limited to the scattered villages (Paradise,Grand Marias and such) and are often family owned general stores. Selection is usually just the basics. Minising is more of a town and has more in the way of selection. As these folks are on the outskirts prices are higher for everything. I make a point of stopping and spreading some wealth in these types of areas. Not only does it help the local economies it also gives you a chance to BS with the locals, make some new friends and find out about the cool spots.

*We found the folks of the UP to be some damn fine folks. Their cheerfulness and eagerness to spend time shooting the breeze with a total stranger made a lasting impression on our travels there. They reminded me of the people I grew up around and it felt like an extension of home. Of course we come from a heavy timber and mining area too, so I guess attitudes would be similar. Take the time and shoot the breeze.