Vagabond photographer fulltiming in an Alto travel trailer
Back to one of my happy places on this earth, the Porcupine Mountains of far west Michigan, right at the shore of Lake Superior. Honestly, this was the place I’d planned my whole Great Lakes/UP trip around. I had such a magical time here in the fall of 2017 that I’ve wanted to come back ever since.
And this is why. Look at that campsite right next to the lake. There aren’t many of these spots, but it’s worth the time and effort to score one. [Read more…] about Porcupine Mountains, MI
As I drove from Pictured Rocks to Baraga, I realized I was retracing the route I had taken on my very first Alto trip, way back in May of 2016. And I’m pretty sure I found the same rest stop on Lake Superior, too.
That Alto looks pretty good after 5 years on the road. On to Baraga, and new adventures…
[Read more…] about Review: Baraga State Park, MI
Once more on this Great Lakes tour, I had a chance to get out on the water. No, not in those little kayaks, but as a passenger on a catamaran cruise up the coast of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Well worth the 80 miles round-trip driving to Munising and back and the $48 cruise ticket because you get to see rocks and cliffs like this.
[Read more…] about Pictured Rocks: Boat Cruise
Late one day at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, I decided to watch the sunset, from start to finish. I walked down the beach till I found a nice big rock that made a comfortable bench, dug my toes into the warm sand, and settled in to watch the show.
This far north, the sunsets come late in July. It’s after 9PM and the sun isn’t even close to the horizon yet. I wait, though. I have nothing but time and patience this evening.
[Read more…] about Pictured Rocks: Sunset
Picking a campground in a place I haven’t been can be a lesson in serendipity. Sometimes, the campground is closer to a highway than I thought, with the accompanying traffic noise. As soon as I pulled into the Hurricane River lower campground and looked left to see Lake Superior, I knew this place was a winner. I backed into my site, quickly set up the basics, and then headed down to the shore. Oh, my…
[Read more…] about Pictured Rocks, MI
If there is two things to know about Tahquemenon Falls, they are:
(1) Tahquemenon kind of rhymes with Phenomenon.
(2) You have to go through Paradise to get there.
And when you do get there, this is one of the first things you’ll see, the Lower Falls.
[Read more…] about Tahquemenon Falls, MI
One of my fears is crossing bridges in windy weather, an artifact of the sway accident last year. Which did not happen on a bridge, but try telling my lizard brain that. Bridges + wind = nervous me. So we changed plans to stay a night at Petoskey State Park and wait out the windy/stormy weather one more day. The Mackinac Bridge is one to respect: five miles long, crossing the straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, looking on the map like a funnel for any winds in the area.
As it turned out, the crossing was (whew!) uneventful. Except for the construction, which stopped me dead in the middle. So I took a photo since I was literally in Park mode with my rig.
[Read more…] about Review: Straits State Park, MI
One of the great things Google does is let you know about things you never imagined you’d ever care about, like Petoskey Stones. Like what, you say? Petoskey stones. It’s a Michigan thing. More specifically, it’s a Lake Michigan thing. Keep reading, I’ll explain it as we go along…
[Read more…] about Petoskey Stones
Traveling to South Manitou Island is a day-long commitment. The boat from Leland leaves at 10AM. You get to the island about 11:30 and have until 4PM, when the boat returns to pick people up, docking back in Leland about 5:30PM. As day trips go, though, this might be one of my all-time favorites.
[Read more…] about South Manitou Island
Beaches, sand dunes, forests, rivers, and lakes. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has all of them, wrapped up in a lovely location on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. I spent five nights here in early July, based at the Platte River campground, exploring the area.
[Read more…] about Sleeping Bear Dunes, MI
