Jump to content

Menu
Giving You and Your Child a Road Map to the Best Possible Education
The Well-Trained Mind Community

Grand Island backpacking adventure

Ottakee

By Ottakee,
in The Chat Board

 Share

Recommended Posts

Ottakee

Ottakee

Posted
Posted (edited)

I went on another backpacking adventure this weekend. It was a last minute thing….left less than 24 hours after I was invited.  43 hours on the island. 2 nights in the woods, 21 miles hiked, and 13 hours in the car.

We drove 6 1/2 hours north and over the Mackinaw Bridge to Munising (pictured rocks area) .

Day 1.  4pm ferry to Grand Island.   Hike 6.5 miles (only 4 more than we planned) and set up a dispersed camp site….meaning walk into the woods at least 100 feet off the trail and try to locate flat ground to pitch a tent and sturdy trees to hand hammocks.   Hot, humid and very breezy.  Trees were creaking all night long but no breeze down at ground level.  Heard a bear come through camp during the night but never saw one.

Day 2 hiked a total of 10 miles.  Saw amazing views, spent time at the beach on Lake Superior and hiked some more.   By the end water was getting precious so we had to hike until we found some.   Then we set up another dispersed campsite in a very not flat area where it was still hot and humid.  Highlight was an overlook across the trail where we watched a sunset and cooled off in a bit of a breeze.   Lowlight was my friend (first time backpacking) suffering from heat exhaustion.  She has a rough night.

Day 3.  4.5 mile hike back to the feet dock.  We got there by 11am and it was already 85° (25 degrees above the temps there next weekend).

Just wanted to share for the other hikers/backpackers out there.

Look closely at the woods picture to see if you can find 3 tents and 2 hammock set ups.

 

Resized_20230902_100024.jpeg

IMG_4663.jpeg

IMG_4667.jpeg

IMG_4157.jpeg

IMG_4151.jpeg

Edited by Ottakee
  • Like 27
  • Thanks 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Faith-manor

Faith-manor

Posted
Posted

I love that area! I hope you had fun. Sorry about your friend having a bad time. That would be me. Something is up with my hypothalamus, and I don't regulate body temp very well so I have to be careful about not being out much in intense heat and humidity. 

Pictured Rocks is one of my many very favorite places in Michigan!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
pitterpatter

pitterpatter

Posted
Posted

I'm so jealous! (In a good way.) You may have said in a previous post, but who are these people you've found to hike with?

Did the mosquitos leave you alone? I would love to explore the Great Lakes region more, but the one time we were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the mosquitos just about ate us alive. It was drizzling that day, and we were checking out some waterfalls, but still. And then, these big black flies were just nutso in the northern tip of mitten. Like nothing we'd ever seen. (Those didn't bite, though.)

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Hiking can be so good for both the body and mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ottakee

Ottakee

Posted
  • Author
Posted
3 hours ago, pitterpatter said:

I'm so jealous! (In a good way.) You may have said in a previous post, but who are these people you've found to hike with?

Did the mosquitos leave you alone? I would love to explore the Great Lakes region more, but the one time we were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the mosquitos just about ate us alive. It was drizzling that day, and we were checking out some waterfalls, but still. And then, these big black flies were just nutso in the northern tip of mitten. Like nothing we'd ever seen. (Those didn't bite, though.)

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Hiking can be so good for both the body and mind.

Only 1 mosquito bite.  The black flies can be terrible and the bigger ones do bite and bite hard.  The little midge ones don’t bite.

The group consists of one friend, her brother and his girlfriend and now another friend of mine.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
mom31257

mom31257

Posted
Posted

How beautiful! What a great adventure! 

I've wanted to visit those areas up around there, but I'm not a backpacker or camper. I'm barely a hiker. LOL! I'll only go on wide, well-maintained trails.

Dh wants to hike more in our area, but we have bears in north GA. I'm really afraid of us coming across one and me panicking. 

I'm also really afraid of getting ticks, and I'm just concerned that sprays and such won't be enough. I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite, and it took a long time to treat it. I got it when we were venturing into less maintained trails. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Faith-manor

Faith-manor

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, mom31257 said:

How beautiful! What a great adventure! 

I've wanted to visit those areas up around there, but I'm not a backpacker or camper. I'm barely a hiker. LOL! I'll only go on wide, well-maintained trails.

Dh wants to hike more in our area, but we have bears in north GA. I'm really afraid of us coming across one and me panicking. 

I'm also really afraid of getting ticks, and I'm just concerned that sprays and such won't be enough. I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite, and it took a long time to treat it. I got it when we were venturing into less maintained trails. 

If you ever get up to Munising, you can see some of this spectacular view by boat. They do whole scenic tours from the water. Just be sure to go online and book your tickets a couple months in advance because if you just walk up, it is pretty well guaranteed they are already sold out. There are lovely picnic areas at state and city parks, places to get in the water. The Bay Furnace National Forest Park day use area is just down the hill going west out of Munising about one mile and can be a wonderful place to have a picnic lunch. Going north east out of the roundabout, there is a National Park/National Lakeshore beach area that is super nice, and also a small NP visitor center. You can very much get away with not camping or hiking and still enjoy the wonder of the region. The AmericInn of Munising is pretty nice and cheaper than the Holiday Inn. There are also some decent mom and pop, independent motels as well, but the pool at AmericInn is great when you want to take a dip before bed. I cannot remember if they have a hot tub or not. The town has a decent supermarket, a Hardy's, a Dairy Queen and a Subway Sandwich Shop plus some nice independent eateries and good pub. We tend to always pack food since eating out is pretty expensive these days, and for me with gluten issues, these places do not have a lot of choices.

The almost best scenic, but potentially not as direct, route to Munising after crossing the bridge, is US 2 east paralleling Lake Michigan (gorgeous scenery all along the way) to M77 towards Blanket Park and Seney, then turn left on 28 which will take you right into Munising. The drive to Manistique on US 2 and then north on 94 is probably the best because Manistique is gorgeous. But 94 is a bit more remote and not quite a good of a main road so I don't recommend it to newbies who aren't familiar with the U.P. If you get gas in St. Ignace on U.S., stop at the Shell station. It is less busy than B.P. and Holiday, and the bathroom is kept really clean. Then if you get decent mileage, you can make it to Munising just fine. If you need fuel though or a mother bathroom break, there is a B.P. at the corner of U.S. 2 and M77.

Yes, I know. A shameless plug for my home state! 😁

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ottakee

Ottakee

Posted
  • Author
Posted
4 hours ago, mom31257 said:

How beautiful! What a great adventure! 

I've wanted to visit those areas up around there, but I'm not a backpacker or camper. I'm barely a hiker. LOL! I'll only go on wide, well-maintained trails.

Dh wants to hike more in our area, but we have bears in north GA. I'm really afraid of us coming across one and me panicking. 

I'm also really afraid of getting ticks, and I'm just concerned that sprays and such won't be enough. I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite, and it took a long time to treat it. I got it when we were venturing into less maintained trails. 

The trails on Grand Island are wide and well maintained but there are bear.  We heard one the first night and we Lots of fresh scat.

we spray all od our clothes and shoes with Perimetherin which helps with ticks and carry a tick key….but this summer I did not ever see a tick on any of my hikes.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Faith-manor

Faith-manor

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Ottakee said:

The trails on Grand Island are wide and well maintained but there are bear.  We heard one the first night and we Lots of fresh scat.

we spray all od our clothes and shoes with Perimetherin which helps with ticks and carry a tick key….but this summer I did not ever see a tick on any of my hikes.

We have been super low on ticks here. We haven't had dog fleas either. I think maybe the very late freeze we had in the middle of May, got some of the eggs or something, and then maybe some not the weird weather after that or possibly the wildfire smoke. Not sure. We just haven't had them.

I try not to spend much time with chemicals on my skin and clothes, BUT, when hiking, then I am liberal. No one wants 200 mosquito bites, possibility of West Nile, and then ticks and Lyme's. Ugh. I will take the chemicals for sure.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
pitterpatter

pitterpatter

Posted
Posted

Thanks for mentioning this. Hadn't heard of it. I'll probably get one, at some point.

28 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

The trails on Grand Island are wide and well maintained but there are bear.  We heard one the first night and we Lots of fresh scat.

we spray all od our clothes and shoes with Perimetherin which helps with ticks and carry a tick key….but this summer I did not ever see a tick on any of my hikes.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ottakee

Ottakee

Posted
  • Author
Posted
23 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

We have been super low on ticks here. We haven't had dog fleas either. I think maybe the very late freeze we had in the middle of May, got some of the eggs or something, and then maybe some not the weird weather after that or possibly the wildfire smoke. Not sure. We just haven't had them.

I try not to spend much time with chemicals on my skin and clothes, BUT, when hiking, then I am liberal. No one wants 200 mosquito bites, possibility of West Nile, and then ticks and Lyme's. Ugh. I will take the chemicals for sure.

Yes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...