Day 6
I woke up early without an alarm this morning and had a quick breakfast and coffee. Again the iPad had fallen from above and hit me square in the chest about 3am. That one was going to leave a mark! I decided one more run was needed on these amazing trails here and got out there as soon as I could manage. I didn’t have a lot of time as we had a full day of travel ahead of us, but I squeezed in a quick 5k.
I went through the old garden area, past the orchard and horses and then onto the skinny path that led into the woods.
Every morning I had run past a stinky old pond and watched a single Great Blue Heron take flight as I passed. Today was no different and I was surprised that this was yet another morning when I was the first one on the trail.
A quick right took me through tall raspberry bushes and then deeper into the forest where it was quite dark. My head was on swivel because this was my first solo run and I was sure I’d encounter a bear. The forest was quiet, though, without even rustles from deer or chipmunks.
It was nice to have some time to myself to reflect on my time in Copper Harbor. The trail running here was truly amazing and even rivals the beauty of Colorado’s rugged terrain and Chattanooga’s rockiness.
By the time I had showered, the kids were all up and ready to go and Jason had the camper completely packed. How long was I gone?!
And then we hit the road. Today we were traveling to the Newberry area, with some fun stops along the way.
On our way north we had spotted a roadside market just outside of L’Anse with fresh fruits and veggies and made a mental note to stop by on our way back through. Today we picked up tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, green beans, blueberries and black plums. There’s nothing better than a fresh buffet like that!
Soon enough we had reached our first stop. Canyon Falls had been recommended to me by several people and we had to check it out. A half mile hike along the North Country Trail led us to the beautifully flowing Sturgeon River. Around every turn the views were more breathtaking.
It didn’t take long for Owen, Emerson, Greyson and Jason to get in the water.
The rocks were slippery under the water and Owen fell hard. Ouch!
The others continued to hop rocks down the river while Alayna, Nash and I followed along on the trail above.
Our trail turned into the forest for a bit and when we re-emerged I was just in time to see Greyson slip, fall, twist and somehow grab the edge of a rock with two hands as the current tried to pull his body downstream. The look on his face was one of sheer panic and I was helpless watching from above. He screamed for Jason and luckily after just a few seconds, he had grabbed Grey and pulled him to safety. Greyson plopped down on a rock there in the river to gather himself.
We made our way back to safer footing and everyone decided to swim. The river was icy cold, but the day was warming quickly and even Nash stripped down to his undies to take a dip. Emerson was braver still and went completely under in the frigid water!
It was just a quick hour long stop, but the kids all agreed it was well worth taking the time.
We had promised Emerson Taco Bell in Marquette, so while the family did that, I ran into Walmart to restock for the rest of the trip. They even had some cute kids’ face masks that I couldn’t resist.
Our next stop was Grand Marais, and I was excited for this one. It had been a long day in the car and we all needed to stretch our legs. Sunny and 75° with clear blue skies were just about perfect for us. Before hitting the beach, there was a pretty nice playground and Nash declared that thanks to COVID, he “hadn’t been to a playground in YEARS!”
Jason found a driftwood stick that he claimed as his own, and after a quick mom-requested posed picture, everyone was swimming yet again.
Sadly, time was moving quickly and we still had a bit of a drive before we got to our new campsite. We were headed to Muskallonge Lake State Park, right along the shore of Lake Superior. There were two routes to choose from to get there: the normal route, or the scenic route. You guessed it-we took the scenic route. It's almost like the torture of our quest around the tip of the Keweenaw a couple days ago had never happened! Within a few miles, the paved road once again turned to dirt. And then, you guessed it, the dirt road turned into nothing more than a trail. And it was bumpy. Like maybe the camper was going to find a permanent home here along the side of this "road" after jostling off into oblivion. We couldn't go more than about 20 miles per hour without feeling like the whole van was just going to shake into pieces. The miles were crawling by. At least every once in a while another brave soul would pass us going one direction or the other. We were not alone. And then, ahead in the road, something was crossing. As we got closer, we realized it was a bear! A real, live bear! After six days in bear country we finally got to see one. And from the safety of our car! It wasn't in a hurry, it just slowly ambled across the road and disappeared into the bushes. Now if Jason could find a moose, our trip would be complete!
We continued down the road and then a car pulled up next to us. It was two college-aged guys and they wanted to know exactly what kind of "road" this was and if it was this bad all the way through and had WE been able to go more than 20 miles per hour without feeling like our van was going to fall apart? We informed them that we weren't sure what kind of road this was, and yes, it was this bad the whole way, and that quite possibly our van would fall apart at any time. They decided to turn around and follow us. Five more miles. We could do it. I think. After what seemed like a dusty ETERNITY, the trail turned back into dirt, and then into pavement. Pavement! Muskallonge Lake was on our right and Lake Superior was on our left.
Soon, we had arrived at this very busy state park, and made our way to our campsite. It was a wooded lot, with lots of privacy, and near the bathrooms. Jason went off in search of firewood and I took the kids down to check out this lake.
Much to the kids' dismay, there was no wifi here. What there were, though, were bugs. I'm talking a LOT of bugs. Oh, and the women’s bathroom was closed. Even better. We were told to use the single stall handicap shower bathroom-but don't shower in there. Perfect.
The kids got the fire going and Emerson managed to find a tiny friend, while I peeled and sliced potatoes AGAIN.
We had a dinner of steak, chicken, pasta salad, potato salad. Pickles for Emerson. Grilled cheese for grey.
In need of escape from the bugs, we headed out to the rocky Lake Superior coast just in time to catch a magical sunset and we stayed until dark hunting for agate and other rocks. Emerson managed once again to find a little toady friend.
A few of the kids and I decided to head to the rangers station to see if we could get cell service. After a few tries, I successfully guessed the campground’s WiFi password like some sort of evil genius and we were IN. We sent a few quick messages and then had to leave because the mosquitoes were horrid.
Back at the campsite we tried to have a fire but the wood wouldn’t burn and the bugs were horrendous, and really, we were all exhausted from the long day. We all decided to go to bed, but not before I spent ten minutes swatting all the bugs that had found their way to our one light we had on inside.
