Earlier this summer we went camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a week. It was a great place to truly disconnect from the world, partly because you have no choice since there is no service in the middle of the forest! We have had a rather crazy summer so a week with no distraction and solitude was needed. I would highly suggest it, but make sure to bring a heavy sweatshirt and pants!
There were a million little waterfalls up in the Munising area tucked back into the woods. Not something I expected from this area, but fun exploring. You had no idea what was around the next corner. I think on this trail we saw three different falls.
Another waterfall just outside the city of Munising. Much larger than the others we had seen that morning.
In the late afternoon we went to a part of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Since we had our dog Boomer with us, we were pretty limited which trails we could go on because it was part of the National Park system. We were able to take a little trail to see this, which is Cathedral Rock.
When we got back to our campsite we decided to walk around a bit and check it out. When we got in the night before it was all wet from rain earlier in the day. We came across a couple of small hidden lakes that all connected to one another. Would have been awesome to have a kayak and navigate through all of that!
Up the next morning with eggs and coffee for breakfast before packing up. I got some hot chocolate for the ride and immediately after taking this photo spilled the whole cup on myself. It was hot. Very hot. We had to pull over to the side of the road since I was soaked in hot chocolate. Luckily my suitcase was just in the backseat so I could change out of those icky clothes...on the side of the road.
Before we headed to Twelve Mile Beach, part of the National Lakeshore, we had to see one more waterfall.
Apparently the night before at our new site in Tequamenon Falls, they had a really bad storm and the campground was quite flooded. It looked pretty good to us when we got there though! Right on the river and really quiet. We started a fire, a challenge with wet wood, and had to experiment with some star trails!
Then we woke up and saw this as we walked out of our tent. Whoa. Not bad.
During the day we went for a long hike at Tequamenon Falls. We started at the lower falls and headed up to the upper falls area.
Boomer wouldn't walk down the steps because they were metal grates. None of the other dogs there would walk down them either so our dog isn't just a wuss. Matt carried him all the way down and back up again. True love!
On the way back we looked behind us at one point and saw this. Amazing. This is a river in between two large waterfalls! Sadly, this picture doesn't really do it justice either....
A stunner. The sunset from our campsite after our long day of hiking. There are not crazy editing tricks used here. It really was that incredible.
Lastly we headed to Mackinaw City and then over to Mackinac Island. No cars are allowed on the island, so it feels like you are traveling back in time with the horse drawn wagons and bikes. It's such a quaint and surreal little place. And a trip to the island wouldn't be complete without some Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream!
Our hotel in Mackinaw City was just a few blocks from the bridge. On our last night there, we took Boomer for an evening stroll before bed. Great way to end the trip.
