Jumping Porcupine - Day 342

  I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to jump around in the UP to do the sections that are going to be more difficult on better weather days, or before the real snow shows up. There are a lot of roads that won't be driveable after the real snow starts, which would force me to winter backpack. I can if I must, but I'd rather not.

So today, I jumped ahead a couple of days to the Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park. This was one of the places I was really looking forward to, because the trail has recently been re-routed through the park. Most of the new route is on existing state park trails, but will take in better scenery than the old route.

The early parts of what I did today are the same as the NCT route has always been. I started at Manabezho Falls on the Presque Isle River. I'm not sure if this is the actual falls, or just part of the river flow.

There was a huge suspensed footbridge to get across this river. Very picture-worthy, but I can't show you everything. One of the most fun things about the Presque Isle River is that unless the water is very high, it makes a bend and leaves this layered overflow channel dry. The trail crosses this. It's weird to be crossing rocks that are lower than the water.

Then you walk very close to Lake Superior for a while. This was some small stream, but look at the lake! The wind was just piling the waves in to the shore. It was also making that stretch of trail a chilly walk!

Speaking of bridges or no bridges, there were a LOT of unbridged small creeks in the morning. I knew there were also going to be a couple of larger creeks that had to be forded. I took my sandals. However, by 10 am, I had dipped both feet in a small creek when a rock shifted. It really made the rest of the day easier. No fussing about whether to try to stay dry or changing the footwear. I just waded through everything. There turned out to be three serious fords- nothing dangerous, but one was knee deep.

At Big Carp River, the NCT now takes the Big Carp River trail instead of the Little Carp River trail. I'd never seen this piece before. Although I knew the final destination was going to be wonderful, I'm here to tell you that this re-route is a really nice choice. The trail follows the Big Carp River for a long, long way.

Incidentally, there are no carp in these rivers. The name is corrupted from French, Riviere L'Escarpe, which is River of the Escarpment.

I could have taken 100 pictures walking beside that river. But the day remained cloudy, so the light wasn't very good. But this one came out nice.

Now let's talk about that escarpment. Just a short distance inland from Lake Superior there is a ridge that is almost 1000 feet higher than the lake. On the south side, this is broken into sheer cliffs rising 500 feet above the valley. The interp sign says they have persisted because there is a layer of volcanic basalt on top of sedimentary sandstone. I haven't figured that out yet, except I think it's a continuation of the rock in the Keewenaw Peninsula and all part of the Mid-Continent Rift system. Anyway, on the far side of the valley is another high ridge. The Carp River flows at the bottom of the escarpment. The trail passes at the foot of one peak on the ridge, called LaFayette Peak. You can see the bare rocks at the top of it, and the fallen stones that are scattered down its slope.

This is looking across the valley.

The next peak is Miscowabic Peak. The trail climbs right up, almost to the top of that. But then you are up on the escarpment, and you stay up. Very soon, you begin to see the primary feature of this re-route, Lake of the Clouds. I wish it would have been a blue sky- blue water day, but silver will have to do.

It was a long hiking day, so it was getting toward dusk as I got nearer the lake. Here's the picture everyone takes, but you can't deny what a beautiful place this is.

It was a long day on my feet, and I forgot to put the orthotics in my shoes this morning, so the tootsies are sore. Ugh. This is only the 2nd time I've ever forgotten them. It's sure a reminder of why I need them.

Miles today: 17.2. Total miles so far: 3994.8.

See November Blues