Paddling the "PM"

I did the kayak thing again, this time on the Pere Marquette River which is a National Wild and Scenic River, and the longest unregulated (no dams or impoundments) river system in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. I padded a 12 mile section from Baldwin to my campground at the Bowman Bridge and had perfect weather for my nearly four hours on the river.

Dune Wandering

While having lunch in the Michigan coastal town of Ludington a local suggested I should check out Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness - so off I went, dune exploring, for a couple of days. Nice National Forest Campground and plenty of trails that meandered through the dunes.

Paddling The Platte

Did a nice 5 mile float down the Platte River ending up on the shore of Lake Michigan.

my paddling buds

Sleeping Bear

I'm at my second National Lakeshore in ten days and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is just as spectacular (in its own way) as Pictured Rocks. Like the rock cliffs at Pictured Rocks the scope of the Sleeping Bear sand bluffs (some as high as 450 feet above Lake Michigan) are hard to capture in a picture - did the best I could, enjoy.

That speck you see is a pretty good sized boat

Big Mac

Just crossed from the U.P. to to the Lower Peninsula, and the sight of the Mackinac Bridge is still as impressive as ever. Back before the bridge opened (1957) ferry boats would carry as many as 9,000 vehicles per day across the five (5) mile wide Straits of Mackinac. Traffic backups could stretch as long as 16 miles - ah, the good ole days!

Detour

Last night I spotted one of those little dotted lines on the map that denotes a ferry - so decided to check it out. The Drummond Island Ferry departs from, the aptly named, De Tour Village. No wait, $7.00 round trip, so I decided to spend the night. Nice little township campground, historical museum, and some good backroads. If you like peace and quiet, this is the place to go.

Pictured Rocks

Took a boat tour along the the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore yesterday and it was a nice waterside view of the spectacular sandstone cliffs along this portion of Lake Superior shoreline.

Marquette

The Upper Peninsula’s largest city (20,000). Home of Northern Michigan University (where my mother graduated), and the Superior Dome (largest wooden dome in the world). The first ore pocket dock, designed by an early town leader, John Burt, was built in 1859 with the Lower Harbor Ore Dock, constructed in 1932 (although the connecting railroad trestle is no longer a downtown landmark). And, if you hadn't already figured it out, yours truly was born in Marquette.