Isle Royale 2021 in Pictures
Your HHC guides spent July 10th to 13th backpacking at Isle Royale National Park. Here are some pictures of their journey!
2021 Spring Backpacking at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Each spring, Domonick and I try to complete a “speed boost” hike of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The direction of travel varies, but we hike the length from Munising to Grand Marais over two nights. This gives us a chance to reacquaint ourselves with the trail as we prepare ourselves to guide late summer/fall backpacking trips. Spring is also an interesting time to go backpacking, because the trees have not leafed out yet, making for some unique views. A…
Porcupine Mountains Yurt Camping: Part 2
Carolyn and I had the pleasure to re-visit Porcupine Mountains State Park this past March and do some more winter Yurt Camping. On our first Yurt experience, we spent only 1-night, and we both agreed that this was definitely not enough time. This year we reserved 2-nights with the ambition to see more of the park. The winter yurt and cabin reservations fill up really fast, so the only availability they had was in late March. We figured there would…
Six Days Backpacking on the North Country Trail
Background We decided to take a week off and go backpacking on the North Country Trail (NCT) in the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan from September 14-19, 2020. We have spent a lot of time on the Lakeshore Trail, which overlaps 42 miles of the NCT. The Lakeshore Trail traverses the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, where we have been running this year’s sunset hikes and 2-night backpacking trips. We wanted to explore other parts of the NCT, which is 4,600…
Backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains
Background/Logistics The week of June 22nd, 2020, we decided to do some overnight backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains (aka Porkies). Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is about three hours west of our home in Au Train, Michigan. At 60,000 acres, it is one of the largest wilderness areas in the Midwest. Domonick and I visited in the winter and yurt camped. We knew we wanted to visit again without snow pants! Reservations are required for backcountry campsites May 15 to…
40-mile Bay de Noc/Grand Island Trail Report
Planning Route I had a couple days off from my day job so decided to make the most of them and hike the Bay de Noc/Grand Island Trail. This trail roughly follows a Native American portage route from Lake Superior to Lake Michigan. The official start is at a trailhead on M-94 (a couple miles east of Au Train Forest Lake Road, near Ackerman Lake). It ends at the trailhead 40 miles south in Rapid River (off of county road…