fall vacation hike

Truth be told I am not much of a tourist. I prefer not dealing with crowds of people making poor decisions. If you want to see an area where every single thing you look at is photo worthy, you have to take your turn and put up with others doing the same. Those we exchanged pleasantries with were very nice, especially the local people from Munising.

To get away from other tourists, take a hike. It was the first thing we did on our full day in MI, after stopping at the visitor center to get a park pass. Everyone else went to the right to see Munising Falls, a short distance away. We headed left into the woods. 

We decided to hike the North Country Trail to Sandy Point. There was a lookout on the sightseeing map that looked so pretty. We passed a few hikers that were heading out of the woods. Otherwise, it was just us walking among gorgeous trees. For almost 6 miles, roundtrip. Which is ALOT longer than we usually hike.

10/10/24

The endless trail was covered with tree roots, small rocks, elevation and some streams. When I mean endless, I mean endless! The North Country National Scenic Trail in MI is 1,180 miles long. It also goes across the Northeast corner of WI for 220 miles. What a cool life accomplishment it would be to hike the entire thing! Only in my dreams. The tiny part we hiked weaved along Pictured Rock shoreline, high above on the bluffs. It was a workout!!

there were a lot of streams

occasional trail markers

stop don't drop

There was nothing to do but laugh when we reached a trail marker with an arrow that pointed down to our destination. It was then we realized that Sandy Point Beach had no lookout. The brochure lookout photo had nothing to do with it (smacks forehead). 

3 miles into our hike we were facing an extremely long set of winding steep somewhat rickety wooden stairs, that went straight down. 

here we go, from the top

We started down the stairs and came to our senses. The stairs went so far, that we could not see the end ~ 'er beach. One thing to always remember about non-loop hiking, you have to hike it all in reverse. If we went down, it would mean taking allll those stairs back UP - and then - hiking the 3-ish miles back to the truck. Needless to say we decided to take a break and sit by our favorite private Picture Rock waterfall. The one we worked the hardest to see!!

the trail is up there

our favorite UP waterfall (8 secs)

us below the falls that we hiked so far to see

a much needed deliriously happy break

I walked down a little further

hopefully my 360 turn doesn't make you dizzy
(32 secs) 

We headed back up the stairs and onto the trail, towards our truck. We learned almost every waterfall/landmark/lookout sight in the UP includes stairs. SO so many stairs!! It was a common theme among all of us tourists. My calves were sore for days.

heading back

I hauled my heavy camera and mid-telephoto lens for 6 miles. Without my backpack. Another head smacker. I barely used my camera. The deep woods were thick, mostly green tree's. I only took a few memory shots. Including my hilarious attempt near the start/end of the trail. I tried getting both of us in the frame using my camera's 10 second timer. It was too funny, and yes I biffed the shots :)) 

elevation hiking

long and winding trail

light at the end of the tunnel

I almost made it back in time

blurry us

Hiking Pictured Rock was Brad's favorite part of our UP trip. Next up are a couple scenic water posts, including our boat trip.