By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
H. W. Longfellow, Song of Hiawatha
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
This trip had a special significance for me. Growing up 1,483 miles from this place, my grandmother would read an excerpt of Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha at bed time. She had never been here and I never knew it was a real place. I thought Gitchee Gumee [Gichigami] was a made up land filled with magic and fairies. But this little bit of verse stuck with me. And I have to say, this is the most fitting description imaginable. This is a place where the darkest, tallest forests meet the open water. Memories of sipping tea with my grandma while she read this as a bedtime story kept me smiling the whole weekend.
It was a long drive, but worth the trip. We left early and made it in time for a little walk on the beach before watching the sunset.
The campsite was, humorously, plagued by chipmunks. They woke us up scratching the walls and running under the loose edges of the tent. Firmly against the active feeding of wildlife, but these little guys are persistent. While we did not give them food, any dropped crumbs were swept away quickly.
A quick walk around the campground before the main adventure in this beautiful forest.
And next up was the shipwreck boat tour across Lake Superior. The extreme weather conditions of Northern Michigan are largely responsible for the vast number of shipwrecks in this area. And because the water is so cold, bacterial growth is inhibited and the wrecks are well preserved. Add to this relatively shallow water in this area and you have an entire underwater shipwreck museum. The views from the boat tour were spectacular.
And time for a little more hiking! Here is the obligatory photo of Miner’s Castle! The must see location of every visit to Munising, Michigan!
The next day was a short hike through Mosquito Falls. Waterfalls are not so common in Michigan despite the fresh water and rain. There just isn’t a lot of elevation change. So I was pretty excited to see so many falls in one place!
Northern Michigan, a cautionary tale...
We came back a little later in the evening after the boat tour and hike. The next morning, before hiking Mosquito Falls, some fellow adventurers walked into our camp asking if we could share some mosquito repellent. They said they were being harassed endlessly by bugs. This is simply something that has never happened in all of my years camping, so of course I obliged. Clearly they must be in need to ask a stranger and we had plenty. We left to hike the falls and did not find so many mosquitos. We even had a little laugh about them being tasty enough to lure the mosquitos away from us.
We returned in the late afternoon this time and discovered what had plagued the other campers was Michigan Black Fly. We were camping just in time for a major hatch. It was like something straight out of a horror movie. These things bite, constantly and hard. The flies followed us on the beach. We tried swimming in the cold water, but they would wait on the top of the water while we were under and would be on us the moment we emerged. We gave up and discovered they were also waiting on the clothes that smelled of us. The mosquito repellent was of no use.
Shooing them away as best we could, we dressed, and swatted and swatted some more. Returning to camp meant a walk past the trash cans and bathrooms. The sky was black with these biting monsters. I mean a literal black cloud. I told my daughter to wait for me to run through and then to follow just behind. I was hoping to distract them and break the cloud so she could pass safely. It didn’t really work. We ran as quickly as we could back to the car and locked ourselves in. Fortunately the flies did as flies do. They abandoned their quest for blood and attempted to escape through the closed windows. They did not bite us while trapped, so we waited there in the sound of their buzzing against the glass until it was dark enough that the flies were dormant.
We absolutely did not attempt to stay another night. We set our alarms so we could have breakfast and pack at the sunrise and hopefully beat the flies out.
PigTailz 