When we set aside our daily routines for a few days or a week at a time, when life isn’t prescribed by work or school or social obligations, who are we?
I remember when my family took vacations in a quiet nook of the northwestern corner of Michigan’s Mitten. I would find myself wishing for something a little more exciting than one day after the next sat on the beach, building shoreline cities and hunting for crayfish, minnows, and Petoskey stones.
Leave it to a kid to not appreciate paradise.
The north still calls me today, and I make a pilgrimage at least once a year. The long summer days, the tall pines, the constant need to have a sweater at hand just in case, no matter the season. I feel a fullness and—dare I say it?—joy.
In the spring of 2022, I got to check an item off my bucket list: a circle tour around Lake Superior, the undisputed greatest of the Great Lakes. I spent the first two days driving, with a day to recuperate in Houghton, a compact college town in the heart of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula.
I rented a room on the second floor of a Michigan Tech grad student’s house on the hillside. Sitting on my bed, I couldn’t stop myself from asking what I was doing there. Two days driving, and I was doing all the things I would have if I had just stayed home.
Spanish and Welsh lessons on Duolingo. Check. Noodling on long-forgotten essays. Yup. Betraying myself as the prematurely old man I am by going to watch the latest Downton Abbey movie in theatres. Well, in my defense, Houghton was just about the only stop on my tour that had a movie theatre.
Of course, that was only the beginning of a 24-hour drive around the Lake.
Houghton to Bayfield
I decided to drive clockwise around Lake Superior because it would throw me right into the deep end with places I hadn’t yet ventured. The furthest west I had made it in the region was Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains—and I made a detour there again on my way to Wisconsin.
I had been to the Lake of the Clouds before, so I decided to check out some of the other sites including Summit Peak, the second highest point in Michigan. Between the two, I would definitely recommend Lake of the Clouds. The hike was pleasant, but you have to remember this is Michigan. Saying “second highest peak in Michigan” is a bit like saying “second largest natural lake in Arizona.” Plus, it was hard to appreciate the view at the tower because the flies were pretty bad.
After Summit Peak, I explored the Presque Isle River Waterfalls Loop, a gorgeous little hike that follows either side of a river through a series of waterfalls, ending at the Lake Superior coast.
One of my favorite things about traveling is happening upon this sort of place. There is nothing like putting your finger down on the map, pulling into the parking lot, and finding yourself just feet from such a spectacularly immersive experience in nature.
I particularly appreciated that there were signs throughout the park explaining the site’s history, wildlife, and Ojibwa heritage. We are but momentary visitors in this world; I think it’s always important to remind ourselves that these places have histories that will continue long after we’re gone.
Satisfied that I got my feet wet a little, I got back on the road, ready to explore new regions west and northward.
