I have fond memories of a trip here with the girls: nice camping, good trails and plenty of quality family time. After dinner we drove to lake of the clouds overlook.
LAKE OF THE CLOUDS
We then checked out Union Bay campground. What a mess, basically an open field with campers stacked like firewood. I am glad we didn’t book this.
Our first campsite was White Pine Extension Outpost. It was muddy after the area was slammed with rain. The campground was small and close to the main park road. In addition there was no water which wasn’t a huge deal, just annoying. Not ideal but Union Bay was a nightmare. I wanted to stay at Presque Isle but it was full.
Optical illusion, Lake Superior looks higher than the road. It is not.
We went to the visitor center to register for our campsite. Told the ranger where we were and he frowned. He said it must be muddy and it will not dry out until after they close. He said Presque Isle has 2 openings, want to move? Hell yes! This is where we stayed with the girls, the trip is coming full circle.
The campground brought back memories of our last time here with the girls. Our middle daughter (Julie) did not like thunderstorms. One night we were all in the tent and I was the only one still awake. Way off in the distance I heard a very faint rumble of thunder. I spent the next hour or so listening as it got closer and closer. I finally decided it was time to get every one up so we could wait out the storm in our van. Julie was getting more worried about the storm and all of the girls needed to use the restroom. We drove over to the restroom and parked as close as possible. Just as Julie got out of the van there was a loud clap of thunder. She screamed and ran into what she thought was the bathroom but turned out to be the shower. Fortunately nobody was using it. We laughed about this once we were all safely back in the van. Driving back to our campsite everyone was sitting in their cars and looking at us.
PRESQUE ISLE RIVER TRAIL
The river carved circles in the stone.
Nawadaha is an Ojibwa word meaning “in the midst of the rapids.”
This is the last section of river before it dumps into Lake Superior
Bridge over the river
Driftwood always make me think of The Count of Monte Cristo, what a great movie.
Shore on the second biggest lake in the world.
- Largest lakes in the world
- Caspian Sea: 149,200 square miles
- Lake Superior: 31,700 square miles
- Lake Victoria: 26,828 square miles
- Lake Huron: 23,000 square miles
- Lake Michigan: 22,300 square miles
- Lake Tanganyika: 12,700 square miles
- Lake Baikal: 12,200 square miles
- Great Bear Lake: 12,096 square miles
- Lake Nyasa: 11,430 square miles
- Great Slave Lake: 11,030 square miles
3 of the top 5 are Great Lakes. We are planning a trip next year that might take us by Slave Lake in Alberta, Canada.
Sunset was the best we have ever seen. The grand finale was orange from the sun setting hitting a crescent moon, all reflected in the midnight blue of lake superior. Pictures do not do it justice:
First movement for classical music lovers
We moved directly to the third movement
Fourth movement, AKA finale
HAPPY MEMORIES, STEVE