It's Autumn here in Michigan and the trees are showing their colors. We decided to head up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for some of the best color in the state. Be sure to check out the video we made at the bottom.
Day 1
With no actual plans, we hopped in the rig and headed North. I've spoken about this bridge in other posts but it's so beautiful I'll post it again. This was from South side in Mackinaw City.
Our first stop is located at a roadside park on Hwy 2. It's the north most point of Lake Michigan. Surprisingly we'd never stopped here before.
Just a short distance from here is Indian Lake State Park. We haven't done much camping at these parks and didn't know what to expect.
To our surprise this park was really nice with all the amenities you'd need. The bathrooms had full shower facilities and everything was very clean. The weather was not very nice when we setup camp. 45 degrees and 30mph winds, you can see it blowing over our tent.
The lake was just across the road and it was angry too. White caps on a lake this small was crazy.
After setting up camp we realized there was no chance for a fire. Right up the road was a spot we knew well. We jumped in the rig and headed out.
Kitch-iti-kipi
Kitch-iti-kipi is Ojibwe (local Indian Tribe) language for "Big Cold Spring". It is indeed a Big Cold Spring following over 10,000 gallons of 45 degree water every minute year round.
It sits among the thick Tamarack bog and was discovered in the1920's by a local after the area was being logged. By 1926 it was recognized as a Palms Brook State Park.
These pictures don't show all the beauty of this spring. You can look 40ft down and it's crystal clear. The fish are brown trout and are illegal to harvest.
After checking out the local sites we were off to our chilly overnight stay. In the morning the wind had settled down and packing up camp was far easier than setup.
Day 2
We were able to sneak down to Lake Michigan for the sunrise and it didn't disappoint. I'm still working on taking night pictures but here are a few that turned out decent.
Today we are heading West towards Wisconsin. I read about a trail there called 7hr Plane Crash Trail. A local guy who raced the Baja 1000 moved to the area and wanted a trail to run. They would call the races "plane crashes" because they were trying to keep the car together long enough to finish the race.
7hr Plane Crash Trail
The start of the trail is in Crandon Wisconsin, home to the World Championship Off-Road Races.
The first 10 miles were closed due to a bridge being washed out. Here is what the full trail looks like.
The detour took us up and around to Forest Road 2183 outside of Three Lakes. This trail was amazing! The colors were perfect and we saw this guy sitting in a tree on the side of the road.
The trail was a canopy of Yellow Maple leaves as far as you could see. It was like the Yellow Brick Road!
This part of the state is still very wild. Not many houses and I think we passed 2 or 3 rigs in a full day on the trial.
Here is a video I made from the first part of the trail. I'm no video editor and this is one of the first I've made. Stick with us and every video will be better than the last! Check it out and throw us a follow on YouTube.
7hr Plane Crash Trail Stage 1 - YouTube
Thanks for following along on our journeys! Part 2 of this trip will be coming soon. Just wait until you see these colors!!!
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