Beginning Note: We weren't in Munising long and with the weather we didn't take many pictures. Most of the pictures we did take were lost due to a disk crash on my computer. I encourage the use of the many embedded links to get a visual on the places we're describing.
One of the places everyone mentions when you say you're going to the U.P is the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, MI. Back in July I tried to get a reservation at the Munising Tourist Park Campground right on Lake Superior, but there were no openings, it's a very popular park. I made the reservation at Muskallonge Lake State Park instead.
We tried to get an early start leaving Germfask, the weather forecast was for rain by 11:00am. We did our research the night before on campgrounds in and around Munising. There were only 3 candidates. We decided on one and called that morning to make a reservation. It was a short route, only 43 miles, about a 50 minute drive from Germfask to Munising.
One good thing abut these short trips, we didn't have to fill up the truck with fuel the night before. A good thing since the nearest diesel was about 8 miles away. That might not sound like a long trip but all our activities over the last 4 days involved no more than a 3 mile commute, we were spoiled!
Hopefully we'd get to our new location and setup before the rain started. As is sometimes the case, the weather man was wrong, it started raining about half way there. It was a light rain so setting up shouldn't be too bad... right? The campground was south of Munising, off M-94 and down a dirt road. The dirt road was in pretty good condition, considering all the rain we'd had recently. The rain was ushering in a cold front and the temperature was already starting to drop. We arrived at the campground in a cold drizzle. One thing that was immediately obvious, only a few campsites had any grass, the rest were all dirt/mud, Strike 1! This campground only had one central water source, luckily we'd filled our on board water tank back at Big Cedar. At least that was one task we didn't have to do in the rain. Our site was #13... and ominous sign! On paper it was a nice looking site, very large pie shape, high and dry and backing up to forest. As it turns out it was all dirt with some low hanging trees we had to work around. The only utility on the site (electric) was at the far corner, the corner opposite our electrical port. Strike 2. Luckily I had a 25' 30 amp extension, and the 50' was juuuust long enough. When I lifted the cover on the electrical panel, I found no 30 amp plug! Strike 3. When we made the reservation we were assured they had 30 amp service. There was no cell service and the "free Wi-Fi" only worked in and around the office (Strike 4) so I walked to the office. Again, I was assured there was 30 amps service, they were just running it through 20 amp plugs, did I need a adapter? No, I said, I had the adapter, Strike... what number was I on? Oh yeah, Strike 5! This was turning into the worst campground of the summer!
To be fair, a lot of our negative opinions of this campground was due to the weather. We stayed two nights and it was cold, windy and drizzly most of the time. We picked this campground because of the good reviews, so somebody liked it. One thing we learned, Michiganders really like their camping and this was prime camping season! A little cold rain doesn't stop them.
One good thing about this campground was the bathrooms, they were some of the best we'd seen. They were like a luxury hotel with high end tile, bronze colored fixtures and an attractive north woods motif, all be it sightly unfinished away from the shower area.
Oh well, we were here so we were going to make the best of it. We'd follow our pattern and stay at least 2 nights (one full day) and then decide what to do.
Aug 24.
It was overcast, cool and windy but at least the rain had stopped. We drove into Munising and found the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore visitors Center. Even with the bad weather, it was packed. There were tourists like us and even some backpackers getting back woods permits. We asked for information on short hikes and waterfalls. The Munising area has an abundance of easy to access waterfalls, some within a short walking distance from a parking area. That was important with the weather we were having.
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| Munising Falls, one of the few pictures that survived. |
The first one we picked to visit was a short distance from town along the coast just off Sand Lake Rd, Munising Falls.
We parked the truck and started walking the short path toward the viewing platform. We took a few obligatory pictures, with all the other tourists then headed back to the truck. The cold wind was cutting right through us and we just weren't having fun! We decided the rest of the day we'd find something to do... inside!
After leaving Munising Falls, we drove further down Sand Lake Rd and stopped at a kayak launching beach. An outfitter was trying to make a go of it but had given up and was loading his boats. We parked and sat in the truck watching the waves roll in. From this vantage point we could see a famous landmark, the Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse.
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| Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse, Munising Bay |
Back in Munising, it was about lunch time. Joan pulled out her smart phone and Googled "Brewpubs". We decided on Shooters Firehouse Brewpub. The beers on tap didn't sound interesting but they did have a beer I'd been wanting to try, Keweenaw Brewing Co. Widow Maker Black Ale. According to their web site..."Don't let it's looks deceive you. Clean and smooth, easy on the hops and easy on the palate; this light bodied ale has a surprising depth of malt flavors with pleasant hints of smokey molasses."
I first noticed this beer back in Kinrose MI but hadn't gotten around to trying it, here was my chance.
For variety, Joan choose a similar dark beer, Blackrocks Brewery North Third Stout, Recommend by the waitress.
The food was good but the beer was great. They became our favorites of the summer!
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After lunch we drove around Munising and did some shopping. It's a pretty little town, here's some pictures of Munising (on much nicer days) I found on the Internet.
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In case you didn't notice, we weren't very happy with our campground, so we drove over to the Munising Tourist Park Campground to see if they had any openings.
Some pictures form the Internet...
They did have 1 opening and some space in the overflow area. It was decision time! Do we move to the Tourist Park, stay where we are (not likely) or move on. As mentioned earlier, the Tourist Park is on Lake Superior and that cold wind was blowing right off the water The weather forecast was for more of the same. The main draw to the area was The Pictured Rocks (not very picturesque in this weather). We decided to save Munising and The Pictured Rocks for another trip. True to our pattern, we stayed two nights and one day in an area and if we weren't having fun, move on.
But, where to go?
Coming soon, Marquette and Gwinn MI
