Lake of the Clouds

Sunday, July 25, 2021 –Buckshot Cabin, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Michigan to Juneau Park Beer Garden Milwaukee

Another day and I was up with the sun, as usual. The morning was as cloudless and beautiful as the night before. With the orientation of the shore line the sun didn’t rise out of the lake, but it illuminated trees down the rocky beach as it came up over the ridge. We made coffee and oatmeal and enjoyed the morning for a while, then packed up and hit the trail.

It was downhill the whole way on Friday, which meant it was uphill on Sunday – 530 feet of elevation change. Downhill is harder on the knees, uphill is of course more strenuous. I’m not sure which I prefer. At least the packs were a bit lighter without the food. As much as we loved the cabin and our experience, after two days of sitting on hard wood or rocks I have to admit the cushioned seat of the car looked pretty good when we finally got to the top.

The trail head was pretty close to the Lake of the Clouds overlook, so we drove up to take a look. It is a lake that is nestled among the peaks of the Porkies and the overlook provides a spectacular view. There is a Lake of the Clouds cabin. Maybe next summer? Whether at Lake of the Clouds or somewhere else, we will be back at the Porkies in the future. We only saw a small sliver of the 60,000 acres – there is much more to explore.

Our trip home was uneventful. We took a different route on different back roads and got home in time to enjoy the last day of the Juneau Park Traveling Beer Garden just a couple blocks from our condo. We woke up looking over Lake Superior from the secluded shore in the Porkies and ended the day looking over sailboats on Lake Michigan from the urban shore in Milwaukee. It was a great day and a great weekend.