Snowshoeing in the Porkies 2012

The last trip I took in 2012 was to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Just after Thanksgiving, there was already about a foot of snow.  Here's a scenic view of Lake in the Clouds. 

We hiked about 1.5 miles with all of our gear to the cabin at Lake in the Clouds.  No electricity, no running water, no plumbing.  We had to cut our own wood to keep warm. 

 

It snowed every day.  Fortunately, we brought snowshoes.     

 

 

 

The scenery was awesome.  Here's a video of some frozen falls along the Presque Isle River, which empties into Lake Superior.  At the end of the video, there's some of the snowfall at the Lake in the Clouds cabin.

 

  

 

How's this for contrasts?  Here's a picture of volcanic rock that was scoured by the glaciers over 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age. 

 



My one regret from the trip was having my camera in the car when we saw a big beautiful Gray Wolf on the road.  It was a magnificent creature.  Wolves are an important part of a healthy ecosystem.  Here's a short video from PBS Nature that describes what reasearchers have learned about wolves at Yellowstone.

 

          

 People in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, have leanred to live in harmony with reintroduced wolves.  Unfortunately, there is open season on wolves in Wyoming, just a decade after their reintroduction.  Call on the Administration to End the Slaughter of Wyoming Wolves with this link to the Sierra Club.