Wilderness

About an hour to the southeast of us, near where we used to live, is a beautiful area known as The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Established in 1945, the 60,000 acre park is one of the few remaining large wilderness areas in the Midwest. It is filled with towering virgin timber, secluded lakes, several waterfalls, and miles of wild rivers and streams. Wildlife, such as deer and black bear, is abundant. There are over 90 miles of foot trails, leading hikers to the most spectacular overlooks and vistas.
The Park is also the home of the Porcupine Mountains Ski Area, a major Michigan winter sports area. It features the highest downhill skiing vertical drop in the Midwest along with 42 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails.

I hope you enjoy the view

From Lake Superior the main range of mountains looks like a crouching porcupine, thus their name. Machinery, rock dumps, and old adits are ghostly reminders of forty mining ventures in the years from 1846 to 1928, none of which succeeded. Some logging took place around 1916. As late as 1930 a few trappers eked out a living here. Finally in 1945 the area was made a state park to preserve its virgin splendor.

A short foot path leads from the parking lot at the end of M-64 to an escarpment overlooking Lake Of The Clouds. All the pictures below, except the last, were taken from that overlook.