October 11-16, 2022

By Tim Briese

My wife Teresa and I went on an October trip to explore the upper peninsula of Michigan, a new place for us, and to enjoy the wonderful fall colors there. Our plan was to work our way across the peninsula from west to east over the course of a few days and then visit relatives at their vacation home in the Les Cheneaux Islands near the Straits of Mackinaw.

We drove into the U. P. from Wisconsin and headed for the Porcupine Mountains State Park. The highlight was a short hike to the Lake of the Clouds overlook, which was very scenic indeed with nice fall colors.

lake of the clouds

Afterwards we drove up into the Keewanaw Peninsula along Lake Superior.

along the way to the keewanaw peninsula, at twin lakes state park

eagle river, just before it flows into lake superior

lake superior

The following day was rather rainy and we ended up in the Munising area that afternoon. We did a nice three mile roundtrip hike to Chapel Falls in the Pictured Rocks National Seashore after the weather cleared somewhat. The drive to the trailhead was spectacular, with colorful trees lining and overhanging the road. The hike too, was gorgeous.

on the road to the chapel falls trailhead

chapel falls

a footbridge near chapel falls

Enamored with what we had seen, the next day we went back to Pictured Rocks and did another three mile roundtrip hike to Beaver Lake and out to the shore of Lake Superior.

another scenic road to the beaver lake trailhead

beaver lake

the leaf-strewn trail

lake superior

After this hike we stopped at the Log Slide Overlook near Grand Marais.

the colors here almost seemed to glow

at the log slide overlook

along the trail to the overlook

an enchanting drive near grand marais

That afternoon we visited Tahquamenon Falls, a highlight of the U. P. on everyone’s list.

the road to tahquamenon falls

tahquamenon falls

the view upriver from the falls

another view from a different viewpoint

leaves from a red maple tree along a trail in tahquamenon falls state park

The next day we visited my niece and her family at their beautiful home on an island, accessible only by boat, and spent a delightful couple of days with them.

their house on the island

sunrise on the lake channel

a nice reflection view on our boat ride into town when we left