Lake Michigan Circle Tour Solo Road Trip - Part 2 The Upper Peninsula
Updated: Jul 23, 2019
Hi again! Welcome back to part 2 of my solo road trip! If you missed part 1, you can read that by clicking here. But don’t forget to come back! One thing I forgot to include in part 1 is a map that shows my travels on day 1. I started in Sioux Falls, SD and traveled to the G Farm just right outside Larsen, WI near Appleton. This first leg took me about 7 hours to complete.
Picking up where I left off… Day 2! The morning I left the G Farm, I got my first experience in navigating electric cattle fences! I was nervous at first. Making a mistake with electric fences was not something I wanted to do just 24 hours into my trip. But I carefully followed the instructions that the host had shown me the evening prior and voila! I did it and no humans nor animals were harmed in the process! I was on my way down the road for the 2nd leg of my road trip.
Today I would be heading to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I had no idea what I was in for, as I had never been there before. My travels took my through Appleton, Green Bay, Marinette, and Escanaba. I stopped in Escanaba and walked along the shoreline for a break, then headed into the Hiawatha National Forest for some hiking.
I was making really great time and decided to make a detour to Kitch-iti-Kipi or “big spring” in Palms Book State Park, near Manistique, MI. This spring is 200 feet across and 40 feet deep. It is incredible clear and blue in color with massive trout that you can see while traveling across the spring on a hand-cranked raft. Over 10,000 gallons of water per minute gush from the springs below! This was well worth the stop and I highly recommend it. It is perfect for all ages and abilities.
Once I was done here, I headed to my Hip Camp for the evening to get acquainted with the location and get set up for photographing it. Tonight’s Hip Camp is called the Moss Lake Cabin. It is a rustic cabin located just steps from a private lake that is filled with incredible pike among other species. When I arrived to the property I was met by the family that owned the property; such lovely people! They had me follow them down to the cabin that is located on the edge of their property in a very secluded area. This cabin was originally used as a hunt camp when the previous owners had built the property. As a hunter myself, this made me excited!
Upon arrival to the cabin, I received a great tour of the area and amenities which included an outhouse, kayaks, and fire pit as well as anything on the interior of the cabin. While the host was talking to me about the property, the little boy said “and there’s an ax on the front porch!”. Sure enough, there was! Now, I know this is for chopping wood in the winter months because the cabin is heated by a wood burning stove. But I’d be lying if I said that for a single woman traveling alone it didn’t make me nervous for a moment. Ha!
Eventually the host family and myself parted ways and I got to enjoy the quiet solitude of the cabin surrounded by woods and water. It really did feel like heaven. The interior had bunk beds (that were actually really comfortable!), a primitive kitchen, kitchen table, and rocking chair. It felt like a dream to get to stay there for free AND get paid to photograph it! I enjoyed a quiet evening on the porch, and a walk along the shoreline before heading inside at dusk.
As I was reading my book, and the sun was almost down, I began to hear thunder. I didn’t think much of it and eventually fell asleep. About an hour later (around midnight), the thunder was immensely louder, lightening was lighting up the sky and the rain was pounding on the roof. Immediately my mind remembered the ax on the front porch, for whatever reason, and suddenly every horror movie I ever watched as a teenager came flooding back to me. My imagination ran wild as I thought to myself “This is how I die… an ax on the front porch during a thunder/lightening storm.” Or at least that’s what every one of those movies told me! Ha! I eventually got up the courage to run out on the porch, grab the ax, and it stayed safely under my bed for the rest of the night. NOT TONIGHT, SATAN! Ha! Imaginations are crazy things, am I right?! It didn’t help that the windows on all sides of the cabin didn’t have any shades over them, so I felt as if I was in a fish bowl and each lightening strike was startling as it revealed a bit of the darkness outside with each crack.
Needless to say, all was fine, I woke up the next morning at sunrise, packed up and headed out around 6:30am. This cabin really would be the perfect place for a couple looking to get away from it all, or a family reunion with lots of tents pitched out on the lawn. The family was so friendly and accommodating. I highly recommend this cabin! But I DON’T recommend watching horror movies….
Stay tuned for Part 3... Mackinac Bridge, Wilderness State Park and my stay in Petoskey, MI!
To check out more of the Moss Lake Cabin or to book your stay, click here!
EDIT: My images of this cabin has been featured in Midwest Living Magazine, May/June 2019 cabin issue!
