Poeaxtry's Prism

Spell. Stone. & Sparks that Ignite Change

Tag: upper peninsula

  • Pictured Rocks, Lake Superior & The Upper Peninsula in June 2024

    Pictured Rocks, Lake Superior & The Upper Peninsula in June 2024

    Axton with black hair and black glasses in a Nirvana shirt with Kelsey in black and gold glasses and a black shirt in front of a waterfall in Munising.

    Think back on your most memorable road trip.

    You remember some trips for laughs and snacks, others leave a quiet ripple in your bones. June of 2024 was the latter. A week I spent in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with my fiancé. Camping at Munising campgrounds, wandering Lake Superior’s massive shore, hunting stones, honoring memory by scattering my mom’s ashes into the cool blue water. We enjoyed many local coffee beverages while watching waves roll in like heartbeat rhythms.

    Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore sits on the southern edge of Lake Superior. The largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Its cold deep water a clear, glassy mirror to the changing Michigan sky.

    The cliffs of Pictured Rocks rise 50 to nearly 200 feet above the water. They are streaked in minerals that paint reds, oranges, greens, blacks and whites into sculpted sandstone faces. These formations stretch for about 15 miles along the 42-mile lakeshore.

    Campfire inside a fire ring on a beach

    Camping & Nights Under the Sky


    We stayed five nights at the Munising area campgrounds. Pulling our tent up near the lake edge. We listened to waves crash into dusk and we were woke by bird calls before sunrise. Campgrounds on the lakeshore are primitive but magical. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. Of course you are also under a vast sky with little to no cell service. Every moment felt rich and unfiltered.

    Rock Hounding & Lakeside Wandering

    Axton walking in the forest away from lake superior


    Picking stones isn’t allowed directly inside Pictured Rocks due to protection rules. So we headed a bit farther east near Grand Marais and along Twelvemile Beach. We found uv reactive slag, agates, jasper, granite, and more!

    Lake Superior View

    Beaches, Waterfalls & Cliffs


    The lakeshore has beaches from sandy Miners Beach to the long empty waves at Twelvemile Beach. They are all mostly framed by deep green forests and airy sky. Waterfalls drop in emerald forests, the region offers dozens of cascades, from Mosquito Falls to Chapel Falls. Each a place you can pause, breathe, and listen.

    Munising Falls, Munising Mi

    When you finish reading this, comment and tell me about a trip you took and why it stayed with you.

    Views From Water & Trails


    From boats that cruise past sea caves, Miners Castle, and the East Channel Lighthouse, to paddling into hidden coves near Lovers Leap and Grand Portal Point, Lake Superior’s moods shift from glass calm to wind-ruffled waves. Trails thread through forests and above shorelines, revealing endless angles on water and stone.

    Bates Motel sign on the way to UP Michigan.

    Local Flavor & Small Town Finds


    Days of sun and trail work were punctuated by coffee stops and local eats in the Munising area. Pasties, fresh fish plates, pizza, and icy cups of coffee that hit great after sandy hikes. It’s small town food with big soul, the kind you taste better after a day of wind and sun.

    Why It’s Unforgettable


    We went to roam… to wander… to remember and to love… and every vista answered with something new. Lake Superior’s hush gives you room to think, Pictured Rocks’ colors make your eyes linger, and the Upper Peninsula’s quiet kindness reminds you that the best journeys aren’t just about the places you go. The ones that stay with you matter most.

    Kelsey and Axton take a selfie infront of iconic Kitch-iti-Kippi

    Kitch-Iti-Kippi

    On the way home we stopped at Kitch-iti-kipi, Michigan’s largest natural freshwater spring tucked into Palms Book State Park near Manistique. It felt like the perfect last chapter to a week of wide water and wilderness. The spring’s enormous crystal-clear pool, roughly 200 feet across and about 40 feet deep, pumps out over 10,000 gallons of emerald-green water every minute from limestone fissures below. This keeps the water near a steady 45° Fahrenheit year-round and so clear you can see deep into the bowl’s shifting sands. Of course there were many trout beneath the surface. Visitors glide on a manually operated raft over the quiet, mirror-like water, passing ancient tree trunks and limestone-encrusted rock as if suspended in time itself. Seeing that “Big Spring” under the vast Upper Peninsula sky reminded us that some places stay with you long after the road bends away.

    A photo of the Big Spring

    Share with someone who you think would enjoy what Munising and the surrounding Michigan areas have to offer.

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  • Sliding Rock Felt Colder Than Lake Superior—But Was It?

    Sliding Rock Felt Colder Than Lake Superior—But Was It?

    Lake Superior

    Last year, I was standing on the edge of Lake Superior in Munising, Michigan. It was mid-June, but the breeze off the water still bit through my clothes. Kelsey and I bought a camping fan, and we definitely did not need it. Shorts were also unused for the most part. I didn’t go all the way in, honestly, not even knee-deep. I rock hounded and just let the lake touch my calves. That was enough. It was cold, but not unbearable. Bracing. That’s the word I’d use. It also wasn’t hot out at all so, why would I get in water that cold. I remember thinking, “Okay. That’s not as bad as I expected.” I absolutely do not wish to swim in it, though! I stood there for a few minutes, toes curling into sand and broken rock. Continued breathing it in, feeling the lake tug gently at my ankles and feet. Then I walked back out of the lake. Easy like Sunday morning.

    Sliding Rock

    Sliding Rock Parking lot sign, brown, sign, green trees. Sign tells you not to move rocks!

    This year was different. I found myself in Western North Carolina, in the center of a July heat wave. My sister introduced me to Sliding Rock. Look below to see a picture. It’s the natural rock waterside. It comes with tourists in a line so long we were across the creek. The sounds of nervous laughter in front of us mixed with splashing, and shrieking. It was hot, my car thermostat was reading triple digits. The sun made the stone slick and warm. I waited my turn and tried to psych myself up. Then I sat down on the rock, pushed off, and honestly barely got momentum. I, no sooner hit the pool at the bottom, though, and I froze. That cold that doesn’t just shock your skin, it locks you up. I couldn’t breathe. My chest physically felt stuck. It didn’t matter that it was July or that I’d just been sweating and cursing the sun. That water hit harder than anything else I have felt.

    Sliding Rock Natural Waterfall in Western North Carolina

    I was so confused. Sliding Rock? That’s just a little creek in the woods. Lake Superior is, well, Superior. It’s gosh darn massive and glacial and famous for being cold. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much worse Sliding Rock felt. I didn’t even go under the water in Munising. Not really. Just my lower legs. But at Sliding Rock, I was fully submerged, head and all. I am sure that is what makes a difference. Still, I got curious. I looked it up.

    Lake Superior in mid-June? Anywhere from 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit (ca. 10 °C), sometimes colder. Sliding Rock in mid-July? Consistently around 50 to 55 degrees. So technically, the lake is colder. But it didn’t feel that way.

    I keep coming back to that. I feel like sometimes we trick ourselves. The numbers don’t matter as much as the moment. I expected Lake Superior to be cold, so I braced myself. I only dipped partway in. With Sliding Rock, the heat had lulled me into false confidence. I didn’t just dip, I slid. That cold slapped me across the face. It stole my oxygen. It stuck to my skin even after I climbed out, dripping. Though stunned, I was still smiling like an idiot. As I listened to my adult sister beg to go again and again like we were children, and again.

    It reminded me how nature doesn’t always work in neat measurements. Sometimes it’s about the moment. It’s about contrast. It’s also about what you think you’re ready for. Others, it is what humbles you anyway.

    Anyway, if you’ve done both, I’m curious to know what felt colder to you?

    Also, so you know, we arrived at sliding rock a little over an hour before close. Jade, my sister, putting on some front like she was going to hate it. Jenna, our other sister, and Jade were here years prior. Not gonna lie, the experience was almost nostalgic. The 9-year age difference really prevented me from truly being a kid with my sisters. If it wasn’t for that feeling, I wouldn’t have slid again. There’s something about your grown sibling demanding to go down the slide again. It’s like a child at a park where you can’t deny another slid. Sliding rock greedily stole my breath each dip.

    Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore, Bridal Veil Falls in the Distance, Clear Blue Sky, Lake Superior appearing unmoving.
    Years ago my mom and I saw a true crime episode Pictured Rocks National Lake shore was the crime scene. Neither of us had heard of PRNLS before. Both of us became hooked on the beauty instantly. Call it obsessed over nature. Thus creating our shared dream to visit together. Though mom didn’t make it physically we scattered her cremains of the ledge, including her in the experience still.

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