Back home and happy

I made it back from another wonderful trip to the upper peninsula of the state of Michigan.  I loved every minute I spent up there but, I am very happy to be back home.  No matter what anyone tells you, it is much nicer taking a hot shower, eating at a dinner table, and sleeping in my own bed instead of eating beef stew out of a can and a bag of chips, cleaning up in Lake Superior(water a bit chilly), and sleeping on deck chair cushions in my van.  Really, I'm not kidding.  Its better at home.
This year's trip took me to the Western side of the U.P. Once again, looking for fall color as well as any backwoods experiences I could find.  I found the color to be on the downside at this time.  According to the locals, they had full color about a week and a half ago, but it only lasted a few days and the leaves came down in a hurry.  I was amazed at how most all of the color was of the "yellow" variety.  I learned, again, from the locals, that their part of the state has alot of poplar and birch which accounts for the numerous yellow hues.  It was nice, but I like alot of red mixed in to my fall color.  I found the Western side had lots and lots of lakes, but less "backroads" to travel.  Oh, there's still plenty of them, but not as many to get me extremely lost.  More state highways, too, instead of county roads which you take into really interesting areas. The nice thing about all the lakes is most all have public access so during the day as I would explore I would find one that I felt comfortable with and make my way back there that night.  Park the van. Build a little fire. Relax for a bit. And then close my eyes for 6-7 hours in the back of my van.  And then back on the exploration the next morning.
The Western side has numerous waterfalls which is one of the highlights of my trips to Michigan.  I will admit, by the end of my trip, I was "waterfalled" out.  I had an itinerary of falls to check out and as I got to my last one on Sunday morning, I said to myself,"Self, do you really need to see another one?"  The answer was "No!" Most of the falls were decent hikes into the woods and what seemed to be uphill both ways.  Add in carrying 15# of camera gear and a tripod, I felt justified in saying "I'm done."  My pedometer read 21 miles after my last hike even though I think it read a little high.  I think, after adding up the documented number of miles for each hike it came to about 16 miles.
The Porcupine mountains were one of the stops on my itinerary and they were wonderful.  If you're a hiker, go there.  Me, not so much. But it is setup to see the main areas without full day hikes.  You'll still do a lot of hiking, though.  Once again, uphill both ways.
I've got over 1000 pics to go through and, of course, I will be posting as I go through them.  Tonights post is a simple shot to get you in the mood.  One of the most wonderful parts of the trip for me each year is when I reach Lake Superior.  I just love the way its cold Canadian wind coming off it lets you know where you are and waves hitting the shore just seem mean and angry.  I don't know what that says about me, but..........hey, make of it what you will.  This shot is just of some rocks and leaves and driftwood that I saw when I hit the shore of Lake Superior.  More shots to come.