New and Old and New
The morning that we left Luce County Park and Campground we had breakfast at the Helmer House Inn, just over a mile from the campground. Kristin had a lovely avocado toast while I had a breakfast plate with very good homemade sausage, in a charming little space with friendly staff and patrons. Highly recommended!
After leaving Luce we made our way to Iron Mountain, Michigan, where we spent a pleasant time relaxing at Summer Breeze Camgpround and exploring around the area. Our first stop in Iron Mountain was at Jean Kay's Pasties to try out this Upper Michigan specialty. We were advised by locals that we should have them with ketchup, as the locals do, and not with gravy as the tourists do. We tried it both ways and preferred the gravy, so I guess that makes us tourists.
 |
 |
We kept to our Friday burger-and-beer tradition by going to the the Wild Horse Saloon, went for bike rides, and went up to Marquette to check out the Marquette Food Co-op and explore along the Lake Superior shore a bit, where the dog was able to get in some swimming while we enjoyed looking for cool rocks as we waded in the warm water. We had a bit of drama near the end of our stay at Summer Breeze, as a line of intense thunderstorms blasted through the campground one night. In the morning we awoke to find branches and debris scattered around, and a downed tree in the campsite next to ours. Fortunately, no campers were damaged.
 |
 |
 |
 |
The highlight of our stay in Iron Mountain was a visit to Whisker Lake Wilderness. This is where Kristin and I first went backpacking and camping together way back in 2008. The campsite is deeply secluded in the woods, peaceful and beautiful on the shore of the lake, and is a place that we returned to in 2010 and 2014 and had not been back to until now. I've gathered a few pictures from all our visits here.
| 2024 | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 2014 | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| 2010 | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| 2008 | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
We left Iron Mountain last week to come to Antigo, Wisconsin to stay in the Lake Park Campground. This has been a mostly low-key stay, with some bike riding and visits to the farmer's market and the flea market.
 |
 |
Antigo is close to where we hiked the Ice Age Trail in 2021 and had to bail out due to my blisters. So, just as we returned to Whisker Lake from Iron Mountain, we returned to the IAT at Town Line Lake wayside from Antigo, and got in about 3 miles of hiking with the dog on a gorgeous deep-blue-sky day.
 |
 |
Finally, I am working on a major update to my site theme and structure to give it a more modern look and to make it even easier to use on mobile devices. It's not ready to publish yet, but here's a sneak peek showing what it will look like. Stay tuned for this change - it should be in a week or two.
