I've gotta tell you, as exciting as days 1 and 2 of our trip were, day 3 is the one I have been looking forward to writing about the most.
While the first day of our trip took us into the Keweenaw Peninsula, the majority of our other travels kept us around Highway 38 which runs West to East across the base of the peninsula out of Baraga, MI.
We headed out on this beautiful Tuesday morning heading West towards the Porcupine Mountains. Once we got to the park, we had to wait quite a while for some road construction to be done, then we were able to proceed to our first destination.
The state park is pretty huge, but there are a couple of key features in the park that I wanted to make sure 
We got out of the truck and started heading up the trail to the top of the mountain. The trail above may not look too horrible, but trust me it was steep. We have been walking two to three miles every day and were still getting winded every now and then heading up this trail. There is definitely a huge difference between walking on flat land and hiking up a mountain!
This is just another example of how dense the forests can be in this part of the state.
Eventually, the path turned into stairs.
Then we came across this junction:
Going to the left gave you a view like you see below, going right took you further up the mountain and closer to the observation tower.
We continued up the path and soon found ourselves at the base of the observation tower.
It was pretty tight quarters on the platform, so when we heard a group of kids coming up behind us we decided to let them go first. Turns out it was a Nordic team from Minnesota that was visiting the park for a training camp. One of the students explained to us that they all had to get tested for Covid before they could come on the trip.
It was a mixture of boys and girls in peak physical form. They were actually running up the mountain and we heard one of them mention that they had to run to a lake that was still several miles away!
Finally, it was our turn.
I even dared to take a shot looking down:
Not that spectacular with the tree cover....
We made our way back down the mountain and headed to our next destination. Although we climbed Summit Peak, it is not the highest point in Michigan. Apparently that is just South of where we camped and had I known that at the time, I would have made sure we went there. Maybe next time...
We headed back out to the main road which runs right along the shore of Lake Superior offering some fantastic views.
Finally, we made our way to Lake of the Clouds. In my opinion, between the two locations, Lake of the Clouds was much better. I would probably skip Summit Peak from now on if I ever visit the park again. I think Summit Peak could be amazing in the Fall with the leaves changing colors, but in the Summer it was just a whole bunch of green.
Here you can see the river running to/from Lake of the Clouds. I kind of ruined the surprise since I used one of the pictures for my opening shot, but here are some more:
By the time we got to Lake of the Clouds it was pretty packed with people, but it was still totally worth it. Between SugarLoaf in Marquette and Lake of the Clouds these are some of the best views of the UP in my opinion.
We were getting hungry by now and since we missed out on
Thankfully, it was and
We weren't sure how big they were going to be so we each got one and then a sandwich to share. Needless to say we didn't touch the sandwich!
I got a traditional pasty with beef, pork, rutabaga, potatoes, and some other good stuff in it.
Lucky for
I tried a bite and it was fantastic, trust me! Many people eat their pasties with ketchup or gravy but both of our stood up very well plain. My wife absolutely fell in love with them. I think I had her at puffed pastry!
Roy's also has a variety of baked goods for sale. We got a couple of cookies and they were amazing, we had to wait a day or two to eat them we were so full after the pasties.
We got our food to go and took it across the street to enjoy some final views of Houghton/Hancock, MI.
There you go, Day 3 in the books. I know this post got a little long, but I didn't want to split it up again. Plus day 4 will be much shorter and laid back, I promise!
Previous posts in this series can be found here
@bozz/bozzlife-the-beginning-of-a-grand-adventure
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-part-1
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-part-2
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-part-3
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-part-4
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-part-5
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-part-6
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-part-7-and-the-close-of-day-one
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-day-2
@bozz/bozzlife-traveling-the-up-day-2-part-2
All pictures taken by
