Tales from the Road: Grand Marais

Tales FROM THE road

~ grand marais ~

By Steve Ellis Grand Marais is one of the prettiest towns in the Midwest. It is located at the mouth of a gorgeous bay on Lake Superior at the eastern end of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Because of its relative remoteness, it is not overrun with tourists and may be best known for its kayak symposiums- training for preparing paddlers for kayaking the Pictured Rocks along the shores of Lake Superior. Every July, I head up north with a group of old friends, picking a different location and spend fi ve days hiking, biking, swimming and having a great time. Our trip a few years ago, to the Grand Marais area, with perfect weather, great trails, waterfalls and swimming in a somewhat warm Lake Superior, was one of our best. We thought that we could make the seven hour drive and get up to the 12 Mile Beach Campground on a Wednesday and easily get a campsite. We quickly found that many others had the same idea and the campgrounds at 12 Mile Beach and at Hurricane River were both totally full. We ended up at Kingston Lake in the Lake Superior State Forest-a very pretty campground in the middle of a half dozen small lakes. We got up early the next morning and did some kayaking. The 48-mile, H-58 County Road between Grand Marais and Munising has recently been paved and makes it much easier to get the various campgrounds and trails. The next morning, we were able to get a site at the 12 Mile Beach Campground on the Lake Superior shore from a family packing up and heading back to Florida. Each morning began with a cup of coffee from my trusty Coleman stove and a few mile hike along the beach picking up multi colored agates. Our morning shower consisted of jumping into the cold, rocky, lake. With this being mid July and one of the hottest summers on record, I cannot imagine what it would be like any earlier in the year. We spent our days hiking a handful of the main trails leading past waterfalls, lakes and huge rock formations, ending at a gorgeous beaches. The Log Jam trail took us to the top of a very large sand dune with an opening leading to the beach a few hundred yards below. We read that lumberjacks used this opening at the turn of the century to slide logs down the steep bank to waiting barges down below. We also learned that one log hit the water at a bad angle and skipped out to the barge killing two loggers along the way. Our favorite hike was to an area called The Cliffs- a few miles of ledges, pools and smooth rocks that were great for climbing and jumping off. The water here was warmer, and we continued to walk and walk, not knowing what we might fi nd around the next corner. The next day we hiked to several waterfalls and the Hurricane River, ending at the mouth of the river and about 25 kayaks parked on the shore The waves were quite large and the Boy Scout group had a little trouble and one kayak pair had to be rescued after fl ipping a hundred yards or so off shore. Our favorite spot in Grand Marais was the Lake Superior Brewing Company with great pizza and micro-brewed beer. Being big Tiger fans, we had to catch parts of most of the game while we were in town. Other highlights included the Old Post Offi ce Museum, the Pickle Barrel House (A house shaped like a barrel inspired by the early 1900’s comic strip the Teenie- Weenies) and the West Bay Diner. I had a great blue moon milk shake at the West Bay Diner and learned that the diner was built in 1949 in New Jersey and sat empty for years in Pennsylvania and eventually Rockford, MI., where it was owned by Jerry Berta, former owner of the famous Rosie’s Diner. He sold it to Ellen Airgood and it was moved across the Mackinaw Bridge in 1997 and eventually restored. While looking around in the diner I noticed a stack of books on display in a corner and after a closer look, noticed that Ellen had written “South of Superior”. She autographed the book for me and I loved reading this great story about the joys and challenges of living in a remote, small town. So take a trip to this great small town at the edge of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and experience one of the prettiest and most unique locations in the state.