Gitche Gumee Gambol: Backpacking Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan

The Trip

“By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
Westward by the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Came unto the rocky headlands,
To the Pictured Rocks of sandstone...”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow borrowed the Ojibwa name for the largest freshwater lake in the world when he placed his poem, “The Song of Hiawatha,” on the shores of Lake Superior. It is a storied lake with an impressive shoreline, perhaps none more exciting to hikers than the 42 miles of the North Country Scenic Trail included in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Pictured Rocks stretches along the Michigan coast, from Grand Marais to Munising, and features spectacular scenery, including 15 miles of multicolored sandstone cliffs rising 200 feet above Lake Superior. The splash of color is caused by minerals: red and orange from copper, green and blue from iron, white from lime, and black from manganese. Waves, wind, rain, and ice have eroded these cliffs into arches, columns, promontories, and thunder caves.

This is the nation’s first designated national lakeshore, identified in 1966 to protect the inspiring cliffs, miles of pristine beaches, waterfalls and Grand Sable Banks, which extend for five miles rising 300 feet above the lake. We’ll also hike through the 12,000-acre Beaver Basin, one of the nation’s newest wilderness areas.

Gitche Gumee Gambol is a five-day backpack when fall colors are emerging. This could be a perfect time for you to discover Pictured Rocks and enjoy a hiking vacation “…by the shining Big-Sea-Water.”

A typical day begins with breakfast and strong coffee (and other drinks) at 8 a.m. On the trail an hour or so later, we’ll spend the morning hiking, enjoying the scenery, and exploring the sights, including a lighthouse and shipwrecks still visible on the beach. A tasty lunch in a scenic spot preceeds a few hours of afternoon hiking before arriving at one of four reserved, backcountry campsites. There will be plenty of time to relax in camp before dinner and to watch sunsets from beaches that are near every campsite. As the stars come out, we’ll light a campfire if conditions allow, and enjoy hot drinks and good conversation before climbing into cozy tents to fall asleep.

Day 1: The trip starts in Munising, Michigan, where we leave our vehicles and board a private shuttle for a one-hour drive to the trailhead near Grand Marais. Today’s hike is about five miles and skirts Grand Sable Banks and Dunes. Lunch will be at the Log Slide, the site of a long-gone wooden chute that occasionally caught fire from the friction of logs sliding down the dunes to ships waiting in the lake. Au Sable Lighthouse, built in 1874, may be open to hikers a short distance from camp.

Day 2: The day starts with one of several shipwrecks near Au Sable Point and it ends at isolated Sevenmile Creek in the Beaver Basin Wilderness. Much of the 7.3-mile hike will be on the edge of Twelvemile Beach, which connects Grand Sable Banks with rocky cliffs further west. Once we walk through two car-accessible campgrounds, we’ll be in the most remote and rarely visited section of the park.

Day 3: Today’s 8.8-mile hike skirts Trappers and Beaver lakes, home to eagles, loons, and other denizens of the North Woods. Just before our campground, we will begin to experience the colorful cliffs that give Pictured Rocks its name.

Day 4: After viewing Spray Falls, which pours over a 70-foot cliff into Lake Superior, we’ll stop frequently for outstanding views of Pictured Rocks on our 7.3-mile hike, including 200-foot Grand Portal Point. Other than a short time on picturesque Chapel Beach, the path follows the edge of high cliffs on our way to Mosquito River.

Day 5: Our final hike will take us 9.1 miles over cliffs, beaches, and bogs. We will visit one of the icons of the park, Miners Castle, which lost one of two huge sandstone turrets when it crashed into the lake in 2006. After lunch at Miners Castle, we’ll head into the woods for the final miles to Munising and our cars, where we will arrive by mid-afternoon.

Getting There

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is on the south shore of Lake Superior between Munising and Grand Marais, Michigan. Sawyer International Airport is 50 miles away near Marquette, Michigan. Participants will receive a roster to encourage ride-sharing. Cars will be parked next to park headquarters at Sand Point, where we will board a shuttle for the ride to the trailhead. Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a trip member.

Accommodations and Food

Our group has four backcountry group campsites reserved along the trail. The campsites are undeveloped. All water must be boiled for cooking or filtered for drinking. We bring the filters. All meals, from lunch on day one to lunch on day five, are included. Plan to work together to make camp, and prepare and clean up meals. The trip leaders really enjoy cooking and eating, so participants can count on interesting, varied, and nutritious meals. There will be plenty of food. If desired, participants can bring along additional between-meal snacks. We will try to accommodate vegetarian and medical dietary restrictions. Those with challenging restrictions may be asked to bring or prepare some of their own food to supplement the group food. Please contact the trip leader if you require accommodation.

Trip Difficulty

This trip is rated 2, formerly Light/Moderate. The pace, 38 miles in five days, is relaxed with little elevation gain although there are plenty of short, steep hills. We will travel from five to nine miles each day with 30- to 40-pound packs, so this is a hiking vacation for experienced backpackers in good physical condition.

Equipment and Clothing

The Sierra Club provides food, cooking gear, water filters, and more. The leader will provide a list of required and suggested gear well in advance of the outing, including a large backpack to carry 8-10 pounds of group food and kitchen equipment; tent; sleeping pad; sleeping bag; sturdy, broken-in, waterproof hiking boots; rain suit; and layers of clothing to keep warm. The weather at Pictured Rocks at this time of year ranges from perfect to challenging. Average highs are in the 60s and average lows are in the high 40s. However, temperatures can easily exceed averages, and it can rain, so it’s important to be prepared for warmer, cooler, and wet weather.

References

• Pictured Rocks website: http://www.nps.gov/piro/index.htm
• Brochures, maps, and other information: http://www.nps.gov/piro/planyourvisit/brochures.htm
• To purchase a topo of the park, visit the United States Geological Survey. 
• Hansen, Eric, Hiking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (A Falcon Guide).
• Graham, Loren R., A Face in the Rock, The Tale of a Grand Island Chippewa. University of California Press.

Conservation

A band of Chippewa, the Ojibwa, made their home in Pictured Rocks long before French Jesuits paddled to the area. The Native Americans left behind art, culture, and stories that we’ll discuss in one of our evening slide shows.

Much of Pictured Rocks has been impacted by human activities, both historic and current, including logging and mining practices during the past 150 years, fires resulting from these practices, road improvement projects, land clearing for agriculture, and vacation home development. The effect of these activities, especially logging, is particularly evident in the forests of the national lakeshore. Logging that took place from the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s removed the old-growth forest, which greatly impacted the structure and composition of today's forests. The average age of trees throughout the park is less than 100 years old and few old-growth specimens remain. Dutch elm and beech bark diseases are a significant threat to the forest. We’ll meet with a ranger to discuss how the park is responding to these environmental challenges.

Leave No Trace principles will guide our stay in Pictured Rocks. For more information, visit http://lnt.org/learn/7-principles

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and will operate under a permit from Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.