Since the first camping adventure went so well at 5 weeks old, why not push the envelope a little and get another trip in right away (technically we’re on maternity leave, so… we’ll spend it the way we like it).

Since Isle Royale was such a success, Jaime mentioned the Grand Island in Munising, MI. I’d never heard of it before, so I immediately agreed that we should go to The Grand Island. Who doesn’t want to go somewhere they’ve never been or heard of?

We drove up to Munising and stayed at a really nice hotel (pet friendly for the doggo) and made sure that we had all of our supplies and gear in check.

You could see The Grand Island from the hotel, and the sunset was awesome watching all the boats come in off the lake.

Day 1

The next morning we went to Grand Island ferry (a pontoon captained by a really nice / knowledgable captain) and we made our way to the island. The ferry ride is roughly 5 minutes. If the island were any closer, most people would just swim to it.

Here’s the website for cabin rentals and other logistical information on Grand Island.

The ferry ride is very pleasant, and when they drop you off you’re at a little gathering post that has port-o-lets and a nice little covered waiting area in case it’s raining while you’re waiting for the ferry to arrive.

(Shout out to Granite Gear on making such an awesome lightweight backpack)

There are two cabins on the island that are available to rent out. They’re both very nice – two bunkbed setups that are very well made. Not rickety old metal frame bunkbeds, but hand made wood bunk beds that are bolted into the walls and floor of the cabin. Comfortable as well, all you need is your sleep sack.

One cabin is 1.0 miles from the dock, the other is about 3.3 miles from the dock. We reserved the one at the 3.3 mile marker for one night, so we started hiking in. (Mind you, in Herbster and Dalrymple we were car camping – we didn’t hike in to camp)

It was a beautiful (warm on the verge of hot) day. We had a nice breeze coming in off of the lake, and the scenery was just perfect for our hike in.

We got to our cabin, and dropped our packs to just relax and take in the magic of nature and the wonders of a beautiful sunset.

Day 2

After a good night’s sleep in the cabin, we got up and started our day with a little breakfast and laughter.

There are trails that circumnavigate the entire island. Because it was once a private island, there are site complexes all over the island every few miles down trail depending on which direction you’re heading. We we close to the Mather Beach Overlook so we went Northwest for about 3 miles total, before heading back to the cabin to pack up and move on.

After we packed up, we started hiking to our camp site (Hemlock) which was just across the trail from the water. The views (as are all the views on The Grand Island) were spectacular. The plan was to get our new campsite all setup, and then head up the trail north to the cliffs (there are a ton of cliffs by Preservation Point and the North Light Creek Bridge).

That was the plan… However, as many of you hikers know weather can be the determining factor in a number of ways.

We got our tents setup, and everything in place to have a nice relaxing day / evening – and then the weather changed, and it changed REALLY fast.

Jaime and Frankie got cosy in their tent, but the wind started getting relentless. We looked at the weather reports and we saw a serious storm-front coming through.

Frankie was not pleased:

We called the hotel we stayed at in Munising previously and they had availability. So we packed up, and hauled out the 3.5 miles back to the boat launch, and waited for the next boat to arrive. It took about an hour before the boat came back, and it was a choppy ride back.

But once we got back to the hotel, the weather really came in and we were all glad to be back in a nice comfy hotel at that point. (Don’t judge the tights – you know you’d be wearing Van Halen tights every day if you owned a pair)

Anyhow – since our trip to The Grand Island was cut short and we didn’t get to see all we wanted to see – we’re going back in July 2022 and Jaime is going to run the trail race around the island, so we’ll have a more detailed report for you when we get back.

Keep on truckin’ kids!

CK