Description Revised July 12, 1999
Hiked 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1997
The first time we visited the park, in September,
1984, we asked the ranger at the Visitor Center which trail she would
recommend for a day hike, and she suggested the Escarpment Trail. This
trail runs four miles, following the escarpment overlooking Lake of the
Clouds and the Upper Carp River Inlet. The photo on the park brochure
cover always features this overlook, which is undoubtedly the most
famous vista in the park. Two-year-old Maria posing on one of several Lake of
the Clouds overlooks on the Escarpment Trail. This photo was taken on
July 31, 1997, when Maria and Dad did their first solo hike in the
Porkies. Mom dropped the two of them off at Government Peak Trail and
M-107, and about two hours later, they met her at the Lake of the
Clouds Overlook parking lot. A closeup of Maria on the Escarpment Trail. Lake of
the Clouds lies 200 to 300 feet below, less than a half mile as the
crow flies. The rocks behind Maria mark the edge of the escarpment,
which drops off sharply. Incidentally, Maria did not hike on her own
two feet. Dad had taken her out of the backpack carrier for a snack
break.
In any case, Aimee and Mike drove to Lake of the Clouds overlook and
began hiking the trail to the east, with an eight ounce water bottle
and no food to speak of -- we thought there would be a concession stand
at Lake of the Clouds like the one at Tahquamenon Falls State Park. We
had no hiking boots, just running shoes. At one point, roughly halfway
along the trail, we missed a turnoff and instead followed an unofficial
"short cut" which had us grabbing at saplings to get up to the next
peak. Still, we reached the end at Government Peak Trail in a
reasonably short time, about an hour and a half. It was there
that we made our biggest tactical error -- deciding to extend the hike
along
Government Peak Trail to Trap Falls.
After hiking roughly 2 1/2 miles, we saw many waterfalls along the
Upper Carp River, but never saw a sign for Trap Falls, so we decided to
turn around. By this point, we had hiked 6 1/2 miles one way and were
starting to get hungry and thirsty. When we reached the Escarpment
Trail again, there was no way we were going to climb the roughly 500 ft
rise. We bailed out by completing
the last 1/4 mile of the Government Peak Trail to Highway M-107 and
hiking
the last four miles along the road.
After 13 miles of hiking, Mike recalls the two of them stopped for
Cokes at a gas station in Ontonagon and drank an entire six pack on the
hour drive back to Houghton. Mike also recalls eating a lot of Aimee's
sister Ellen's spaghetti when we got back.
Now that we have a bit more hiking experience, we typically take first
time visitors to the Porkies on the Escarpment Trail if they have any
hiking capability
at all. These hikes included an eight mile round trip with Mike's
brother
Mark on Memorial Day weekend, 1986, an abortive six mile attempt with
Mike's
sister Anne in September, 1987 (see comment above regarding hiking
capability),
as part of a 16 mile circle hike with Mark on a record hot and humid
Memorial
Day weekend, 1988 (Mark claimed we were trying to kill him), and
finally,
Maria's third Porkies' hike, a solo with Dad, just after her 2nd
birthday
in July, 1997.
Mike prefers to hike the trail east to west (M-107/Government Peak
Trail to Lake of the Clouds). There is an unpaved parking area at the
trailhead of Government Peak Trail on M-107, about four miles past
South Boundary Road. Government Peak Trail rises moderately and
Escarpment Trail turns off on
the right about 1/4 mile in from M-107. The first half mile or so is a
moderate to steep uphill segment, rising about 400 ft to Cuyahoga Peak,
where
the trail reaches the escarpment. This point is the first of a series
of
vistas overlooking the valley of the Upper Carp River Inlet and Lake of
the Clouds. The trail follows the escarpment along the river for about
two miles, then along the lake for the remaining distance. Total
distance to Lake of the Clouds overlook and parking area is four miles.
The official trail ends by dropping to the parking area, although there
are some unofficial but obvious paths which follow the escarpment
directly to the Lake of the Clouds overlook.
One thing to remember: If hiking west to east (Lake of the Clouds to
Government Peak Trail) be aware of the left hand turn off the
escarpment at the west end of an overlook about 1 1/2 miles into the
hike. The worn path continues straight, but IT IS NOT THE OFFICIAL
TRAIL. Although shorter in distance, it has a horrendous descent and
ascent to the next peak. This isn't a problem in the west to east
direction.
This is the
initial vista seen when hiking from M-107/Government Peak Trail to Lake
of the Clouds. The Escarpment Trail rises about 500 feet to this point,
with the Upper Carp River Inlet and Lake of the Clouds visible. The
photo was taken in September, 1987, hence the fall color in the
foreground.
This is a
closeup of the Upper Carp River Inlet taken from the same place as the
previous photo, but looking south (over the escarpment edge) instead of
west (along the escarpment). This high point along the escarpment is
near
Cuyahoga Peak, and the stream is approximately 400 ft below and about
1/2
mile as the crow flies.
Looking
southeast from the same point on the Escarpment Trail at Cuyahoga Peak,
an upstream view of the Upper Carp River Inlet is visible with the
hills
in the park interior in the background. This photo was taken on a
Memorial Day Weekend hike in 1986.
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