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Mike spent hours studying the park map after he and
Aimee first visited the Porkies in 1984. At that time, they had
established the
feasibility of completing a day hike in the ten to fifteen mile range.
Mike decided there were two possible circle or loop hikes in that
distance
range, with two others as "long shots." After completing the first
possibility
in 1985, a loop of the North Mirror Lake, Correction Line, and Big Carp
River Trails, a loop encompassing the Cross and Little Carp River
Trails
with short connecting segments along other trails followed in
September,
1986. Mike so heartily enjoyed this trip that he and Aimee repeated
it with his brother Mark on Memorial Day weekend, 1987. Aimee, for her
part, regretted not paying attention to Mike's plans for the Memorial
Day weekend repeat hike, which she would have declined.
The hike covered a distance of about 13 miles. It was the first hike we
took in the Porkies that did not begin in the M-107 / Lake of the
Clouds area. Instead, we followed South Boundary Road about 15 or 20
miles to unpaved (in 1987, probably still today) Little Carp River
Road. The road ends after 1/2 mile or so at a parking area. Access
trails
extend in both directions; we took the trail to the left (west) heading
towards the Greenstone Falls cabin. In about 1/2 mile, we merged with
the
main Little Carp River Trail near the vicinity of Greenstone Falls.
Roughly 1/2 mile later, the Cross Trail turned right and moderately
climbed a hill for a short distance.
Having taken two trips over the entire five mile length of the
Cross Trail, Mike finds it difficult to remember anything memorable
about it. Perhaps a mile or so into the trail, there is an extremely
muddy section -- one of us actually had a hiking shoe pulled off and
stuck in the mud, right at one of the few points in the entire park
where
poison ivy grew. We thought the troubles with mud were ending when
we saw a clearing ahead -- it turned out to be a swamp! After that, it
did dry out and become more passable, and the only other detail of note
was the Toledo Creek stream crossing about halfway along the trail. The
creek barely flowed during dry times.
You can tell you're coming to the end of the Cross Trail when you
approach the Big Carp River in a valley below it. At river level, it
ends at the Big Carp River Trail which has just crossed the river.
About 1/2 mile downstream, the Big Carp River Trail ends at the Lake
Superior Trail, at the point where the river flows into Lake Superior.
A wooden footbridge takes the Lake Superior Trail east toward M-107; we
turned left (west) toward Presque Isle.
The segment of the Lake Superior Trail between the Big and Little Carp
Rivers is listed as one mile in the park trail guide, but it's more
like 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 miles. (You notice such things after hiking 6 1/2
miles with as many to go.) There are beaches (not for swimming!) at
both
rivermouths which are good places to stop for lunch. Occasionally we
saw
other hikers or campers in this area, but not often. (In addition to
the two trips along this route, we have visited this general area via
other
trails on at least four other occasions.)
Mike's favorite hike in the Porkies is the 5 1/2 mile segment of the
Little Carp River Trail completing the loop back to the Cross Trail
intersection. It doesn't have the one breathtaking vista that
Escarpment Trail has with Lake of the Clouds, rather, it has a
continual series
of waterfalls and stream crossings. You have to hike it -- you can't
just drive to it like Lake of the Clouds overlook -- and that also
makes
it special. The trail follows the river over this entire segment,
usually
along its banks and rarely more than a few dozen feet inland. Because
it
follows the river valley, it is not a difficult hike in the sense of
climbing
hills. Although it gains 500 to 600 ft of elevation, the slope is
extremely
gradual and constant over 5 1/2 miles so you don't notice it. The park
map shows three named waterfalls -- Traders, near the rivermouth,
followed
by Explorers and Trappers, about two miles upstream -- but there are
numerous
small falls and rapids.
Once the Cross Trail intersection is reached, you can return to the
parking area on Little Carp River Road by doubling back on the initial
one mile segment on Little Carp River Trail and on the road access side
trail.
One thing to remember: The park map shows two stream crossings
along the 5 1/2 mile segment. Don't believe it -- there are nearly
a dozen if Mike's memory serves him correctly. With the exception of
a large log bridge on the access trail from the road, all require a bit
of nimbleness to cross stepping stones or balance on narrow logs. Aimee
especially disliked one narrow log which spanned a mini-gorge, perhaps
five to ten feet above the rocky stream. Mike would suggest wading the
shallow stream for such crossings.
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Aimee about to cross Toledo Creek about halfway
through hiking the Cross Trail in early September, 1986. This was Aimee
and Mike's 4th visit to the Porkies and 3rd different hike. They had
repeated the Escarpment Trail on one trip with Mike's brother Mark.
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 This was one of the cabins
located near the mouth of
the Big Carp River at Lake Superior. We were day hiking and didn't
actually stay at the cabin, but Aimee posed in front of it for a photo.
At this point, we were close to halfway done with the 13-mile hike, and
we stopped for lunch along the lakeshore at the rivermouth.
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 The Big Carp River flows into
Lake Superior on a
beautiful September day. Unlike Lake of the Clouds overlook, which is
accessible by car, the only way to see this in person is to hike at
least 4 1/2 miles -- we had done six.
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 This is the view looking
upstream on the Big Carp
River from the Lake Superior shore. The wooden bridge visible in the
photo carries the Lake Superior Trail across the river. The large rock
at the right (west) end of the bridge has a USGS benchmark embedded in
it, which Mike found thrilling.
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Aimee, picking her way across stepping stones on the
Little Carp River. Her caption on the photo reads, "This is not
my idea of crossing a river!" The park map seems to indicate two stream
crossings on this segment of the Little Carp River Trail -- we counted
close to a dozen!
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Aimee, in a much less precarious pose, crosses the
Little Carp River yet another time. This crossing was just before the
end of our hike, and was actually on the half-mile access trail from
the Little Carp
River Trail in the vicinity of Greenstone Falls to the parking area on
Little Carp River Road. The bridge consisted of a large log (compare
its size to Aimee) with its top slightly flattened to provide a walking
surface.
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