Yurting in the Porkies

Just about a year ago I had a great adventure with my son Erik and his fiance` Linda. I drove the six hours in winter weather to Houghton, MI to meet up with them, then we headed for Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, our largest state park at 60,000 acres! Large as it is, in the summer it is very popular with backpackers and gets busy so I looked forward to a quiet winter experience.

We arrived just as darkness was coloring the snow that midnight blue color it gets before it appears bright again in the starlight. Stars! I'm not sure I've ever seen so many. We joked about the slow moving "stars" that must be UFOs but we decided they were satellites or some other explainable phenomenon. Erik and Linda had been to the yurts before and Linda had a map, so we trudged on for three hours by snowshoe until we arrived at the Little Union River Yurt, our home away from home. What a home it was! So comfy with it's all wood frame interior, bunkbeds, and tiny woodstove. Erik got a fire going and Linda opened a bottle of wine, so we were in business for the first night.

We had everything we needed right nearby: wood for the fire, an axe, the Little Union River just down the hill, a pit toilet not far down the trail, and of course the comfort of the yurt, complete with windows to enjoy the view. So the next morning we got busy splitting wood, purifying water from the River, and getting ready for a little exploring in the area. We got our snowshoes on and decided to follow the river for a while. What a perfect late winter day to be outside! When we got back I stuck a bottle of Ballatore in the snow to chill, (we were celebrating Erik's new job!) and went inside to relax and make an entry in the Little Union Yurt Visitor Journal while Erik and Linda relaxed in the warm sun. At the end of the weekend we made the long trek back to the Ranger Station and the car, said goodbye to the yurt, goodbye to the river, good bye to the trails and Lake Superior.