The "Porkies" Trip Report

Got back from the Porkies and have to say it's a wonderful place.  The whole UP is just one big beautiful forest and small lake after lake. Keep going and you run into Lake Superior, which I have to say was warmer than I expected.  Probably about 60F, which for Superior is pretty good.
We stayed at the Union Bay Campground which is in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Area State Park.  The place was pretty busy and we got lucky and got a good spot, not right on the lake but close enough. Electric hookups were fine.  Water was close if you needed some, but you had to carry it as it would not take a hose hookup.  Had plenty of clean bathroom facilities and showers, though I didn't use them.  They did have a dump station.  There is a boat ramp right on the grounds if that's your thing, but we only saw one power boat.  Mostly people were kayaking.
As usual, we were interested in hiking.  First day we did 14.2 miles from the campground to the end of the Escarpment trail which runs the ridge above the Lake of the Clouds and back.  1632 feet of ascent during the hike and I was pretty spent after that day.  It's tough keeping up with a younger wife sometimes.  We got rained on with no where to escape, but it actually felt good because it was so hot.  The bugs were out as expected in the forested parts of the wilderness, but once you got up on the ridge the wind was blowing pretty good at about 15-20 mph so it kept them off you mostly.  The campground was another story.  The biting flies were pretty nasty.  Better than it is up there is June or July, but if you're not prepared for them it can ruin your trip.  It was 10-15 degrees warmer than usual up there with temps in the mid 80's and humid.  The lake felt good after a long sweaty hike!
Here's a gallery with a few images:
<https://postimg.cc/gallery/TTkP43J>
The people we met were all very nice and friendly.  Seemed everyone was taking advantage of the unusual weather trying to get in as much camping as possible.
Oh, and the little Weber Q grill works great.  Super easy to control and cook on, and not a big gas hog.
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Stand With Israel!