Events

The next meeting for the Grand Traverse Chapter is Tuesday, January 21, 7:00 pm at the Boardman River Nature Center.

A presentation will discuss some of the Midwest’s most spectacular scenery and hiking that occurs along western Lake Superior, in places like Isle Royale National Park, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. The scenery results from a huge geological structure, the Midcontinent Rift (MCR), a 1.1-billion-year-old, 2500-mile-long scar along which the North American continent almost tore apart. The rift gave rise to Lake Superior that is the basis of the area’s water-based history and economy, the copper and building stone deposits that shaped the region’s settlement and growth, and today’s tourist industry.

An ideal way to appreciate these is hiking Isle Royale, a huge wilderness island in Lake Superior that is one of the least-visited national parks. Seth Stein will give an overview of how the MCR shaped the scenery of Isle Royale and other parks, how to get there by boat or seaplane, and what day hiking and backpacking there is like.