Our Stories

Wild in the North Country – Part Three

By Michele Oberholtzer

The Upper Peninsula

Day 15, Mile 211

I arrived in Mackinaw City wet from the pouring rain and angry at myself for getting lost. I decided to get a hotel room even though that feels indulgent and wimpy and lazy. There was a massive storm at night. I ran around taking pictures and delighting in the impressive clash between the skies over Lakes Michigan and Huron. It was nice to actually enjoy the storm knowing I had a safe dry place to retreat to afterward.

Back at the hotel, I took a hot bath, washed all my dirty clothes, and had a good look at myself in the mirror for the first time since I left. I decided my hair was too long and gave myself a spontaneous haircut with my camping knife. It felt great to know that, even if it looks horrible, it really doesn’t matter! As a matter of fact I think it looks pretty darn cute.

The Mackinaw Bridge is closed to pedestrians, so I decided to get to the UP by buying a round-trip ferry ticket to Mackinaw Island where the second leg took me north to St. Ignace instead of back south.

I’ve had a very built-up sense of awe and even foreboding when I think about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It’s mystical, a place of extensive unbroken wilderness. It’s not like I expected the dirt to be a different color or the trees to be up-side-down but I did expect it to have some intangible sort of “otherness.” The UP is not so different from every other place but just slightly more than. More trees, bigger forests, greater distances between people- it’s all the same as before but just turned up a notch.

As I lay here in bed, I hear the sound of wolves howling, and it makes me wonder if I’ve ever heard wolves before. Actually they are probably coyotes. They seem close by and very wild. It is incredible and eerie.

Michele Oberholtzer backpacked alone across Northern Michigan from Leelenau to Keweenaw, traveling on foot for over 700 miles. Most of her hike took place on the North Country Trail, which has over 1000 miles in Michigan. Stay tuned from now until New Years Day as we share her story. Michele documented her trip in her “Left of East” journal series. Check out that series and more of her writing at www.oberdoit.com.