10 days in peaceful Petasega County Park! Petasega sits on the SE edge of beautiful
Pickerel Lake, which is one of the lakes included in the Inland Water Route
that runs from Cheboygan on the east to Crooked Lake on the west! (Here it is –
See Previous Michigan Blogs!) 10 days
nestled in the cooling shade of the woods that cover the rolling hills of the
“Tip of the Mitten” of Michigan! AND -
10 days with no TV reception! Lots of
knitting and reading each evening until H could find a VCR at some resale store! 10 warm days of visiting with friends,
exploring, fishing and boating!
One day we had the boat on Pickerel Lake when the ominous
dark clouds slid in over the lake. We
hurriedly headed for the boat launch!
As soon as we had the cover back on the boat, up in the parking lot of
the park – the sky opened up and it poured!
No problem – the day was still young so we headed for Petosky to hunt
for H’s VCR. Our hometown neighbors –
Tom and Chris were up camping in the area so we located their trailer and left
a message since they didn’t stay home during the rainstorm either. A few days later, they came to visit us at
Petasega.
One morning we headed out to the small tourist town of
Indian River for breakfast and then north to Mackinaw City. The sun was high and the white caps that
dotted the blue water were rolling in to the gravel beaches as we watched the
geese bob along in the waves. The
magnificent “Mighty Mac” was standing tall against the clear noontime sky as
the steady stream of cars and trucks cautiously crossed the 5-mile length of
the bridge. The streets and stores were busy with tourists. Back down the eastern coast of the “mitten”
we stopped in Cheboygan for a fish dinner at Alice’s Restaurant. We cruised the main roads to see what, if anything,
had changed since our last visit. Not
much! As always we revisited the local
“junk” store and low and behold – there was the VCR that H had been hunting
for! And the remote was with it! He even picked up some new movies to watch!
H’s favorite thing to do while in this area is to run the
Inland Water Route! The Tracker sliced
thru the quiet waters of Pickerel Lake and Crooked Lake, thru the small lock on
the Crooked River, thru Alanson and under its famous one lane swing
bridge. Crooked River is just that –
and H took full advantage of the lack of boat traffic as he slid around ALL the
curves and we watched as the boat’s wake slapped both shorelines behind
us. As we crossed Burt Lake the wind
picked up but we were traveling with it, so our crossing was easy and we found
our way into the busy, narrow Indian River that was now congested with slow
moving boats. Making a U turn in the
strong currant and traffic was no easy feat but H maneuvered his craft around
and we secured it to the dock in the shade under the bridge. Ice cream was the target and after we had
devoured our sweet treats we wandered out onto the pedestrian bridge that
crosses the river right next to the vehicle bridge. It’s another great place to watch folks and their boats as they
travel up and down the river! Our
journey’s turn around point was the bridge for I 75 and we
reversed our route
back towards camp. We crossed Burt
Lake, this time heading into the wind and the ride was rougher than the
first. H kept checking his GPS and the
depth finder. Double click on the
picture and you’ll see that the lake at that point was 45 ft deep!
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| Downtown Indian River |
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| Crossing under I-75 |
Our dear friends, Mel and Donna are a MUST whenever we are
this far north. It’s always fun to
zigzag thru the back roads to the shore of Paradise Lake and their log home
with the bright red roof! Our 2nd
get together was at our place and the baby back ribs H grilled over the
campfire were delicious!
H even got to go shoot skeet! We found the Emmet County Sportsman’s Club, north of Harbor Springs
and east of Good Hart on W Robinson Rd.
It is listed as “Northern Michigan’s Premier Shooting Facility! And it is!
They have a really nice clubhouse, staffed by extremely helpful folks
and free coffee and rolls for shooters (and those that accompany them!). They told H that he would be shooting with
a very good shooter but wouldn’t you know it – H shot a perfect round and beat
him! To celebrate his score, we
enjoyed lunch at the Polish Kitchen in Harbor Springs!
Harbor Springs and Petosky are always fun to visit and
“explore”! There are plenty of city
parks right on the waterfront, public boat launches with tables and benches in
the shade to rest on and to people watch.
In Petosky we finally stopped at the high scenic overlook to take in the
expanse of the bluest water and the busy harbor with the lighthouse that guards
it. Out on the breakwall to the
lighthouse, the local teens were showing off and doing diving tricks into the
deep clear cool water below.
Yes, we did fish and yes, H did catch several walleye (aka
pickerel) right out on Pickerel Lake in front of Petasega! And yes – they were delicious! He even had a huge bass but it spit out the
lure right as he got close to the boat.
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| Camp Petasega |
