Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore - September 2024
Summary
In September of 2024, we ran 40 miles along the North Country Trail (NCT) in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. This was the furthest single-day effort either of us had accomplished and this completed all of the Lakeshore Trail for me, which was one of my bucket list goals in Michigan!
The majority of our 40 miles overlapped with this AllTrails route. We started early hiking out of Grand Marais and ended at Miner’s Castle.
Where
The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore spans from Munising to Grand Marais in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Logistics
We stayed the night in Woodland Park Campground in Grand Marais just outside of the National Lakeshore. The NCT runs through the campground, so we could start on foot and not have to worry about our car throughout the day. One thing worth noting is that this route was one-way. We needed to arrange a shuttle back to Grand Marais at the end of the day. Thankfully a former coworker of my sister lived in the area and was willing to help us out. Otherwise, we would have needed to look into professional shuttle services or other Trail Angels in the area supporting NCT hikers/trail runners. This was a tremendous help in making the day a success.
Hiking / Trail Running
The night prior we arrived in Grand Marais and enjoyed a pizza at the Grand Marais Tavern while we talked through last minute nutrition planning. After finishing up dinner, we finished setting up camp at Woodland Park and anxiously awaited our 4AM wakeup the following morning to start our big adventure!
Once we heard the alarms on our phones, we quickly and quietly arranged our hydration packs with a day’s worth of food, electrolytes, and emergency gear. This was the first time we were packing so much food given our past long-distance adventures had been supported races. We filled up our water bottles in the Campground’s bathroom and made our way to the starting line at 4:40AM.
The first few miles were dark and the only sounds were that of the crashing waves of Lake Superior. We quickly ascended into the woods rising a few hundred feet above the water. At this point it was still dark and we adjusted to being on trail instead sand and hearing animals waking for the day. Around 6:30AM, the sun started to provide some lighting for us and we could put away our headlamps for the day. At this same time, the trail meandered back to the edge of the woods, where we could get our first glimpse of the lakeshore. It was a motivating moment to see the sun rising and how far we had already travelled by that time.
The sunrise along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, about 8 miles into our adventure!
Our plans were to cover miles as early as we could, given the forecast showed an unseasonably warm day ahead of us. Thankfully the trail allowed for fast, comfortable miles early on. From here, the next 10 miles or so were relatively flat as well. The only issues we ran into in this section were the roots and stumps sticking up on the trail. Given the sun was not completely risen at this point, the roots were hard to see, which resulted in a few stubbed toes and some close calls!
By the time we reached the halfway point, we were starting to feel the heat setting in. Up until this point, the running was easy and the scenery was pretty consistent. Time was flying by and our spirits were high. This would soon change as fatigue started to set in and the reality of the temperates reaching into the 80s was in front of us.
Thankfully although the running would get more difficult, the views and terrain would get better and better. We started to pass some of the notable scenic views along the lakeshore and even some less nature-centric landmarks like an old car appearing seemingly out of nowhere in the middle of the woods!
At the 50k mark, every mile we covered was a new personal long for both of us. We had each done a few 50k’s over the past year and we started to reflect on how much our bodies and confidence had changed over the course of that time. This held us through some difficult times that were approaching given we had been running for 8+ hours at this point and there was still a few hours to go.
Around 2-3PM we started talking about planning what would be our finish line for the day. We could tell we were slowing down a bit given the heat and some misses in our original estimates both in time and distance. For example, we thought we were only about a mile off the official National Lakeshore Trail, but that turned out to be about 4 miles. We also underestimated the time it would take to self-support this adventure: filtering and refilling our water ourselves, moving food around in our packs, and confirming our position on the right trail from time to time. After reflecting on the fact that we were a bit behind the estimate we had told our shuttle coordinator, we would need to do an extra 6 miles to do the official Lakeshore Trail in totality, and the hottest point in the day was in front of us, we made the decision that we would call it a day once we completed our A goal, which was to cover 40 miles in a single day.
We updated our shuttle coordinator that we would finish at Miner’s Castle, and at that point 5-6 miles and a few hours separated us from our “finish line”. The closer we got to Miner’s Castle, the more we knew we had made the right decision. We both agreed we could have certainly kept going, but the conditions were not ideal and given we would accomplish what we set out to do and had help waiting for us, it felt like the right call. We finished around 415-4:30PM finishing 40 miles in just under 12 hours.
Miner's Castle: Our finish line for the day and one of the most prominent landmarks in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Riding back to Grand Marais, our new friend shared stories with us while we enjoyed cold drinks for the first time all day. We reminisced on what we had accomplished over the previous 12 hours and were grateful to have her help in getting us back to camp. We showered up quickly and were ready to celebrate our accomplishment. We finished an epic day enjoying whitefish at Lake Superior Brewing, a local speciality in the Upper Peninsula, and sharing many laughs and stories around a campfire before falling asleep easily at the end of the night!
Conclusion
This day will always be a special day in our memories for various reasons. It signified our first major self-supported adventure together, pushed our physical and mental limits, and checked a few items off our personal bucket lists. Above all, it reminded me how fortunate I am to live in such a beautiful state and be in a position to enjoy the outdoors through big adventures with my friends.
Photos
All photos were taken with my phone at the time, the iPhone 12 Pro
