The first time I heard of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was a few years ago while I was scrolling through Adventure Archives’ numerous YouTube videos. Watching Adventure Archives with my dad was kind of like a treat while living in the flat – yet beautiful – country of Singapore. So although we couldn’t actually hike in the mountains, we could at least virtually experience some of the thrill of hiking from our living room.

But do you know what’s even better than watching someone hike on TV (at least in my opinion)? Doing it in real life!

Just recently, I found myself hiking the 10-mile Chapel Rock Loop. Fallen leaves from the thousands of red maple, yellow birch, and white pine trees littered the trails in a palette of colors; golden-mantled ground squirrels hiding among the leaf litter. I loved to watch and listen as the clear turquoise-teal water of Lake Superior crashed against the sedimentary cliffs.

The scenery was spectacular – a paradise in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

I’d say that one of my favorite parts of the hike (other than the hike itself) was climbing up then running down sand dunes that had been pushed up against the cliffs by the powerful force of water. I also enjoyed sitting on a washed up tree at Chapel Beach, sipping hot mint tea while watching Lake Superior roll onto the sandy lakeshore.

In the end, we only managed six out of ten miles of the hike because we were hurrying to attend a Seed Saving Workshop at a nearby local library, hosted by an acclaimed herbalist. After learning about preserving and storing seeds, we got the opportunity to harvest vegetables from a garden!

To end the day, I enjoyed a delicious bowl of vegetable soup, made from the very vegetables we had picked just a few hours earlier.

Happy Hiking!

Vivienne