Porkies 2026, Day 7: Big Carp, Marquette, and home

Last time: Rest day or departure day? - or check out all of my backpacking and adventure logs

Big Carp 4-bunk cabin

Friday May 29, 2026: In the middle of the night, I woke up and heard a mouse scratching at the door, then chewing on the wood. Eventually it quieted down, and I never heard the pitter-patter of its little feet on our floor.

When I woke up for good, it was a beautiful bright morning. We had the usual tea and oatmeal, then some more tea to brush away the bleariness in our eyes. Boiling water for the second cup of tea used up the last of our gas canister, which was perfect: Today was our last day in the woods. (We'd brought an additional half-canister of gas just in case, but never used it.)

After breakfast, we promptly packed up, said goodbye to this beautiful cabin, and headed out.

As we walked, we talked about the cabin. Sarah had been skeptical of Big Carp 4-bunk when I first proposed it -- it has no view of the lake, and the trail runs right next to the windows. Now she proclaimed it her favorite cabin at the mouth of the Big Carp (with Lake Superior cabin shortly behind it). The cabin itself is beautiful and well tended. Its setting, although no lake view, is still spectacular: The beautiful Big Carp runs just outside the windows, with its rushing waters and overhanging trees. Certainly her extremely cozy day cuddled up in the cabin didn't hurt.

The cold north wind of the last few days had shifted, and today was working up to be much warmer. The bugs were taking full advantage of that warmth, and this time they were starting to bite. We were leaving the woods just in time, before the buggageddon of June descended.

You can do it, little fishie!

We wove our way around the many blowdowns of the Lake Superior trail and stopped at the Little Carp River bridge for lunch. Here, from our perch on the rocks by the first waterfall, we saw that the spawn was well and truly on. These mystery fish were now attacking the waterfalls in full force, flapping and fluttering and trying to get to the top. We cheered them on. It was still early enough that barely any fish had made it up to the pool above the first waterfall. With many waterfalls and pools above that point, we wondered how far up the river they would make it. 

Much later, after some careful reading of DNR resources, I finally figured out that these fish are longnose suckers. In particular, the red stripe along the sides of the fish identified them as spawning males.

After lunch, we headed south on the Pinkerton Creek trail. This was as easy as ever, but this time we were being chased by increasingly bold mosquitoes. We made record time and escaped the woods early in the afternoon. The bugs weren't the only indication that spring was giving way to summer, because we came out to this:

Pollen, pollen, everywhere

We drove around the park and pulled in to the Visitor Center's parking lot, where a school bus was idling. The Visitor Center was overrun by a class of elementary schoolers, many of them entranced by the table-sized topographic park map in the center of the room. I made my way through the swarm to the front desk and left a few maintenance notes, mostly about the need for replacement log books.

And with that, we were officially done with another Porkies adventure.

End-of-trip selfie, feat. absolutely required bug nets

Of course, we weren't done with the trip. We needed lunch, but our favorite stop -- Bosio Biscuits -- had already closed for the day. Instead, we decided to get a small snack at the Baraga Drive-In, which we had often seen but never stopped at. Our bag of fries and homemade root beer were tasty and just what we needed to make it to Marquette.

On the way to Marquette, we reserved a last-minute room at the Superior Stay (always a favorite), which let us immediately check in and take showers. Even with our mid-week hotel stay, those showers still felt good.

After the showers, we went to the main event of our post-backpacking food tour: We shared a burger, fries, and a beer at Blackrocks. Literally, we split one of each, thinking that the earlier fries had filled us up and we might get ice cream later. As we at. them, we had sat at a... wait for it... cozy table on Blackrocks's patio. We chatted, we read, we ate, we relaxed. As soon as the first shared meal was done, we looked at each other, said "that was amazing", and quickly ordered one more of each. While we waited for our order to be ready, we chatted, read, and relaxed some more. It was wonderful.

After that, we took a quick walk down to the "Girly Pop" store, wandered the streets enjoying the expensive drink, and generally enjoying being clean, well-fed, and comfortable.

We slept well. The next day, we headed south and back into the real world.

Keep reading for some final thoughts...

My favorite window in the Big Carp 4-bunk, right next to my bunk

Final thoughts: This trip did not turn out the way we had expected, but we both still enjoyed it.

Our original idea -- remember that? -- was to take a rest day in each of three cabins. That "2-2-2" plan didn't happen due to the cabins being unavailable. But we loved the rest days at the sites where we did have them, Lily Pond and Big Carp 4. As we continue to get older, we both agreed that this is the way of the future. Well, OK, we're not that old... this is probably also because we -- or I -- feel less and less need to "prove" ourselves by doing longer loops and seeing new places. I've personally covered almost every single mile of Porkies trails, and stayed in nearly every cabin, so I'm happy to slow down a bit now. My goal on future trips is to see favorite places and have the time (and energy) to enjoy being there.

On the other hand, backpacking several miles at night over the rough terrain of Summit Peak was definitely an adventure, and perhaps something worth bragging about... if we weren't doing it because we had been chased out of Mirror Lake by tame mice. Mice have become a bigger problem for me over the past few years. I don't mean that we've encountered more mice -- although certainly the Mirror Lake mice were a new experience -- rather, I mean that I feel more anxious about mice in the cabins, and spend a lot of extra brainpower figuring out how to deal with them. Sometimes that works, as my rock wall at Big Carp showed. Other times, it does not. What is there to do about it? I don't know -- maybe just keep gaining experience.

But speaking of mice: That did show the power of being able to change our route on the fly. On the way out to Pinkerton trailhead on our last day, we talked about using this to our advantage. We could design a trip around in-and-out routes or short loops, where it would be easy to change up our route based on circumstances. That certainly worked well for us this year. 

In the end, any time spent in the Porkies is well worth it. I'm glad we didn't give up on this trip. We ended up finding a new favorite cabin -- Big Carp 4 -- and had some wonderful relaxation. As always, we'll be back.

If you liked this post, check out this list of all of my backpacking blog posts.

Miles hiked: 3.5

Final total miles: 25.2

Final route, with Day 7's route in, uh, violet? Mauve?

Porkies 2026, Day 6: Rest day at Big Carp

Last time: Back to the woods, but not before coffee - or check out all of my backpacking and adventure logs

Big Carp 4-bunk

Thursday May 28, 2026: The night was cold, but the woodstove kept the edge off of it. We both slept hard and woke up feeling groggy. My door-blocking rocks had worked: There had been no mice at all in the night.

Over oatmeal and tea, we discussed our options. We had proved that the mice couldn't permanently scare us out of the woods. What next? Today was originally planned to be a zero day, and then we would hike out and end our trip tomorrow. But both Sarah and I felt a bit melancholy this morning, perhaps a little worn down by the rigors of backpacking, and our brief taste of civilization had reminded us of how nice a soft bed and a real breakfast can be.

So, we made a plan: We would enjoy a slow morning, have a late lunch, then leave for the trailhead in the afternoon. We would find a hotel room for the night and then head home, a day earlier than planned. This felt right for both of us.

The morning was indeed pleasant and slow. The day was sunny, windy, and even colder than yesterday, with the north wind keeping things downright chilly. To help with that, I started a small fire in the woodstove, just to warm us up a little. We made multiple rounds of tea, sat in the cabin, read, and chatted. 

Spring Beauty, because I didn't take a lot of photos today.

As we sat, the woodstove and tea keept us cozy. The beautiful river ran past just outside our window. the sun and clouds rushed past overhead. Gradually, both of us started to feel the same thing: It was just so nice here, so pleasant and... well, I'm overusing the word, but cozy.

I brought it up first: My mind had changed, and I didn't want to leave any more. Sarah quickly agreed. We both just wanted to be here, in this wonderful place, enjoying the remoteness, the coziness, and the relaxation. What was really going on in our minds? Who knows! Perhaps just the chaos and confusion of the exit from Mirror Lake, followed by re-entry the next day. In the end, I'm glad we decided to stay.

With that decision made, I built the fire up to full strength. We kept the fire running all day, and we needed it. The official weather service record for Ontonagon says the high that day was 68. I suspect that right there on the windy lakeshore, we didn't get above 60, and it was likely much colder for most of the day (the official low was 41, which I believe!).

We continued to read and enjoy a quiet morning. But soon enough -- you know it -- I started to get antsy. Sarah enjoys sitting in one place, quietly reading for a while, but I felt the need to move!

I started by going outside and processing the rest of the firewood that we'd left unprocessed yesterday. There was so much firewood that even by running the stove all day, we barely made a dent in it.

After lunch, I decided to keep moving by taking a dayhike. I pondered the options for a while: Go back to the Little Carp? Beautiful, but then I'd have to navigate the Mile of Blowdowns along the Lake Superior trail -- twice -- just to get there and back. Hike up the Big Carp and see some waterfalls? I've done that many times, and as nice as it is, I wasn't in a waterfalling mood. East on the Lake Superior trail? I just did that last year -- but it was really nice, so why not do it again?

Lake Superior trial, actually near Lake Superior for a little while

The dayhike started off pretty much the same as last year: I hauled up a hill to the lake bluff, crossed some ravines on very old bridges, then came steeply down to the lakeshore. After that, the trail runs along a cobble beach for a while, which is both beautiful and hard on the ankles. This is actually unusual for the Lake Superior trail, which only runs within sight of the lake for 2 or 3 out of its 15 or so miles. The rest of the time, it's far enough inland to be a tunnel of trees.

I kept going until the trail headed back up the lake bluff between campsites LS-10 and LS-11, which is where I decided to turn around. I didn't meet a single person during the entire hike.

The cobble shoreline, "easy" mode

Once I had turned around and started back, I soon reached campsite LS-10, right at the base of a big hill where the trail turns inland (and steeply uphill). Here, I decided to do something different. The trail was effectively part of the cobble beach in this section -- why not hike the beach back to the mouth of the Big Carp too? That also saved me some big up-and-downs, and gave me more time along Lake Superior.

This seemed like a good idea at the time. The beach was tough on the ankles, but I made decent progress. Then, the trees began: The shoreline was soon covered with a dense tangle of blowdowns and driftwood. I sometimes bushwhacked inland, which was swampy, and other times I climbed, ducked, and weaved around the fallen trees. I relied heavily on my hiking poles for stability and to keep my ankles intact.

The cobble shoreline, hard mode

I was incredibly happy to see the mouth of the Big Carp appear. The "beach" walk was about half of a mile, and probably took me half of an hour to do. I made it, but this was a bonus bushwhack I hadn't counted on.

As I returned to the cabin, I could smell the smoke from the woodstove, which continued to chug along. It remained cozy. Sarah hadn't left the cabin at all, and was thoroughly enjoying her quiet day of reading.

Dinnertime came soon: Peak Refuel Chicken Alfredo Pasta. It was good enough to make the "Good enough" list in my records, and was notably better than my stir-fried rice from last night.

The cold north wind had kept up throughout the day. As evening came on, I kept the cabin warm by tending the woodstove. We read, played games, and generally lazed about. As the evening got even colder, we made some hot tea -- only the second time we'd had evening tea on this trip, a sign of how warm it had been. In the process of making it, I managed to pour boiling water all over my hand.

Just before bedtime, I went outside one last time. I walked down to the mouth of the river and watched the sun set over the lake. The wind had lowered a bit, and the lake was relatively smooth, with only long low waves slowly rolling in. A pair of mergansers paddled by the river mouth as I watched. I drank it all in -- the sunset, reflections on the lake, the river, the trees, the sound of rushing water and gentle waves -- all in one of my favorite places in the world. I was glad we had decided to stay through this rest day, and that I could experience this beautiful scene. I wanted to absorb every moment of beauty in this amazing place, to fix the memory in my mind, to be recalled on dark winter nights.

I eventually tore myself away from the lake (the cold wind helped), and turned back towards the cabin. Once inside, I blocked up the door with my "mouse-stopping rocks", built up the fire, curled up under my quilt, and read late into the night.

Next time: More fish! More bugs! More pollen!

Miles hiked: 2

Total miles: 21.7

Day 6's dayhike in blue-purple, ok, blurple.