Backpacking Trip | South Manitou Island | July 2013 

PART 1

This summer I took my younger brother, Steven, on his first backpacking trip. We spent 3 days and 2 nights on South Manitou Island (located in Leland, MI).

In order to get to the island you have to take a ferry out of the small lake town in Leland. It was about 2.5 hours until we reached the dock. The little town is a really cool place with some restaurants, gift shops and even a bed-and-breakfast within walking distance of the dock. 

After we checked in with the park desk, we were all set to go. The trip there was pretty wavy due to some wind but it wasn't anything a little dramamine couldn't fix. 

After we got to the island the rangers did a quick orientation with everyone to make sure we all knew the rules on the island and to check our campsite tags. The rules are pretty basic as far as backpacking goes: hang your food, leave no trace, bathroom and water locations, things like that. 

My brother and I decided that we wanted to head to the northern part of the island to stay our first night at the Popple Campground. Popple is the least visited campsite because it is the furthest away from the dock and has no access to a water pump. We didn't mind that because we used our Sawyer 3-Way Inline filter and it worked great with the lake water. We headed north (past Bay Campground) along the path until we hit the road next to the old dock. From there we went west and passed a few collapsed buildings until we hit the main road. From then on it was directly north. On our way we passed the island's Cemetery (there is a headstone that says "Skeleton Found on Dunes." I guess there is an old myth that says Al Capone used to dump bodies off the coast of the island. Pretty crazy!

Popple was about a 3.2 mile hike from the dock and was really easy because that part of the island is very flat. At the end there was a little elevation gain but it was very easy. The paths are sand and dirt and the sand can be a little tiring on the calves but it's not too horrible.

We set up camp at the northwestern campground just at the bottom of the hill. The path to the beach was only about 30 feet away and we liked the easy access to the lake for water. We used an REI Half Dome 4 tent and in hindsight that was probably a bit heavy but we both like to have a lot of room and because it was a short hike the extra weight didn't make much of a difference. On the beach we had some amazing views of North Manitou Island and it's dunes. 

We shared the campground with a couple who stayed in a site east of ours and we figured out that we had been the only two groups of people to stay at Popple within the month. It was really quiet and the sound of the waves was awesome for sleeping. 

to be continued in Part 2

Backpacking Trip | South Manitou Island | July 2013

PART 2

The next morning we packed up our gear. We didn't want to waste any time and were really too lazy to get the stove out again so we just ate a few Clif bars while we went on our way. We headed back South down the same road until we reached the middle of the Island. 

From there we decided to do the Farm Loop which took just over 1-mile to complete. The Farm Houses are really cool on South Manitou because the island used to have huge fields all over it and the houses and barns are all abandoned but are maintained.

This is the beginning to the Farm Loop.

One of the old Farm houses

The structure on the right is an old stone foundation that you can walk around inside of. If you do go in, however, be cautious because it is home to a large number of garter snakes that will move around if you get close. 

Towards the end of the loop there is a trail that branches off South so we headed off that way. This trail took us through some taller grasses and was really buggy but after a while it opened up again to a wide two-track road. This trail will take you along the Western side of Florence Lake and is worth stopping at to look around. The island offers tours here for the day-trippers and a tractor will cart the guests there.

After we passed the lake we hit the edge of the trail at the top of a sand dune. We took the trail down to the beach to my favorite part of the island, the Wreck of the Morazan (an old ship from 1922). However, the dune was quite steep and the sand was shifting a lot. There are other trails you can take to get down to the beach and I wouldn't recommend trying the steep dunes unless you are somewhat skilled. The dunes are especially difficult after rain because your boots can get stuck in the mud and that sucks. 

The hike was definitely worth it. A large piece of the shipwreck is above the water level so it is really a cool sight to see if you get the chance. The water all around the island is a beautiful blue and you can even see Sleeping Bear dunes in the background. There are a few other shipwrecks on the island but the Morazan is the only one that is above water and is the best one to see. 

We hiked East along the beach until we found a trail that took us back inland by the Weather Station campground where we would stay our second night. This campground was much more crowded and is quite popular with people who do a lot of day hiking along the dunes to the shipwreck or to the Valley of the Giants (a forest of huge cedar trees). 

To be continued in Part 3