April 07--In winter, campers typically dream of warmer weather, but aficionados of snow and cold find places to lay their heads even as the flakes still fly.
In a search of a last hurrah of winter (just the right way to celebrate a milestone 60th birthday), my husband learned that some yurts and cabins at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are open in the cold season -- that is, if you can get a reservation. We got lucky and found an opening for the Little Union River yurt. It's up in the woods, about 3 miles from park headquarters. Some of the accommodations are a short hike to the shores of Lake Superior; others, like the first one we stayed in on this trip, are several miles back in the woods. Where you stay depends on just how far you want to hike, ski or snowshoe.
Before leaving, we checked snowpack maps, which indicated there was about 2 feet of snow in the Porkies, so we took snowshoes and cross-country skis. When we arrived, however, it was raining, so we loaded up a sled and slogged (minus skis and snowshoes) 3 miles to the yurt. Dry firewood never looked so good. It took about three hours to warm the place, but the yurt eventually got toasty, and we hung wet clothes up to dry.
The yurt was equipped with a wood stove, two bunk beds and a table with two benches. Outside were a locker (to keep critters out) for food and kitchen utensils, a fire pit, a picnic table and a bench. Included in the utensils was a giant stockpot for melting snow and a 5-gallon bucket labeled "Drinking Water Only." It takes a lot longer than you'd think to melt snow on a wood stove. Once it's all liquid, boiling for three minutes is recommended to kill anything that could infect you. Then you filter it to remove bits and pieces you don't want to swallow. The process makes you appreciate just turning on a faucet.
The weather turned cold and brilliantly sunny the next couple days, perfect for hiking the trails. We picked up the snowshoes and went about 13 miles over the next two days. Much of the way we didn't use the snowshoes, simply walking on the snow crust -- though there's nothing quite like the startling plunge of one's ankle through the crust and into icy snowmelt.
We saw many tracks, both animal and human, but passed only one person. The silence was immense, until the pounding of a pileated woodpecker echoed through the trees. We followed the sounds, then stood and watched the woodpecker at work. Then we trekked on to the top of the downhill ski hill, closed for the season, and ate lunch with a view of the wilderness and Lake Superior.
For our last night, we moved to the Whitetail Cabin on the lakeshore, where we spent the daylight hours clambering over ice and rocks along the frozen lake. The beauty of the lake equaled that of the forest we had left.
There were only traces of snow at this level, and when we walked out of the park the next day it was through mud and melting ice -- still a small price to pay for the precious wintry solitude.
Yurts and cabins rent for $65 a night during the winter season, Dec. 1-April 30. Reservations: 800-447-2757; info: http://www.tinyurl.com/winterporkies
