Porcupine Mountains
"Lake of the Clouds"
Ontonagon Co., MI

On March 15th 2002 8:00 p.m. I picked up Jason Jurgens and his brothers snowmobile "The black Stallion." We would be getting a very late start but we both knew we had about a 12 hour drive ahead of us. I was very excited to be going on this trip because this would be the first time I have been to "Lake of the Clouds" plus we were told Ontonagon received 24 inches of fresh snow.

As you might have guessed the ride was very long. I have never been to the western side of the U.P. so traveling it was very new to me. We learned from a local in a gas station within St. Ignace that traveling the U.P. at night was NOT a good idea because most gas stations up there close down at night. Thankfully he told us what stations would be open and what ones to stop at.

Finally after 12 hours of continuous driving we are here. We got a room at Tomlinson's Rainbow Lodging. The owners were very welcoming by letting check into our room early. Jason and I had planned on catching some shut eye before riding since we only got about 2 hours or sleep each while driving up. After we unpacked everything we realized sleeping was not an option. We both were to excited about riding so we decided to just pull the sleds off the trailer and go for it.

Right off the bat our first destination was "Lake of the Clouds." We gased up in Silver City and hit the trails hard. The trails were bumpy on the way up but we just smiled as we tore them up with no challenge. The scenery over Lake Superior and the thick dense woods was just awesome. Jason and I could not help but to BUST major powder all over. There was so much off the trail riding it would take use twice as long to get anywhere because we were off the trail busting powder and climbing mountains 50% of the ride. The feel you get while atop of the mountain overlooking "Lake of the Clouds" is unexplainable. I will just let the picture speak for themselves.

Acting like this is strictly prohibited! We had special permission from some dude that said it was ok. Do not try to attempt or recreate this in any way. Attempting to recreate this could result in serious injury to your head!

Snowmobiling in this area is strictly prohibited! We had special permission from some dude that said it was ok. Do not try to attempt or recreate this in any way. Attempting to recreate this could result in serious injury to your sled - oh yeah, and your body!

Snowmobiling in this area is strictly prohibited! We had special permission from some dude that said it was ok. Do not try to attempt or recreate this in any way. Attempting to recreate this could result in serious injury to your sled - oh yeah, and your body!

Snowmobiling in this area is strictly prohibited! We had special permission from some dude that said it was ok. Do not try to attempt or recreate this in any way. Attempting to recreate this could result in serious injury to your sled - oh yeah, and your body!

After checking out "Lake of the Clouds" we did a ton of trail riding. The trails were just great. The powder seemed to be endless, oh, and watch out for big creeks in the middle of no where while busting powder. Lucky enough for me I was going fast enough to jump to the other side but landed up-side-down and rolled my sled yet again. :-)

This trip was by far the best snowmobiling trip I have been on yet. The people were very nice and welcoming to snowmobilers. Costs were low. Food was great. Lodging was excellent. I highly recommend this ride if you have not been there already. I would have to give it a 10 on my list.

Jason and I would like to give a special thanks to my parents for the use of there truck and watching my hunting dog while I am away. Thanks guys! Your the best. Much love Beavis :-)

We would also like to thank Eric "Rich!" Jurgens for lending us the "Black Stallion." You da man!