Upper Peninsula of Michigan

[pedz]

I'm planning a month long trip to the upper peninsula of Michigan.  A map I found says that the colors start in the west mid September and go until mid October in the east.  I'm planning on camping starting west and progressing east perhaps a week at each place.  My trips are half baked at best so I can go with the flow of things.  The catch with this trip is I intend on working via wifi most weekdays.  I've found enough camp sites with wifi.

The game plan is to get up around 6, shoot from 7 to 9, then work from 10 to 6 and get back out into the field for the sunset (7 to 9).  Those times will drift of course but that's the general idea.  sunup and sunset are both around 8 on about Sep 26th with the days getting shorter of course.

If anyone has any specific suggestions as in "don't miss XYZ" or "avoid ABC at all cost", I would be interested in hearing about them.  I'm not sure how this is going to go but it should be interesting.  On previous trips, I used the time between sunup and sunset to scout for new locations so I'm a little worried about finding two nice places each day to shoot from.

[Geoff Wittig]

Pray for clouds and rain!

October in the UP, you hope desperately for dead-calm and bright overcast with occasional rain to saturate the leaves. Bright sun is lethal because of the absurd contrast range in the forest. There are too many gorgeous waterfalls and neon forests to list them all, but you don't want to miss the white birch forest along the Lake Superior shore late in the season, because it reaches peak color later due to the moderating effect of the lake on temperatures. Wagner falls, Au Train falls, Sable falls,.... lots of 'em.

If you're stuck with sunshine, go for Grand Sable Dunes, which are spectacular in raking light. And if you have a whole month to spend, it's worth figuring out sunrise/sunset times and directions for scouted locations. If memory serves, however, most of the waterfalls are oriented north/south, so you'll still be praying for cloudy/calm weather.

[nowakchr]

I would recommend hitting up Tahquamenon Falls, Miners Castle and the whole Pictured Rocks lakeshore.  I would also spend some time in Grand Marais which is the Eastern end of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Lastly, I hear that Mackinac Island is beautiful in the fall. You would have to take the ferry from St. Ignace, and it makes a wonderful day trip.