Michigan has always held a special place in my heart—when I picture the state, I see heritage, generations of my family trekking to Pentwater, MI, to the secluded Schultz Cottage in the woods. I have treasured memories of playing on the beach and kayaking through lush forests. 

However, I didn't start to explore more of the state until my friend Kari moved to Marquette in the Upper Peninsula for graduate school, and with every trip I make to the UP, I fall in love with Michigan's natural beauty over and over again. 

Located off of US 41 just outside L'Anse, MI (about an hour away from Marquette), there's an unassuming turnoff to a parking lot filled with cars. Today, our adventure crew consists of Kari, Kayla (her sister and my friend/now roommate!), and Kari's newest addition to the family, Kindi, a precocious 4-and-a-half-month-old lab/border collie mix whose name means "squirrel" in Swahili (even though she was actually named after a gorilla at the Louisville Zoo). A battered map shows that "Canyon Falls" is located on a single, straight-shot trail about a mile away.

The trail takes us into lush green forest along a path snaked by grasping tree roots. A small creek weaves beside us, and Kindi's true lab colors show as she jumps into the cold water to go frog hunting. 

We descend towards the river, which is hemmed in by rocky plateaus and vegetation. With the mild weather, sun glinting off the shifting water while the trees cast moving shadows around us, this hike feels like paradise. Kindi nervously laps up some water from a rocky ledge, then, once it seems safe enough, jumps in with gusto, paddling back to the rocks to shake off. 

After an easy twenty minutes or less of steady hiking, we reach a fenced drop-off. Under the tree canopy, we are cocooned in the sound of water thundering over rock. Peering over the edge, we see it: Canyon Falls. It is a wide, abundant waterfall—not exceedingly tall, but powerful nonetheless. From the viewing platform, we crane to see it, instead opting to skirt the fence and carefully climb down the rocks to see it up close. 

After the waterfall, we decide to continue hiking the gorge. We follow the cliffs' edges, pulled back into the forest and out to the overlooks by the winding trail. From the bluffs, we admire the layers of geological history, the rock formations stacked and worn smooth by the passage of time and water. And towards the end of our hike out into the "Grand Canyon" of Michigan, we meet what might be Kindi's soul-twin—a little squirrel who is endlessly interested in Kindi, bouncing from trunk to trunk before it suddenly decides to stop and stare directly at the camera. 

At this point, we are called back to Marquette by the promise of pizza and ice-cream, taking the meandering route back towards the car, stopping every so often to let Kindi follow her own call to the water. 

Bonus: Enjoy these photos of Kindi and the adventure gang on our various excursions in Marquette throughout the week!

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