Hiking Hogsback Mountain - Marquette, Michigan.

A few weeks ago, while vacationing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Brian and I headed to Marquette to do some hiking with my sister Michelle and her boyfriend Andrew.  Last summer, we hiked nearby Sugarloaf Mountain.  The views from the top were beautiful, and while the climb wasn't exactly a walk in the park, there were stairs to climb and wide paths to travel.

This year, when Andrew suggested hiking Hogsback Mountain, my sister was skeptical.  She suggested that Brian and Andrew hike the mountain while she and I hike something a little more manageable.  She's hiked it before and thought it was kinda brutal ... and she knows that she's in way better shape than I am!  The boys were insistent that we join them though, so I suggested that we give it a try.  The boys would go their pace, Michelle and I would go at my pace, and we'd see how close we could get to the top!

We took occasional breaks, and I took that time to snap some photos of the beautiful surroundings.  The way the light came through the trees was gorgeous.

The paths are sandy in some places, with lots of stones and tree roots scattered throughout.  It's funny to see Brian and Andrew just float across all of the obstacles, while I struggle not to trip on anything.  I'm definitely not as graceful at these things!

Of course, the sandy trails eventually gave way to pure rock.  While it was actually easier to climb up the rock than some of the sandy paths, all I kept thinking was ... how in the world am I going to get back down??

Then the rock became smoother and more vertical and my focus was back on the 'getting up' part.  Holy steep.  I am not a rock climber, but I managed!

It was a pretty cool feeling to make it to the top.  Brian jumped down to grab the camera so that he could take photos of me reaching the top.  To say that he was excited that I tried, and succeeded, was an understatement.  

The views from the top are a breathtaking mix of blues and greens for as far as the eye can see.  There were even some fall colors peeking through at the top of the mountain.

Brian had fun running around taking photos while we took a break before the trip back down the mountain.

I love how flippin' happy he is in this photo!

When it was time to climb back down the mountain, I did a lot of sitting and scooting like a toddler learning to navigate the stairs.  Ha!  But hey, I made it!

Do you see those people sitting on the top of the mountain?  Brian snapped this when we were just a small way down the mountain.  I think it's the last spot where you can actually see people before continuing the hike down.  

If you ever get the chance to hike Hogsback, I highly recommend it.  It was hard, but so worth it.