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hello stranger midwest adventure

Best Hiking Sandals (For women, by an outdoor guide!)

Looking for the best hiking sandals on the market? Hiking sandals are a great option for hikes with water features, sand, river crossings, or anytime it's hot out. Hiking Sandals…

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27 Things to Do on the North Shore, MN (RANKED!!!)

Looking for the best things to do on the North Shore? For the best hiking on the North Shore, incredible waterfalls, great food, beaches, and more on the North Shore,…

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Weekend In Moab: Best Hiking, Arches, and Food

Ready to plan your perfect weekend in Moab, Utah? Moab is an adorable small town located near both Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. From hiking and waterfalls to…

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Best Hiking Sandals (For women, by an outdoor guide!)

Looking for the best hiking sandals on the market? Hiking sandals are a great option for hikes with water features, sand, river crossings, or anytime it's hot out. Hiking Sandals…

Read more

27 Things to Do on the North Shore, MN (RANKED!!!)

Looking for the best things to do on the North Shore? For the best hiking on the North Shore, incredible waterfalls, great food, beaches, and more on the North Shore,…

Read more

Weekend In Moab: Best Hiking, Arches, and Food

Ready to plan your perfect weekend in Moab, Utah? Moab is an adorable small town located near both Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. From hiking and waterfalls to…

Read more

Best Hiking Sandals (For women, by an outdoor guide!)

Looking for the best hiking sandals on the market? Hiking sandals are a great option for hikes with water features, sand, river crossings, or anytime it's hot out. Hiking Sandals…

Read more
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    January 12, 2025
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  • The Ultimate Beginner Affiliate Marketing Guide (for Content Creators!)

    January 8, 2025
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  • Balancing Rock on Stockton Island as seen from a kayak

    How to Kayak the Apostle Islands Sea Caves (by a kayak guide!)

    January 5, 2025
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  • kayaker explores the sea caves of sand island in the apostle islands national lakeshore, a four hour drive from Minneapolis

    29 Best Things to do in Bayfield, WI

    January 5, 2025
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  • 29 Best Things to do in the Pictured Rocks, Michigan

    January 5, 2025
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  • image of hiking at Overlook Nine in the Sleeping Bear Dunes

    Ultimate 7-Day Great Lakes Road Trip (by an outdoor guide!)

    January 4, 2025
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  • Where to watch the sunset in Grand Marais ? Head out to artist point. Image of a photographer watching a beautiful red sunset over Lake Superior with the sawtooth mountains outlined in the background

    29 Tips to Start a Travel Blog in 2025 (for Content Creators!)

    January 1, 2025
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  • image of waterfall Gorge Falls in the upper peninsla near Ironwood, Michigan

    27 Best Things To Do Upper Peninsula, MI (by an outdoor guide!)

    January 1, 2025
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  • Beginner’s Backpacking Checklist (By an Outdoor Guide!)

    January 1, 2025
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  • A woman stands beneath a Copperas Falls in a sandstone cave in Kentucky near the Red River Gorge

    12 Best Hiking Trails & Views in the Red River Gorge

    December 23, 2024
    Read more
Newer Posts 1 2 3 4 5 … 12 Older Posts

hello stranger // about me

Hi there, and welcome to Hello Stranger. My name is Maddy, and I'm the voice behind the blog. I'm a writer, paddler, photographer, traveller, and freelance editor. I'm committed to exploring the beautiful American Midwest to prove that you can find real adventure anywhere! Toss your email below to keep up with the adventure!

note: this website uses affiliate links! this means if you choose to make a purchase based on recommendation I make a small kickback at no additional cost to you.

maddymarq

guide & writer exploring the midwest🏕
📍Wisconsin Northwoods
inquiries: hello@madelinemarquardt.com
↓ FREE exploring the Midwest eBooks ↓

A Superior Dream Team 💙⬇️ Two Lake Superio A Superior Dream Team 💙⬇️

Two Lake Superior lovin’ accounts. One shared obsession with the north. And a giveaway bundle built for the dreamers, road trippers, sunrise seekers, and wave watchers.

@freshcoastcabins and @maddymarq have teamed up to celebrate the wild beauty of the Keweenaw—and the community that keeps coming back for more. 

Whether you’re camping, cabin-ing, paddling, or just planning your next Great Lakes escape, this one’s for you.

One lucky winner will receive:

 🌀 A Rumpl Lake Superior blanket
 🧢 A Fresh Coast Cabins beanie
 📖 A copy of Keweenawland – a stunning photo book from Michigan’s Copper Country
 🧤 A pair of handmade Nordic mittens crafted by Maddy herself

To enter, head to @maddymarq ‘s link in bio  and hit “ENTER GIVEAWAY” get ready to pack your bags (or at least your daydreams)🌊
Lake Superior summer camera roll🎞️

Things I’ve been up to lately:

lots of writing, lots of reading the news for too long then logging off for several days, lots of trying to only read print magazines and articles only, lots of pink drinks and long walks and podcasts, lots of half finished projects, lots of sea kayaking but also not that much, lots of feeling overwhelmed and too busy but simultaneously not knowing what to do with any free time. Lots of little beautiful things and time either outside the whole day or struggling to get outside at all. 

Photos edited with my new “outdoor studies” presets! Now live and half off this week only :) 

🔗in my profile!

📍Traditional homelands of the Anishinaabe Nation
Adventure is where you make it🤷🏼‍♀️ F Adventure is where you make it🤷🏼‍♀️

Footage from a trip with @visit_keweenaw !!
Sauna @takkasaunas 
Hiking & paddling guides for this area can be found on my page :)

📍Traditional homelands of the Lake Superior Anishinaabe
AD/ Lake Superior adventure notes☀️⤵️ I s AD/ Lake Superior adventure notes☀️⤵️

I strongly recommend booking a guided tour for this route with @keweenawadventure !

Lake Superior is cold, the weather patterns can be difficult to read, and waves often kick up with little warning. It’s really important to paddle a sea kayak, or a boat with bulkheads or sealed pockets of air in the front and back— this way if you capsize your boat won’t sink out from under you and with deep water self rescue skills, or a guide who can help you, you can get back in and paddle to safety. A sea kayak alone isn’t enough! You also need safety gear such as a bilge pump, paddle float, and knowledge of rescues and how to use that safety gear.

Check out @visit_keweenaw ’s Keweenaw Pasty Trail! 12 pasties, an epic route, and all the glory! Tragically I made it to pasty number four before I had to tap out🤣

After any hard day on the water or trail honestly nothing feels better than a sauna! @takkasaunas Superior location is right on the Lake and a perfect sunset spot!

@visit_keweenaw #michigan #adventure
AD/ solo trip with @visit_keweenaw Here’s what AD/ solo trip with @visit_keweenaw

Here’s what I’ve been up to…

1- paddled the gorgeous 12-mile route to Montreal Falls, which cascades directly into Lake Superior! This route has been on my list since my first summer working as a sea kayaking guide back in 2018. 

This is an exposed route on a Great Lake! Deep water self-rescue skills and a kayak with bulkheads is a MUST. Book a guided tour with @keweenawadventure

2- Lots of solo hiking! I love Mt. Baldy, a six-mile route from Eagle Harbor and O Kun-De-Kun Falls! Also recommend the new Cliff View Trail at @mountbohemia and the Berry Picker Trail on Brockway Mountain. Find more trail resources on the @visit_keweenaw website!

3- Last winter I visited @takkasaunas on the Portage Canal, and this week I headed up to their sauna on Lake Superior for a sunset session and WOW!! I got so lucky with the sunset and the feeling of solo swimming in the lake to this!?? Unbeatable

(Thanks to sauna guide Megan for being the coolest ever!!) 

4- Long walks on the beach :) 

The Great Sand Bay in the Keweenaw is one of my favorite places on earth
5- Solo dinner @lake_effect_barandgrill

In 2018 after my first year working as a sea kayak guide I did my first ever solo trip up here to the Keweenaw and had my first ever solo meal in a restaurant at this place. Now, seven years later it felt kind of serendipitous to come back and retrace my steps. 

6- I ate too many pasties 

My friends at @visit_keweenaw slipped me a brochure for the Keweenaw Pasty Trail and for a brief and shining moment I did consider trying to eat 12 pasties in four days. I didn’t make it that far, but my favorites were from Jen’s Kitchen in Calumet, Mohawk Superette in Mohawk and Krupp’s Mini Mart in Toivola. 

7- Did some shopping in Houghton! 

@down_wind_sports is one of my favorite outdoor shops/used gear spots, and I was actually on a mission to find new trail runners and ended up at @queencityrunningco_hgt ! From here, I grabbed a Great Lakes shipwreck book from @blackicecomics , new yarn from Sew Irresistible, and some @keweenawcoffee !

8- Mocktails at the new @smallcraftco in Houghton! 

#lakesuperior #keweenaw #solofemaletravel
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© 2025 Madeline Marquardt