Day one, August 20, 2001:
Left Houghton around 11:30 after a few false starts due to baggages room issues. Stopped for lunch at A&W in Ontonagon. Burgers and floats, yum. Passed some bicycles on the way loaded up, waved, but they didn't wave back, probably busy. Stopped along the Superior beach just outside Porcupine Mts Park. Picked up rocks, did *not* take them all home. Stopped at PM Visitor center, power was out so didn't see much. Followed South Boundary Road to Presque Isle, walked the waterfall loop and went across the suspension bridge to a rockey beach where we threw rocks in the water and I slept in the sun (in retrospect very stupid). Back at the bike, I was headachy so we lounged on a big rock. Camped there in the last campsite, in "Bear Country," suggested place for food: in locked car w/ windows all the way up. Fire wouldn't start, I threw up all night. We hung the food about 8 feet up and prayed.
Just over 100 miles.
Day 2 August 21:
Slightly after sunrise, we went down to the Superior shore and threw rocks for a while. Easier to load the bike today. I'm weak but essentially OK. Orange Delight[1] for breakfast. Arrived in Wakefield 11:20, went to info center & got postcards, wrote on dock, Post Office closed, what losers. Took US2 east (M28 under heavy construction). Ate in Watersmeet, then US 45 to Bruce Crossing for ice cream and catch M28 east. Very windy on the eastbound stretches, so we go slow. Camped in Big lake State Forest Campground, after Watton, before US 141, on the north side of the road. Three miles of gravel to get in. The lake is shallow, we saw deer & bird footprints in the muck. Fire started easily, water boiled quickly, dinner (couscous, TVP, dried veggies) was wonderful, as were hot chocolate pudding drinks [2]. We're watching the sun go down over the lake. Tent is on a bed of fallen pine needles in a stand of trees, feels like we're in the middle of nowhere except for the party a few sites up.
Total Miles: 100-120
Day 3 August 22:
After 3 miles of gravel to get back out, we got out early even (9 ish)! Followed M28 'til Michigamee, was cold & windy & looked like rain, we stopped in a park to put bags over the sleeping bags, put in rain pants and ate a Luna bar Lemon [3], yum! Got gas in Negaunee, stopped at Gander Mountain in Marquette for Sterno (after Monday's cold dinner & looking like rain...) and SPF 30 for my wrists. Along the way, one sleeping bag leapt for freedom. A car honked and yelled, so we stopped, looked for a place to turn around, car came back and made sure we heard what he said! A truck picked up the bag and followed us, a couple bikes almost stopped to help but I gave them the thumbs up and they drove on. After Marquette, traffic was horrible, so we stopped at a a scenic overlook for a bit. Ate lunch at a pizza place in Munising, then got very good help from the information center. Camped at Island Lake National Campground just south of Munising. We're at camp #9 on the lake. The water is very iron-ey, it settled out cooking for dinner! Dinner was rice, wild rice, and dried veggies. I had a cocoa shake, but its rather warm so Lee didn't want any. Lee went fishing, had many little fish interested, one big one almost. The flies are horrible.
Total Miles: 130 ish
P.S. Oh yeah, somewhere we almost hit a bear! It was running when it hit the road. I hit the brakes, it was about waist high? Wow! Little black bear!
Day 4 August 23
Low driving day today, we got up early and went to Munising through a thick fog. Fogged my faceplate! We bought tickets for the 11am Pictured Rocks Boat Cruise around 9:20, so we wandered. Lee found a quilt shop and bought this really soft, thick brown wool yarn Going to the boat, one couple was in windbreakers and shorts, already goose bumpy. They sat inside, we sat on the upper deck, did not get cold in riding gear! On the way out there was a little boat wake surfing us. There's a hiking trail that runs along the shoreline, lots of hikers waved to us, 200 feet up, they looked this big )( many wore orange pants ? The color in the rocks comes from groundwater seepage. red brown is iron, white is limestone and blue green is copper. The tour boat captain was a really good guide, made us laugh when going over the required safety stuff. We saw a class of kayaks, they looked like polearmers when they lined up right! I got a touch seasick, but only when my peripheral vision caught sight of the wake racing next to me. We also saw a really old lighthouse, decommissioned in 1907? with breakers around so it's shore doesn't go away. there was a red and white building that's an old Coast Guard building. We ate lunch at the Dog Patch, sort of like Cracker Barrel, but with a hick motif. The food wasn't bad, the decor and lighting were obnoxious. Then we went to Autrain Campground and set up camp at #35, no lake access :(. and went back to town. Horseshoe falls is $3 so we went and got marshmallows, mailed our postcards and went to Munising Falls instead. One used to be able to walk behind the falls, but can't anymore because there was a cave in. Back at camp I built a good fire finally. the pit has a swinging grate! We had couscous and toasted marshmallow with kisses and hot chocolate shakes. We had enough hot water left to wash hands off after the last run potty trip, it was heavenly.
Total miles:75
[1] Orange Delight is a drink recipe from Backpacker magazine, included vanilla pudding mix, tang, and milk powder
[2] As the name implies, this is hot chocolate but with a pudding consistency. Dried milk, potato starch, cocoa, sugar, hot water
[3] Luna bars are power bars designed for women, and the lemon ones are really good.