North to the UP

Our camp at Sturgeon Valley CG

We achieved a leisurely check-out at Sturgeon Valley CG and continued northward toward the UP.  We bought 50 gallons of fuel in Mackinaw City.  Diesel prices are fairly high in Michigan, and with this addition we can get to Wisconsin where the prices are significantly less.  We then set to cross the "Mighty Mac" the amazing suspension bridge that crosses the Mackinac Straits into Michigan's UP.  The crossing was exciting although uneventful.  We had seen an ambulance stopped on the bridge, but it u-turned and came back towards us before we got to it.

Crossing the Mighty Mac

We proceeded to Carp River CG in the Hiawatha National Forest, about 10 miles north of St. Ignace.  We are currently traveling with our friends Wayne and Lynda, who are in their Airstream, and who will paddle with us when we do our Boundary Waters trip in about 2 weeks.  We had expected Carp River to be a very popular camp, but when we arrived it was nearly deserted.  We picked out two very nice adjoining sites near the far end of the CG road and made our camp for the next three nights.

Our route on the Carp River

The next day we paddled on the Carp River, which flows by the camp.  The guide book suggested the river was small and advised to be on the lookout for blow downs across the river.  Sure enough, when we scouted our take-out, just above the campground, there were two complete river blockages within sight of the bridge.  Not looking good!  However, being the bold souls we are, and the majority membership of the Dumb But Tough Canoe Club, off we went.  We left a vehicle at camp and loaded up the Honda, and off we went to find our put-it on East Lake Road.

A pretty stretch on the Carp River

The guide book did not lie.  We found three huge log jams during the first two miles, but after that only a few relatively easy scoot-overs.  We did pass several sections of rocky shoals where we cringed as our Kevlar hulls screeched in agony.  I think we will have to visit Ginny, who does our boat repairs in Ely, before we put in for the Boundary Waters.  The paddle totaled 7.1 miles.  It was nice, but I doubt we will ever paddle that section again.

Log Jam

Another Log Jam

The next morning was threatening rain.  We briefly considered, and promptly rejected, the idea of paddling another section on the Carp River.  Instead we decided to visit the locks at Sault Ste. Marie.  The "Soo Locks" allow ships from Lake Superior passage around the rapids and access to the St. Mary River and the lower great lakes.  10,000 vessels per year pass through the locks during the 9 months they are open.

We lunched at The Antlers, a former bootlegger's joint during prohibition.  During prohibition they fronted as an ice cream parlor, but were busted when they showed a profit of $900, but no ice cream sales.  It is decorated with antlers and stuffed animals of all kinds throughout the building.

The Antlers

Dorcas in Poe Lock

After lunch we visited the visitor's center operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers and then took a boat tour through the locks.  We locked upstream through the Poe Lock towards Lake Superior, cruised the Saint Marys River and then locked downstream through the Canadian lock, a smaller lock operated by Canada, and used by most of the pleasure boaters.  It was all pretty cool.

Dorcas in the Canadian Lock

View upstream at Canadian lock

On The Road ..... and On-line Again!

It has been a long time since there was an update to this journal.  During the last post here we were paddling in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in September 2013.  Well, tomorrow we expect we will be doing the same, but I digress.

While "The Adventures of Myron and Dorcas" is woefully behind, Myron and Dorcas have still been having adventures.  Here is a brief list of some trips we have done since our last post.

• September 2013:  5 nights in Galax VA with the Safari Trek Fun Cub.  In addition to usual rally activities (partying) we biked on the New River State Trail and enjoyed the mountain music at the Blue Ridge Music Center.

• October 2013:  5 Nights at Hanging Rock State Park with the Lumber River Canoe Club.  Here we paddled a section of the Dan River each day and brought home 10,000 stink bugs! Yuk!

• November 2013: 4 nights at Stone Mountain State Park with the Charles and the Benners.

• November 2013:  3 nights camping on the Lumber River with the Charles and the Millers.

• November 2013-May 2014:  Winter in Florida.  We spent about half the time at our property in Titusville and the other half wandering about Florida.  We spent a week at Juniper Springs paddling with friends, a couple of weeks in the Keys and a motor home rally or three.  I broke away from Dorcas for a 6-night camping trip on the Suwanee River with the "Dumb-But-Tough Canoe Club, of which I am a founding member.  While I was on this trip, Dorcas moved the coach about 140 miles from Titusville to Jacksonville by herself.  She stressed mightily and long over this chore, but she did good.  While in Florida we triked, hiked, paddled, played pickleball (Myron) and yoga-ed (Dorcas) almost every day.  While at Titusville we watched the nesting, conception, hatching and fledging of a pair of great horned owls and their two chicks.  We had a ring-side seat right by our house.  It was very cool.  We finally came home to Winston Salem the first week in May because the doctors were calling.

Great Blue Heron on the Hillsborough River near Tampa

Great Horned babies in the nest

Fledglings

Sleepy head

• May 2014:  Back to Hanging Rock State Park for 5 more nights, paddling on the Dan River with the LRCC.  We dropped off our left-over surviving stink bugs there.

• June 2014:  11 Nights at Grindstone CG in the Jefferson National Forest in the Mt. Rogers area of VA.  We hit the mountains to escape the heat.  We biked on the VA creeper Trail and hiked a few days with the Wilburn Ridge ponies.

Matilda watching a pony

• July 2014:  2 nights camping on the Lumber River.  Boy was it hot!  We took plenty of swim breaks.

Matilda camping on the Lumber River

In addition to these adventures we have been doing some home and coach chores.  We replaced the counter tops, back splash and fixtures in the kitchen with quartz and tumbled stone tile. It looks really good.   We also bought a new refrigerator.  I changed the oil in the coach (28.5 quarts!) and both cars.   I replaced the solar controller in the coach with a better one and moved it inside so it is more convenient to monitor the solar gain.  This involved extensive wire-snaking and removal of the fridge.  I replaced all the fluorescent lights in the coach with LEDs and installed a circulating fan in the fridge.

Before

 

 

 

After

 

Deco tiles showing Dorcas' dragonfly and my gecko

Back to the Adventures of Myron and Dorcas.  We have been working very hard on these home chores, so we could leave home for our next adventure.  Yesterday, July 30, we left home heading for the upper Midwest, specifically the upper peninsula of Michigan and Minnesota for our annual Boundary Waters trip.  We managed to escape about 2:30 PM and drove north through Virgina and West Virginia.  We crossed the Ohio River and made camp at the Super Walmart in Gallipolis OH.  It was a very quiet stop, and this morning we walked to Tudor's Biscuit World where I enjoyed the world's largest ham biscuit.  It was so big I couldn't even eat the cinnamon roll we bought, which was almost as big.

Our camp in Gallipolis

We broke camp at Gallipolis about 9:00 and continued diagonally NW across Ohio and through Columbus and Toledo.  We crossed into Michigan and stopped briefly in Ann Arbor to buy a Michigan paddling guide book at a Barnes and Noble store.  By this time we realized that if we drove steadily, we could catch up with our friends Wayne and Lynda who were camped in Wolverine in the upper lower peninsula.  After a very long day we arrived at Sturgeon Valley Campground on the banks of the Sturgeon River.  We enjoyed a happy hour with our friends.  Tomorrow we will cross the "Mighty Mac" and land in the UP, where we will travel with our friends across the UP paddling as many rivers as we can.  In two weeks we will land in Ely MN and then start our Boundary Waters trip on August 19.

Biscuit World, home of the worlds largest ham biscuit and cinnamon bun

Don't forget to check out the "Where The Heck Are We?" and "Has it Stopped Raining Yet?" tabs.

Later,

Myron

Paddling the Rivers of Michigan's UP

Au Train River   9/8/13

One thing about rivers is they usually start in one place and flow downstream to another place.  Occasionally a river's flow is slow enough that you can paddle downstream, then turn around and paddle back upstream to your beginning point, but that's not common in most places.  Or its usually rather dull, or it's more effort than it's worth.  In most cases one must perform a shuttle, meaning leave some form of transportation at the take-out point. When you are traveling by yourself, it gets complicated.  On some occasions we have performed a bike shuttle, where I would leave a bike at the take-out, so I could ride back to the put-in and fetch the car.  However, a bike shuttle is not practical for many rivers, and besides, we aren't carrying any bikes on this trip.  On very rare occasions you can do a walking shuttle.  The Au Train is such a river that a foot shuttle is rather easy because of the way that the river loops back to the road .... twice. 

We decided to paddle the Au Train because we had heard it was very pretty and because the shuttle was uncomplicated.  We drove to the first bridge on the river downstream from Au Train Lake and unloaded the boat and gear.  Then Dorcas drove the car to the next bridge, parked and walked back 0.7 miles to the put-in.  When we got to the car we would decide whether to take out there, or whether to paddle on down to the mouth of the river on Lake Superior.  The flow was good and ultimately we decided to paddle on down to the mouth of the river.  When we got there Dorcas walked back up the road another 0.7 miles to get the car.

It was a very nice paddle.  The river flowed through the Hiawatha National Forest, and there was no development until the last mile.  The first half of the river was clear and shallow revealing a white sand bottom.  The lower half opened into wide prairie, and the current was reduced somewhat.  The trip was 7.85 miles, and the current averaged almost 3 mph.

Two Hearted River   9/12/13

The Two Hearted River is a world class trout stream and was made famous in Ernest Hemingway's Nick Adams stories (although most sources suggest he was really describing the near-by Fox River).  I wanted to paddle the Two Hearted River because it is very remote and because of the Hemingway connection.  The river flows almost parallel to the Lake Superior shore before finally emptying into the lake.  Unlike the Au Train, there is no possibility of a walking shuttle.  There was a lodge and canoe outfitter near the mouth of the river.  However,  there was a massive forest fire there last year and the lodge burned.  I had received conflicting information about whether the outfitter was still in business.

So, with no real shuttle plan we set out for the put-in at the Reed and Green Bridge, about 35 miles north of our camp in Newberry.  Our plan was to unload the boat and gear at the put-in while I drove to the take-out at the mouth of the river.  There I would park the car and find a ride back to the put-in.  Sometimes you just gotta have faith.

There is a state forest service campground at the mouth and my first hope was to find a canoer camping there.  One canoer will often help another in this situation.  But after looping through the campground I found no canoes.  DANG!  Next, I went to the Rainbow Lodge site, where the canoe outfitter had been, but the lodge site was deserted.  There was little evidence of the old lodge, although there was some new construction where the lodge was starting to be rebuilt.  DANG AGAIN!  I doubled back to the campground to take another look in there when I saw a man working on a new log structure.  It turns out that "Duane" was rebuilding the Chapel of the Two Heart, a small one room log chapel; the original Chapel of the Two Heart had been destroyed in the fire the year before.  I asked him about the outfitter, and if he knew anyone who would be able to drive me back to Reed and Green Bridge.  He said he would be glad to do that.  I hopped in his truck with his Irish Setter "Maggie" but before leaving Duane wanted to let his wife, Judy, know he was leaving.  It turns out Judy thought he needed to finish his work (I think he was looking for a break), so Judy drove me back to the put-in.  During the 20 minute drive I learned all about the fire, the reconstruction and everything else I wanted to know about the Two Hearted area.

I arrived back at the put-in about 1.5 hours after I left.  Dorcas and the gear were fine.  Judy refused to take any money for her kindness, but asked that we stop in when we finished and let her know how the river was.

Lake Superior was kicking pretty good at the mouth of the Two Hearted River

It was a beautiful river.  The Two Hearted flows through the Lake Superior State Forest, and it is heavily wooded along its course.  There was no development along the way.  We saw a few fishermen near the beginning of our paddle and near the end, and they seemed to be having some success.  Our paddle was about 11.4 miles and the flow averaged about 4 mph.

As we approached the end of the trip we came closer to Lake Superior where the winds were probably in excess of 25 mph.  During the last half mile we lost much of the buffer of the trees and experienced the brunt of the wind.  It was brutal, but we made it in.  After our paddle we visited Duane and Judy at the chapel site and visited for a while.  They were cooking stew over an open fire and invited us to stay for dinner.  We need to get back home, so we politely declined.  We did convince them to take $20 for their kindness in shuttling us when we suggested they spend it on seating for the chapel.  Really nice folks.

 Tahquamenon River   9/13/13

On this day we paddled the Tahquamenon River near Newberry.  The Tahquamenon is a rather large river system, draining an area west of Newberry.  It flows through Lake Superior State Forest and Tahquamenon Falls State Park before flowing into Lake Superior about 80 river miles below us.  We visited Tahquamenon Falls State Park a few years ago.  You can read about that here.

We were again vexed by the lack of shuttle partners.  We went to the put-in on MI 123 about a mile north of Newberry hoping to find some other paddlers who would share a shuttle.  Nada. There is an outfitter who runs this river, but he is about 10 miles north, I suppose so he can also service the lower sections of the river.  Commercial shuttles are usually expensive: $20-$30 dollars and can be inconvenient.   I had called the outfitter the day before and there was no answer, so I wasn't even sure he was open.  Then a novel and brilliant idea occurred to me.  We were only a mile outside Newberry, a fair sized town and the county seat of Luce County.  Perhaps there is a taxi service!  Dorcas used her iPhone and located Dial-A-Ride.  The lady agreed to pick me up at the take-out and drive me about 6 miles to the put-in for a fare of $4.  She could meet me in 15 minutes.  Perfect!  We have never used a taxi service for a shuttle before, but it worked great.  The driver was on time, and Dorcas and our gear were still safely stationed at the put-in when I got back.



The Tahquamenon was another spectacular river, perhaps my favorite of the UP rivers.  There was no development and the river corridor alternated from heavy woods to open prairies.  It was clear with good flow.  About 2/3 the way down there was a primitive state forest campground.  I think this would be an excellent camping river; it is long, un-dammed, scenic and flows through public lands.  Maybe next year, but I doubt a taxi shuttle will be practical for a 100 mile paddle.  This paddle was 6.6 miles long and the weather was great.



We had already checked out of our camp at Clementz Northwoods CG and the coach was parked near the put-in.  After returning to the coach we headed south.

Across Michigan's UP

We departed Ashland to meet folks for a lunch date in Michigamme MI.  Tom and Nancy will be renting one of our lots in Florida this winter.  They live in Michigamme, and we arranged to meet them as we drove through.  We had a nice visit and are looking forward to seeing them again in the winter.  Our last time through Michigamme was not so much fun.  You can read about that experience here. We spent the night at Michigamme Shores CG, which is a very nice Passport America park.

The next morning we continued eastward across the UP.  We spent some time at Da Yoopers Tourist Trap in Ishpeming.  There's really no way to explain Da Yoopers Tourist Trap.  You just gotta see it for yourself.  It contains a dozens of outlandish contraptions and dioramas making fun of da Yoopers (i.e. the U.P. ers).  I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

This thing had a working gasoline engine and chain!

We thought we might stay at Bay Furnace, forest service campground about 5 miles west of Munising.  We had scouted Bay Furnace on a previous trip and it is very nice, right on the shore of Lake Superior.  However, directly across from the entrance to Bay Furnace was the Kewadin Casino, which had 50A electrical service, plenty of spaces and was free.  Bay Furnace: $16/night, no power vs Kewadin Casino: 50A electric, free.  We chose the casino and ended up staying there 2 nights.  While staying at the casino we paddled the Au Train River.  More on that in the next post.

From Munising we traveled north to Grand Marais.  Grand Marais was a bit out of our way, but our friend Patty said it was a really neat town and worth a look.  We spent 2 nights at Woodland Park, a town-owned campground.

Grand Marais is at the northern edge of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.   We explored some sights along the lake shore

While there we hiked to Au Sable Point and toured the Au Sable Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is still in use, but now it uses solar power and a very small electric marine beacon mounted to the handrail at the top of the structure.  Very cool.  The original Fresnel lens is still in place in the tower.

Au Sable Lighthouse

After our stay in Grand Marais we moved to Newberry, with the intent of paddling some local rivers.  We stayed at Clementz Northwoods Campground, a familiar stop; we were here before in 2010.  We like it because it is very clean with large grassy sites, but also because it was a Passport America member, meaning we get to camp at half price. However, when we arrived we learned that they had dropped out of the Passport America program.  They were honoring the PA discounts through the end of September, when they shut down for the season, but not after that.  It's a shame.

While in Newberry we paddled the Two Hearted and Tahquamenon Rivers.  Details on those paddles will follow in the next post.

We looked hard but couldn't find a moose.

By the way, have you ever wondered why the UP is even a part of Michigan?  Look at a map; why is it not a part of Wisconsin?  Click here for the answer!

Across Northern Wisconsin

When we came out of the Boundary Waters we had planned to spend only 3 more nights at Fall Lake before moving on.  That would give us plenty of time to regroup and repack our gear before heading south and east.  Just about that time a severe heat wave struck the upper Midwest.  The temperatures in Ely were hitting 90 degrees, and the temps in central Minnesota were over 100 degrees.  Why go south in the face of that misery?  We were parked at one of our favorite places, we had good power to run the AC, and we had no other particular place to be.  Labor Day weekend was coming up, and we had no reservations anywhere else if we moved.  So we decided to just sit tight and wait out the heat wave.  Ultimately we stayed a total of 9 additional nights at Fall Lake.

Finally, on September 2, we took off.  We had no firm plans, but planned to head across northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  We stopped briefly in Duluth for groceries, then decided to shoot for the Walmart in Ashland WI to spend the night.  However, when we checked our Walmart database, it indicated that store did not allow overnight parking.  Dang!  Dorcas called the store to confirm, and they said no problem, come on over.  So off we went.  However, when we arrived at the store, there were signs all over saying that no overnight parking was allowed.  Dorcas went inside to get the straight poop.  It turns out the store has no objection, but there is a city ordinance prohibiting overnight parking.  They said the ordinance is rarely enforced, and it was safe to park.  We decided to risk it and found a nice spot near the back of the store, not visible from the street, between a parked 18-wheeler and a class C RV.  We were not disturbed.

The badger, Wisconsin's mascot

The next day we drove out on the Bayfield Peninsula towards the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  On the way we stopped at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, which is jointly operated by the National Park Service, National Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Wisconsin Historical Society.  It is a wonderful facility and features a 5-story observation tower.  It had loads of exhibits and videos.  It would be easy to spend a whole day there.

Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center

We continued up the western shore of the Bayfield Peninsula with great views of Chequamegon Bay and Lake Superior.  We stopped and toured the quaint village of Bayfield, were we spent some time in the HQ and visitor center for the Apostle Islands National Lake Lakeshore.   The Apostle Islands are difficult to explore without a boat.  Most visitors use a kayak or take a tourist excursion.  Our open canoe is not well suited for paddling the big waters among the islands, so we didn't paddle.  While at park HQ we learned that folks could park overnight in their parking lot for a very modest fee, so we checked in.  Before the establishment of the park, brownstone limestone was quarried from a number of the islands and used in the construction of buildings.  The park HQ was built from the this brownstone and was formerly the Bayfield County Courthouse.

Camping at park HQ Apostle Islands NLS

On the pier in Bayview

After leaving the peninsula we doubled back through Ashland.  While we had spent a previous night in Ashland, we had not explored this scenic town.  At the NGLVC we had learned of Kreher Park, a town RV park in Ashland on the Superior shore.  We checked it out and it was very nice, so we signed up for 2 nights.

Our camp at Kreher Park in Ashland

The town of Ashland features a dozen or more murals throughout the downtown area depicting the town's history and heritage.  We explored the town and enjoyed the artwork.

An Ashland mural

A mural honoring Ashland veterans

Ashland Town Hall constructed with local brownstone