Around Gwinn and Marquette

Our first taste of a pasty. We split a "with rutabaga" and "without rutabaga," 750 calories later...
Dave says: "I like all food and I can't remember the difference."
Heather says: "There wasn't enough rutabagas for me to notice one from the other but the crust was a little greasy which is why I had to eat some ice cream as a anti-acid."

A few shots of our trip up to the top of Sugarloaf:

The rest of these are from Presque Isle:

This is the "cove" on Presque Isle, the rocks in the background people jump off of into the lake.

Day 106 Rest day in Gwinn, MI

Rest day in Gwinn, MI. Tuesday, July 28, 2009. Windy and warm.
The wind may be blowing from the west but we gave in to sore muscles and need of rest. We slept in to 10:00am and lounged today, journaled some and caught the blog up to date all the while listening to the howling wind. After sitting the whole day (and not pedaling) we've been invited by our host to head to Marquette tonight for a hike up a hill and a view of the city. We'll also get our first taste of a "pasty." In order to satisfy the question: to rutabaga or not to rutabaga, we opted for one of each and will reserve judgement until after the taste testing.

Tomorrow we ride to somewhere and another adventure.

Day 105

Monday, July 27, 2009. Slight west wind and a mix of all weather types.
- Start: Champion, Van Riper State Park
- ATW: Clarksburg, Greenwood, Ishpeming, Negaunee, Princeton
- End: Gwinn, MI
- Day Miles: 50-something Ride Time: Total Trip Miles:

We're currently sitting in a house listening to a torrential downpour raging outside. We connected with another warmshowers host and just in time! We'll update the blog more as we sit here eating dinner. The following picture is a shot of us using the couple of laptops available.

Recap of the day:
Another late morning with a start at 11:00am. We woke late, packed slow, wrote in journals and talked more. When we tired of chasing squirrels away from our food paniers we tried to ride out of the park but talked more. "Are we ever going to make it today?" That was just the beginning.

We were told that it was "all down hill" to Ishpeming. Well, not really. Some downhills, but not all. A stop at the grocery with a stocked up on fruit, veg, cheese and hummus had us lacking only a good bread to round out the meal. We were given directions to the Huron Mountain Bakery in town and we spent a good hour eating delectable treats and more talking. We ended up telling our story three times while in the shop!

Two local ladies gave us directions to a paved bike trail into Negaunee with the explination that Ishpeming meant "high land" or "heaven" while Negaunee meant "low land" or... where were they sending us? A bike path into...

The bike path was lovely but the directions once in Negaunee were muddled. We saw a couple of youths in a door way who called out an appreciation to us about our bike. We swung back around for directions and set out down to Gwinn.

Riding 40 miles out of Wakefield on a rest day resulted in a little confusion with our warmshowers host. I'd left a message saying we were a day ahead of schedule but when I called for exact directions everything was suddenly confusing and a bad phone connection didn't help. There was a birthday (would we get cake?) and they had plans for the night but we were welcome to stay all the same. With directions in hand we found we'd gone a long way around to get to her house because she didn't actually live in Gwinn but on the old airforce base north east of town. At least the trip down 35 was downhill on all the hard parts.

Leaving the house a few miles west of Gwinn that we'd stopped in for borrowing a phone Dave's left hamstring had a sudden strain. He streatched and we continued on but the pain came back intermitantly. Since it's a two engine bike Heather pedaled slowly on the straight aways, Dave assisted on any uphills and we both coasted every chance we could. We'd been watching a narrow band of dark clouds spanning from west to east. They didn't look too friednly and for spite they started raining on us just before we got to our host's house.

We sheltered the bike and talked for a while. They dashed off to the casino to celebrate her son's 21st birthday and we sat around listenting to the rain pound outside thankful to have a night inside.

Day 104 Terrain Reports

Click on image to enlarge

Sunday, July 26, 2009 A lot of clouds but a nice tail wind.
- Start: Bruce Crossings, MI
- ATW: Trout Creek, Kenton, Sidnaw, Watton, Covington, Three Lakes, Michigamme
- End: Champion
- Day Miles: 65.7 Ride Time: 6:25 Total Trip Miles: 3210

The unexpected ride from the day before and the early start with the crows found us waking in Bruce Crossings around 9:00AM. Everything was damp and packing was slow. A guy by the name of Dave stopped in and while we packed he entertained us with magic tricks and tested our knowledge on sports trivia.

Around 11:00 we were packed up and everything was mostly dried before being stuffed away. The next city was Ishpeming and last night we were warned that nothing existed between here and there. We'd heard that before (many times) and people were usually wrong. Which ended up being the case today. Several small towns lined our way as well as campgrounds and a few state parks. We even found a few roadside rests with vault toilets, practically civilization! What do people expect a couple of bicyclists to need when crossing a state?

"It's completely flat after Covington and the most boring stretch of nothing ever!" the grocery clerk exclaimed slamming her hand down onto the conveyor belt scooping up the frozen bag of peas and tossing them into a bag. She was far from right on all points. It wasn't flat and it was very pretty. Dense tree growth has been the theme the last week or so but it is a wonderful change from the open air of the farmlands and plains.

I don't think we expected to make it all the way to Ishpeming as it was 80 some miles on anything but "flat" land but when we got to Michigamme we voted to stop early. It was around dinner time for the rest of the world and we were near a couple of nice state parks. Why not?

Maybe I mixed up where we were headed but what we thought was three miles further was 10 to Van Riper state park. Once in the park we talked to several people interested in our bike and trip and managed to get to sleep around 11:00PM after amazingly hot showers. Usually in parks they're luke warm at best. Another night of thwarting mosquitoes and extreme darkness allowing the stars to fill the sky.

Source: http://hunts-upguide.com/champion_van_riper_state_park.html

Day 103

Saturday, July 25, 2009
- Start: Wakefield, MI
- ATW: Bergland, Topaz, Matchwood, Ewen
- End: Bruce Crossings, MI
- Day Miles: 42.9 Ride Time: 3hr 45min Total Trip Miles: 3145

We would have preferred to wake to an alarm clock but anything would have been better than the screaming that jolted us awake at sun up. Dave described it as sounding like a woman opening a can with a spring loaded snake inside. In reality it was a crow being pecked at by some tiny bird. The crow was on a branch over our heads and for some reason would not budge as it was continuously dive bombed. Fully awake we cleaned up our gear and just in time, rain was beginning.

We lounged around the covered shelter dreaming of the hot chocolate we were out of, if it would only lighten up a bit we could make a dash for the grocery. Instead it poured so hard that the town shops on the opposite side of the lake where lost in a wall of water. Perhaps today should be a rest day.

Just after 10 we got a break in the rain. Under heavy clouds we raced to the library but our luck held out and it was closed. Every tiny town we end up in is an off day for the library. At the post office we'd mailed out a completed journal for Dave and the postal clerk offered her computer later in the day if we were still in town.

Following a trip to the grocery and a pot of soup under the picnic shelter the rain had ended and the wind settled in a constant direction. The sun burned through the clouds and we had managed to catch up in our journal writing. "Do you want to go on today?" "I don't know, do you want to go on today?" "I don't know." Our wonderfully witty indecisive battle led us to packing up and heading off.

The wind was from the west and sent us 20 miles down the road into Bergland. Not worn out enough we ate a couple ice cream cones and were off again for the next town of any significance: Bruce Crossings. Behind the grocery store was a "tourist trail court" with showers and RV hookups. We sheltered our tarp behind a log cabin concession stand and then washed off the road grime.

We'd been warned that we were now in bear and moose country so the showers we'd used became the store room for every bit of smelliness we had except for ourselves. We had showered!

The wind battered our little shelter through the night and rain soaked everything around. You'd think that would keep the mosquitoes down but instead it drives them under shelter... our shelter. Luckily we'd taken the time to kill several while sitting at a picnic table and sewing the screen to the top of the sleeping bag. We hurried under cover and in a dramatic moment raised the screen over our heads. Making sure it was tucked down just right we slept a bite free night.

Day 102

Friday, July 24, 2009 Dense clouds, cold morning warm afternoon
- Start: Ashland, WI
- ATW: Odanah, Birch, Cedar, Saxon, Ironwood, Ramsay
- End: Wakefield, MI
- Day Miles: Ride Time: Total Trip Miles:

Last night we finally decided to switch out the rear tire for the spare as the tread was pealing off the built in tire liner. Before leaving town we stopped in at the bike shop for a replacement but they didn't have anything close to what we needed. We'd just roll until we could find another one.

Also last night before we went to the park we met a guy whose eyes popped when we said we'd be riding 2 east toward the U.P. "You have a 1/2 a mile up hill climb!" We would later learn it was called "Birch Hill" and while it might have been a half mile climb it wasn't bad because it was the only one around.

Crossing into Mighigan we tried to stop in Ironwood for a food restock and ice cream break but were directed to the east side of town to the grocery store. Once there we opted to ride a little more eastward in hopes of a relaxing spot to eat our meal. A few miles down the road we found a slopping grass hill embanking a Wal-Mart parking lot. We sat on the crab grass eating melted ice cream cups and toyed with the idea of stealth camping on the golf course across the street.

"We'd have to camp on the back nine if we expect to sleep in past 6:00 AM, tomorrow's Saturday and crazy people get up at dawn to play."

Just about the time we'd sat down to eat the sun gave way to a large black cloud and a cold fix was less appealing. Now that we were properly chilled the cloud decided to soak us. We tried to find an awning to wait out the rain but the fat drops ended quickly and we moved fast to warm back up.

Our ride took us into Wakefield. We rode around the small lake that the town surrounded and ate dinner at a covered picnic shelter. The park offered camping and we set up for the night. Tired of mosquitoes sneaking under the sleeping bag we bought a roll of 3'x7' fiberglass screening at a hardware store. We donned our ball caps and drapped the screen over our heads. The material gapped at places and it was a battle to keep it from sliding off the bag. We decided we'd have to sew it down to make it more effective. A few stings later we worked out a good enough set up for the night.

Day 101

Click on image to enlarge.

July 23, 2009 Fog!
- Start: Bayfield, WI
- ATW: Washburn
- End: Ashland, WI
- Day Miles: Ride Time: Total Trip Miles:

After sleeping peacefully in the "boat yard" we woke to a dense fog blotting out everything after a hundred yards. Perhaps we should wait until it cleared a bit? Dave spent time talking with sailors while Heather threw a tennis ball for a highly active golden doodle.

We sat around until late morning then set out making it 10 miles down the road to Washburn, WI before we stopped for lunch and a blog update at the local library.

Another 12 miles into Ashland and a stop by another one of the artesian wells that line the lake. We were directed to a park just across the road. Instead of searching the town for a grocery we dinned on our emergency rations which turned out to be a lot of food for a 20 mile day. The greater part of the day was spent catching up in journals which always seem to be a day or two behind.

Source: http://www.sailboats-inc.com/