Keweenaw Peninsula and Copper Harbor, Michigan

 

Our mountain bikes weren't doing very well on the rack we had on back of the trailer with the rough roads. Mike was able to find a bike shop on the way between Bayfield, WI and Copper Harbor, MI that had the rack that he wanted and were willing to hold it for us. We picked it up in a  little town with lots of traffic. Once we got to our campground, he found that the new bike rack was missing 2 bolts and no place to buy them here. The campground manager was going by a hardware store in the morning and offered to pick them up for us. They were perfect and much appreciated.  

 

 

Lots of murals on buildings on our drive to Michigan.

 

The black lab was so happy to be in the water since the day was very hot and humid. His owner couldn't get him to come out of the lake.

Lake Superior

In Copper Harbor there are more bikes than cars on the roads and none are locked up when unattended. There is a bike wash but no car wash.  The post office opens between 12-3pm. When I asked if we had mail, he dug around in boxes and said "Here it is". 

Lake Fannie Hooe where we have our morning coffee and tea.

A falcon landed in front of us as we were walking to town. No picture.

 

This area is rated in the top 5 in the US. So glad we came. Much of it is over our heads but beautifully maintained and lots for our level of riding. The Bell's Beer Mtn Bike fest is Labor Day weekend.

 

We enjoyed the trails here. The humidity was so high and warm that our clothes were soaked when we got done. Not much air moves down on the paths in the trees.

We decided to get out and try the mountain bike trails before the racers arrive for the mountain bike enduro race this weekend.  They were great trails that lots of work had been done on. I felt a little uncomfortable on the bridges since they were narrow but did fine.

Some of the sugar maples are changing color.

Copper Harbor lighthouse

The chokecherries are ready to be picked.

Monastery in Eagle River

The monks of Poor Rock Abbey sell jams, jellies and bakery items.

Red Crested woodpecker

 Contemplating the canal between Hunter's Point and the island

 

I need to get off this rock

 

View from Hunter's Point

A foggy morning but had to get this lighthouse. It is kind of neat to wake up in the morning and hear the foghorn.

We were told this was a great hike by someone we didn't know while mountain biking. It took several people giving us instructions as we got closer. Turn down the private road, drive until there is a big hill down, trail head parking on left, (it was on the right), the trailhead said sanctuary, .75 miles down the path and walking around a gate, we found this sign. No phone service or 4G but we had a GPS and bug spray.

When we go to the overlook, all we could see is fog.

Took a hike in the Old Growth white pines.

No thanks

 

and thimbleberries

Lake  Fannie Hooe is upper right with Lake Superior to the left.

 

One month on the road and so glad we went after our dream. When we started we weren't sure how long this would last. Now that we are "out there", even with little hiccups, we want to keep going. When I buy or do things, I always think about the cost either in dollars, time or stress and ask myself "Is it worth the cost". I would say "Heck yeah!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our "little house on the ferry", Apostle Islands

This is the smallest ferry we have ever been on holding 12 vehicles and a few motorcycles.

We got off in La Pointe and drove to Big Bay State Park.

Beautiful walk to the beach with very fine red sand.

Rode our bikes around the island 13x3 miles. Not like most islands we have ridden on. This one didn't have big hills.

This is when Lake Superior goes into the lagoon.

A great place for an evening walk after everyone leaves.

We changed our plans to spend some time in Bayfield and found a great place to stay even on short notice on a weekend.

Bayfield, Wisconsin and the Apostle Islands

 

While on our rest day after returning from Madeline Island, we decided to check out the local orchards and farms.

We haven't had TV, phone or much internet service since we left Hinkley, Minnesota. We find places like the Fat Radish for lunch and use their WIFI or a local library that is a cute old home.

Erickson's had two white haired ladies selling apple cider donuts and apple cookies with raisins, nuts and maple frosting that were so big we bought one to share. Then we spent the next day wishing we had another.

 

 

Mike thought that we should bike thru the country since it was only 10 miles. I suggested we drive and check it out in case we wanted to buy something. Good thing. The hills reminded me of those in Seattle. Up and down then up again. This was supposed to be a rest day.

Apple picking doesn't start for another week. I bet we find some along the way.

 

We had seen the ice caves that people walked out to in the winter on the news last year and decided to check it out. There were only about 10 days last winter that people could get out to them.  Parking would be backed up so far that they had to walk 5 miles before reaching the path for 1 mile to the caves after reported by the  national news. Locals started shuttles to haul people out and make a little cash.

The rain cleared and fog lifted so we could paddle but the wind was 15 mph and water pretty choppy.

 

 

We had a guide, Stephanie, that took good care of us and another couple for the day. Lake Superior is way over our heads.  

The eagles would fly over our heads when we came out of the caves.

 

 

After paddling 10.5 miles and hiking 2.5 miles (I thought we signed up for the 4 miles trip) we were tired people and glad to be back.

Some of the caves were so low you had to bend down and push to get thru. I didn't think we could get thru oone since it was so low that we went around.

We made it to Sand Island

It was a nice shady walk to the lighthouse. Our guide said the bugs had not been bad this year but were usually quite bad.

 

 

The blueberries are fuzzy in this picture but quite tasty.

After hanging out at the light house and enjoying our picnic that Stephanie brought, we headed back to our kayaks.

We had to check out the caves again on the way back.

We were glad that it was a cool start to the morning since we had wet suits and spray skirts that got pretty warm on the way back in the afternoon.

We heard this was the place for brats and cheese. We got the award winner and were smiling after we grilled those puppies up.

So glad we drove over the Ashland to check it out. 

This evening when we got back home,  our neighbor had his guitar out playing some nice tunes. We enjoyed just watching the sunset, listening to him. Maybe the raccoons will stay off our grill tonight. They leave such muddy footprints.