5* Days in the Upper Peninsula - 7 Hour Plane Crash Trail

[ArnieC]

This trip started off, as they do, with good intentions. The route was Milwaukee, WI to Lake Superior, following the 7 Hour Plane Crash Trail from Crandon to Lake Superior. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men...

Due to mechanical issues (dead IPR on our 6.0 diesel van). We ended up running the route in reverse.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 1: Friday Oct 6, 2023
Left Milwaukee around 4PM headed to my wifes parents' house near Wausau. Right after we got off the freeway, I lost throttle response in our van and noticed Injection Control Pressure dropped to 200 PSI. I touched the key and ICP popped right back and the van ran fine. We stopped for fish dinner on the way up in New London, and made it to the in-laws around 10PM.
Obligatory kitty pics.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 2: Saturday, Oct 7, 2023
Had a quick breakfast and headed out. Hoping our mechanical issues were behind us, we headed toward Crandon, about 1.5 hours north and the start of the 7 Hour Plane Crash.

No codes, predictable pressure. Get to just outside Crandon, WI, and the van dies coming up to an intersection. Won't restart this time.

Same code as last time, P2623 Injector Control Pressure Regulator/Circuit Open. Look at the wiring, looks OK. Fortunately I had 1/2 a bar of signal and found that guys had poured water on their IPRs to cool them down and get them to work again. And fortunately you can get to the IPR in a van though the cowl which comes off easy.

So we get the van restarted after the IPR cools down, drive to town. No chance of an IPR in Crandon, closest thing is Tuesday or 2 hour drive away. Plus you need a special socket to get it out. A tow home is $800+.

We weigh our options.

• The van runs currently, but I know we are on borrowed time.
• We drove it around with the cowl back on and it would die in 10-15 minutes of run time after cooling off.
• We can get parts in northern Wisconsin, but its a pain in the butt and would best case take a full day of horsing around trying to find them - plus signifcant back-tracking.
• We may not get the tools to swap the parts in Northern Wisconsin, or may run into unexpected issues.
• We can borrow a car at the in-laws if we make it that far (1.5 hours), but they have less than 0 tools and are 45 minutes from anything resembling an auto parts store.
• We could have parts shipped to the hotel in Marquette, MI and swap them in the parking lot. But they won't get there till Wednesday according to Amazon. At least Marquette is a decent sized town so we could hang out for a few days or find something local. Not sure if we would make Marquette or not. Cell signal between Crandon and Marquette is questionable and its Saturday afternoon. I have enough tools with me to likely do the job less the special socket. Pressing on is gonn make the tow bill bigger.
• Parts stores in Milwaukee have the parts and the tools to swap them, and we can NDA items from Amazon if needed (but only to our Milwaukee area address)
• We could aim for home, every mile we get reduces the tow bill.

So we headed home. Made it relatively uneventfully with a half-dozen events where the van would shut down. Made it all the way from Clintonville to Milwaukee without issue.

No pics because I was too busy.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 3: Sunday, Oct 8, 2023
Woke up back in Milwaukee.
Did some searching and found an IPR socket and valve locally. Got the parts and put them in.
We decided we would run the route in reverse since it was already 1PM and we could get to the north shore of Lake Michigan by Escanaba that night.
Jimmy Johns for dinner, campfire and beer on the shores of Lake Michigan.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 4: Monday, Oct 9, 2023
Pretty cold night. Frost on the ground, down to the low 30s. Our van doesn't have a diesel heater yet so we bundled up but were plenty warm. Getting up is always the hard part.
Made some coffee and bagels and hit the road. We were headed to Fayette, MI, a mining town turned state park. Weather was 40s and raining, typical UP in the fall.
Stopped for fuel in Escanaba and looked at my front drivers tire - it looked low.
25 PSI. Oh crap.
Fire up the air compressor, air the tire back up, get back on the road to Fayette.

You can dock your boats in the marina at Fayette. Has power and water. This guy was from Maryland. Took him 8 hours to get here from Sturgeon Bay.



All done with Fayette, we aimed for Pictured Rocks for the night. It was raining pretty good by this point, so we decided to hang out at By George Brewery in Munising, MI, get some warmth and Wifi, and get a plan together.
We picked out a campsite, booked it online, got some pasties for dinner since it was raining and we didn't feel like cooking, and headed to Pictured Rocks.
Little Beaver Campground was an 8 site loop on Little Beaver Lake. Real pretty and quiet, completely dark - no electricity at all. Close enough to Lake Superior to hear the waves crashing all night.
We spent the night watching some movies and drinking beers in the van. Its nice to have the downstairs for hanging out and the upstairs for sleeping. We have the middle row of seats out and left the rear seat. Works out nice.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 5: Tuesday, Oct 10, 2023
It was wet but not too cold this morning. Went to Miners Castle, saw the pictured rocks. Headed down to Miners falls and did a little walking.
Made breakfast, bagel sandwiches and a beermosa because why not, its Vacation. Pictured Rocks was bumpin' considering it was a rainy Tuesday.



Tire is still leaking, we are going to go to Marquette today and get it fixed.
On the way, swing through Lakenland.
Realy neat sculpture park/snowmobile park. Definitely worth the trip if local folk art appeals to you like it does to us. Right off the highway, free admission. Can't beat it.



Arrive in Marquette. Head to Discount Tire to get the tire fixed. Got an appointment for mid-afternoon and head to Presque Isle park for lunch. The wife had never had an MRE, so thats what we had. Not very good, but they are fun, at least as long as its a fun thing and not a getting by thing

Well, Discount says they can't fix it, hole is too close to the sidewall. So they swap on my spare (nice of them, beats doing it with hand tools in the dirt) and I head to Autozone to get a rope plug. Showed my wife how to patch it, still holding air just fine. No worries with on-board air if it develops a slow leak.

We spent the night in the Hampton Inn, got a shower, went to Black Rocks for some beers and Main Street Pizza for way too much pizza. It was good to be back in Marquette.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 6: Weds, Oct 11, 2023
Still full from pizza, we decide to go to 3rd Street Bagels for some...bagels. Best bagels I have ever had. We stop every time we are in Marquette.
Get some diesel, tire is holding air, life is good.
Today's goal was camping near Hougton, MI, via some gravel roads and checking out Big Erics Bridge campground which was supposed to be a stop-over in our original trip.





The roads to Big Erics were wet sand and gravel. We aired down and made it through no problem. Did not need 4x4 at all, but it was nice to know it was there. Slow going, full of potholes.



Stopped off in Hougton for a beer at Kewenaw Brewing before going to our campsite. We were boondocking it tonight, on a lake between Gay and Mohawk, MI.

Real pretty place, completely still and quiet with the exception of a few logging trucks. Get a few waves from the drivers and one guy stops to take a picture of our van. There is an established fire pit so we feel pretty comfortable camping here. We cut some wood and get a nice blaze going.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 7: Thurs, Oct 12, 2023
Today's goal was Copper Harbor and Fort Wilkins.

Headed up along the shore of the Kewenaw. Stopped for breakfast at a roadside park with a cool waterfall. Love how well maintained everything is in the UP. If this was Milwaukee, it would be wrecked in hours of being built.

We walked around the Gay Stamping Mill site this morning, maybe one of the neatest things. Reminded us a lot of when we were at Slab City.




Fort Wilkins is an old Military installation from the 1800s that was barely used but has been completely restored. It was also the last day the gift shop was open, so we got some ice cream to walk around. Nothing like ice cream in 40 degree temps. At least it doesn't melt fast.

After Fort Wilkins we headed out to the very tip of the Kewenaw, off the paved road. It got real real bumpy. Had to use 4 Low just because of the speeds we were going. Our van is set up for bombing gravel roads, not rock crawling. This is the first time we have been on trail that is part of the 7 Hour Plane Crash trail.

Made it through, turned around and headed to Calumet (home of my great-great-grandparents) - gotta walk around a bit and see the Italian Hall memorial - and then south of Houghton for the night. Boondocking at a county park that is more of a boat launch than a campground. But hey its free, quiet, and peaceful. Couple of more permanent camp setups and a few fishermen coming in and out.

Pasties again for dinner, the wife got a taste for them and really loves them. Pats Grocery Store has really good ones.

 

[ArnieC]

Day 8: Friday, Oct 13, 2023
We were far enough south that we could join up with the trail portion of the 7 hour plane crash trail (finally)
Hopped on the gravel roads and headed south.
There were some roads closed for the Lake Superior Rally. Plan on coming back next year to check it out.
Stopped at Lake St Katherine for some coffee around 10AM and to check out the campground. Pretty great spot, open year round. Was on our list to stay at on Night 1, so it was fitting to check it out at least.


Aimed for Iron Mountain. Gonna go see the Iron Mountain Iron Mine.
Really good tour (not as good as Quincy or Cliffs Shaft) but a bit spendy. Got deep into the mine, rode a little train, the whole thing.



So now it was 2PM. The brewery in Iron Mountain didn't open till 4.
We looked at our watch, looked at our GPS, it was raining, we decided to head for home.

We rolled through a county campground south of Iron Mountain, but it was more Jellystone than Yellowstone, so we checked out a little waterfall, got some cheese out of the cooler, and headed home.

Stopped along the way for a Wisconsin fish fry. 3 piece cod, french fries, cole slaw, rye bread.




So there ya go. We had a great time, other than the aformentioned IPR and flat tire issues, everything worked great.
The 7 hour Plane Crash trail was pretty meh other than just the end up past copper harbor. Basically just bombing gravel roads and since we are too wide for the rail trails, a lot of paved roads. Would have been a bit more fun on a side by side or dirt bike.
The southern half (south of the Kewenaw) was more fun than the northern half. Still got pretty good and muddy so that was nice.

If we had it all to do over again, we would have stayed 1 more night at Pictured Rocks. Next year we want to go watch the rally, so maybe we can work some Pictured Rocks into that trip.

 

[Buddha.]

Sounds like a fun trip. We were in copper harbor about a month ago.

Your pics aren’t working for me.

 

[NatersXJ6]

I’m seriously jealous. Those were my stomping grounds for what the university referred to as “too many” years, so I had to join the real world! Also wish your pics would auto-load. For some reason I have to click on them.

As a former 6.0 Truck Owner… there were many time I wished an IPR could be reached simply by removing a doghouse cover!

Having now clicked through the pics, that sawblade picnic table is seriously cool and creative.

 

[Buddha.]

You have to click on the pics, I see them now.

We too went to Gay and stopped at the Gay bar. I don’t recommend the pizza.

 

[ArnieC]

I *think* the pics are fixed. Let me know. Added a few more details and comments at the end.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[NatersXJ6]

Pics appear to work now. The area around Munising is by far and away my favorite part of the UP!

 

[1stDeuce]

Thanks for the trip report Arnie! I miss the UP... Houghton was my stomping grounds for 5 years at Michigan Tech. So many good memories of Lake Superior... I think my fondness for Iceland is related to how much it reminds me of the Keweenaw area!

I had not heard of the 7 hour plane crash trail but a lot of those roads were the "better" roads that we traveled to get to our favorite beach camping areas... The road to High Rock Bay has always been pretty awful... It gets better once in a while when loggers grade it, but gets so much traffic that it comes apart again shortly after. We used to be able to drive out to Keystone bay, a bit south of there... Then there was a wildfire out that way and it got closed off for that and never really re-opened as far as I know. It's private now like so many of the places I used to wheel that are now closed...