My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hey Vic.......good to hear from you. Yea I'm not sure where I'll be this week. I am going west but the route is still to be determined. And the way I feel at the moment, you might be best to keep a few hundred miles between us. Hopefully I shake this real soon. I'll keep posting and we'll see if we can connect (if I feel better). Otherwise safe travels and see you next time. It's funny how we keep missing each other. As I recall, Washington state, then California, and now Minnesota. Take care......

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

As planned I was up early and I couldn't hear rain......a good sign. Opened the camper door to see perfectly blue skies and the morning sun just rising.



So I let the dogs out to play in the marsh while I had a little something to eat and cleaned up the camper. We were on the road before 8:00 a.m and headed north up 41. Flew through Houghton and Hancock (nice towns) and continued on 41 until we reached Lac La Belle Road. We were headed for Bare Bluff along the shore of Lake Superior. After about (7) miles we turned onto a dirt/gravel road that led to the trail head for our morning hike. The road had a few steep sections and on the way out I actually had to put the truck into 4 wheel drive. It was a bit hairy but we made it. The (3) mile hike was so beautiful and once we reached the top of the bluff we chilled for quite sometime just taking it all in.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Then we continued north on 41 until we reached Copper Harbor. Cool little town but really not much there to see so after a quick cruise through town we stopped by Fort Wilkins to see what that's all about. It's really nice the way the fort has been restored by the state of Michigan and I found it very interesting. If you're not familiar with Fort Wilkins it's a fort that was built by the U.S. in the 1840's to keep the copper miners in check and to keep peace between the miners and the Indians. Apparently it wasn't needed and was closed after a few years, then reopened and closed again, and ...........Anyhow, you can always Google it if you're really interested.





After Fort Wilkins we drove to the summit of Brockway Mountain where we got some good views of Copper Harbor.



Then we took M26 south and saw some awesome Lake Superior rocky coastlines and of course we stopped often and took a few pictures.



We finished the day up with more hiking, grocery shopping in Houghton, and then here to our campsite. Tomorrow we'll continue southwest and I've got some peak bagging planned for the day.

 

[mervifwdc]

That's one heck of a trip! Nice reporting.

 

[fortion]

I am so jealous of this man....Leading a dream life

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Tuesday evening we drove south to Twin Lakes State Park. Turned out to be a very nice campground and I was thrilled in the morning to wake up to the sounds of Loons singing. First time on this trip and hopefully not the last time. Really, there's not a more soothing sound that I am aware of. Anyhow, the plan was to leave early but as we were packing up, the campground hosts decided to stop by for a chat. Well that went on for way too long. We finally packed up and on the way out stopped at the dump station and it happened again. I met a fellow camper and he had the coolest truck camper so once again we chatted forever. He was really into the vintage campers and I don't recall how many he had but it was quite a few and he loved to talk about them......all of them.



Finally got out of there and we were off to some peak bagging in the Porcupine Mountains (I'd never heard of them either). This small mountain chain runs along the coast of Lake Superior. The hiking was great, we got two more peaks (Government Peak and the Escarpment), and hiked for about (15) miles. We were dead tired at the end of the day.

Lake of the Clouds..........





Sights along the trail..........





Summit of Government Peak

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

After our day of hiking we drove south to a small rustic campground just south of the Porcupine Mountains. This place was unreal. As I recall it was named Presque Isle. It was once a modern campground but the DNR came in and removed everything. Even the electricity, the showers, the dump station, really everything. They even enlarged all of the campsites by reducing the number of sites by 50%. And this place was super remote. I loved every bit of it. As we were driving in we were greeted by two fawns grazing along the road.



The campground is located along the Presque Isle River where it empties out into Lake Superior. There was a trail along the river to view the many waterfalls. So we did more hiking and just had a blast, almost had the trail to ourselves.





In the afternoon we finally left Michigan and drove west for Wisconsin. In the afternoon we had our Burger King lunch (I think I'm tiring of this now) and then a stop at a park service visitors center. It was well done and very interesting.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We continued west on the well known Route 2. Beautiful drive but we needed a spot to camp for the night. I drove through Chequamegon National Forest and for whatever reason I know not, I drove by every forest service road and our opportunities for free camping. As we got closer to Duluth, Minnesota I saw a sign for an archery station in Brule State Park. I pulled in and tried my best to hide the camper. It worked perfectly and we stayed there last night. And it was another amazing spot for hiking. This place had miles of trails cut into a forest of mostly Birch trees and some Hemlocks with a forest floor covered with tall ferns. The trails were 10' wide and lined with mowed grass. It was unreal awesome. It was quiet and we had the place to ourselves.





This morning we loaded up and today we are posting from Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It looks as though we are going west..............

 

[AA1PR]

I havent been on the forum in a while but I am glad you're still out there exploring & having fun

thanks for letting us follow along

 

[mervifwdc]

Sounds like your getting to see some superb places. I like your writing!

And I really liked the airstream/camper thing! Looks cool!

Merv.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hey Mike...........got your PM. I'll check it out. I'm not on the internet much these days except for XP, SummitPost, and email. Thanks.

Merv.......thanks. Yep, I love cruising the highways but I'd switch with you in a second. I love South America (been there 7 times and have lived in Ecuador). So yea I'm a bit envious in a good way...........

So after a brief stay in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, we were on the road and once again driving west on Route 2. And what a great way to cross the country........getting off the interstates and taking it easy (real easy) and exploring the small towns of America. We stopped for what was a planned short lunch break at Cass Lake but soon after I stopped I was engaged in a deep conversation (well, not really) with about (20) Native American kids form the Chippewa Band at the dock. They had tons of questions for me about my trip and they loved the dogs. It all ended on a sad note when one of the boys decided to ride his bike off the dock and knocked his tooth out when he hit the handlebars. Fortunately he wasn't in pain and seemed to be fine so soon after we all parted ways.

Beautiful Cass Lake.........



The kids...........



Ugh............



Our next stop that needs to be mentioned was in a small town where I saw this little stand selling fresh vegetables and baked goods. Of course I hadn't let go of my desire for a blueberry pie. Well, I couldn't believe it. This Amish family baked fresh pies every morning and sold them here. It was too good to be true. I left with a fresh baked blueberry pie and pumpkin squares (all organic too). Awesome !!



Back on the road and continuing west on a beautiful day in northern Minnesota just thinking about my pie. Could it get any better ? Yep. Out in the middle of nowhere I look across the highway and there's another stand. As I'm passing by I notice an Amish woman with her (3) children give me a friendly wave. So, of course I have to turn around. I stayed for nearly an hour chatting with her and her (13) year old son. What a fascinating life they live. The boy told me how he rides a horse (6.5) miles (one way) to his one room schoolhouse. He told me how sometimes the snow / drifts are almost as high as he stands and he'll ride through it cause he doesn't want to miss school. They were so polite and genuinely thankful and seemed to be so happy. It does seem like an idyllic lifestyle. Anyhow, I hated to move on but I did so with many more baked goods (I had to buy more........I mean, how could I leave without ?). So it was back on Route 2 and we were moving west.............



Today I am posting from a Starbucks in Grand Rapids, North Dakota (we just arrived here about an hour ago)..........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

After our stop this morning at Starbucks we drove into downtown Grand Fork, North Dakota and stopped in at the YMCA for a $1.00 shower. They actually have private showers and really hot water. Then we walked around town, stopped at a fair with a live country band and checked things out, had lunch with the old guys at the Lions Club (hot dogs for $1.50). All three of us ate up our fair share. Then we were back on Route 2, traveling most of the day with many stops to enjoy the beauty of North Dakota. Tonight we are camped at a desolate rest area along Route 2 next to a beautiful lake. Should be a nice sunset in a little.............

The fair.........





Trains are cool...........



Views along Route 2..........













Looking up...........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

This evening we are in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. I'm unable to post any pictures while in Canada since I don't have service here so I'm posting from a Starbucks right now. So up too early this morning (I'm having problems adjusting to the one hour time change......and I've got another one coming shortly) but it worked out good since I met a truck driver this morning and he and I got along great. Turned out we had the same first name, born in the same year, same month, and almost the same day (got me thinking about that Danny Devito / Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Twins). Once again I found myself talking forever and really enjoying my conversation with him. I ended up in the cab of his truck and he took pictures of me pretending to be a semi truck driver (my secret ambition) and I took pictures of him in front of my rig (his secret ambition). It was cool and all in good fun. By the way we were in Rugby, North Dakota at the time. Rugby is the geographical center point of North America. Of course I got a picture of that monument. Then we departed Route 2 and headed north on Route 3 for the International Peace Garden which is right on the border between the U.S. and Canada. Just as we arrived a weather front moved in and it got cold and began to rain so we skipped it and went through the border check point. It was simple, a few questions, a check of my passport on the system to make sure that I was clean, and we were off driving north into Canada. No hassles with the dogs, nothing about fruits or vegetables, and nothing about the tow vehicle. I was surprised but whatever. As we progressed north the scenery looked much like North Dakota and with the rain we only stopped once in Boissevain, and then we just drove straight through until we arrived in Brandon. Beautiful town and nice people. As a matter of fact Manitoba's license plates say "friendly Manitoba". And that's it for today.................

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

This evening we are posting from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Spent the day driving for the most part (over 200 miles today). It seems as though not a day goes by where I don't have someone (and often multiple people) give me the thumbs up or a smile and a wave or just pointing at my rig. Lots of people find my rig interesting I guess. Just like the trucker the other day. He loved my rig. Well this afternoon I'm driving west on the Trans-Canada Highway and as I look to my left at a train that's just begun to parallel the highway, I notice the engineer hanging out of the window of the locomotive taking pictures of my rig. It was so funny. I gave him the thumbs up and waved and he started honking that train horn for the longest time. We drove along side each for quite a while and he got some more photos, more waves, and on and on. Eventually I passed him up and later in the day he passed by while we were parked along the road. Of course he nailed the horn as he passed by. It was a lot of fun. And yep, that was the high light of the day. Well, I did get a free shower at the YMCA in Regina. Back on the road in the morning. Will post up pictures soon............

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Made it Wolf Point, Montana yesterday. Stayed at the town jail. Headed for Bozeman, Montana.