8/29 Marquette, Mi

Iron Ore Heritage Trail from Marquette, MI to Ispheming, MI

53 miles

Video highlights - can you find the deer?

Iron ore is a constant presence along the shores of Lake Superior. Marquette, home to Northern Michigan University, is no exception. The ore trains roll right out onto a specially constructed pier where the ore pellets can be dropped directly into the hold of the ore ships.

Ore Loading Pier adjacent to Presque Isle Park

We camped at the Marquette Tourist Park, a city-owned and operated campground and park on the Dead River. The town is very bike friendly and the trail network was accessible right from the park.

We visited Lakeshore Bike Shop and acquired the quintessential tin sign: Bikes = N + 1

The "Yoop" loves its Cornish pasties, a legacy of Cornish miners, so we had to try them out. The Lonely Planet recommended Jean Kay's Pasty shop, so we tried it out. We had a steak pasty and a vegetarian pasty with the housemade spicy ketchup sauce. Both were very tasty.

8/27 - 8/28 The U.P. -- Michigan's Upper Penninsula

This rainy morning we headed over the Mackinaw Bridge to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Turns out the "Uppers" (say Yooper) have a different outlook than the lower portion of Michigan and have tried to secede multiple times. (Sounds familiar to our northern and southern California friends and family.)

Since the weather was hot, steamy, and occasionally rainy, we decided to forego bicycle riding. Instead we hiked this relatively short path to see the waterfalls along the Tahquamenon River. We were amazed to find out they used this river to 'float' the cut timber down to sawmills in the southern part of the state.

We camped for two nights at Rivermouth Campground, which is a Michigan state park campground at the mouth of the Tahquamenon river. Delightful campsites at the river's edge with excellent facilities and hot showers.

The next day we went out to the Shipwreck Museum and Lighthouse at Whitefish Point just north of Paradise. Whitefish Point has claimed more ships than any other stretch of Lake Superior. In addition to the lake's notorious storms, the Point is a narrow and treacherous channel.

The ore carrier, Edmund Fitzgerald, at the time the largest ship plying the Great Lakes, went down in a fierce storm with all hands lost. Gordon Lightfoot memorialized it in his ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Actual cause of the disaster remains a mystery to this day.

The lighthouse was originally a stone tower, but could not withstand the violent storms and winds of Lake Superior winter, so was replaced with this wrought iron version. The mechanism that kept the light revolving was similar to that of a grandfather clock and required winding every 2.5 hours. The lightkeeper's cottage was attached by a bridge to the lighthouse stairs so that the lightkeeper was spared some of winter's harshness as he rewound the light multiple times per night.

Paula's not a fan of heights, but can you see her up on the catwalk?

This cart was used to haul down the large timbers before they were dropped into the water for travel to the mills. The cart wheels were huge, and the logs were lashed to the structure, but the cart itself appeared very small.

Here's one of the natural sand dunes which was used to push the logs down to the water.

The forest service sign was attention getting though.

Beautiful coastline, but respect the weather.

8/26 Little Traverse Wheelway from Harbor Springs to Charlevoix

This was our last day at Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground, so we took the van to Harbor Springs as our jumping off point for the Little Traverse Wheelway Trail.

We rode through Petoskey, Bay Shore, and on to Charlevoix when we turned around. A total of 57 miles, all of it paved this time.  Here's some of our snaps...

Palatial trail council setting. We loved the stonework of the building.

These murals were on the back of a strip mall along the trail. Great way to avoid graffiti. Surprisingly we have seen very little graffiti along this entire trip. From the Top of Michigan Trails Council description...

The part between Petoskey’s Bayfront Park to Petoskey State Park follows closely the path of the original Little Traverse Wheelway that stretched from Petoskey to Harbor Springs in the 1880s and ‘90s. A gate over the trail at the east end of Bayfront Park proclaims “No Teaming or Driving,” and ... is a reminder of a time when people were prohibited from riding horses or horse-drawn carriages on the trail.

 

Beautiful scenery along the edge of the lake, and much resort potential. (We just rode by.)

This drawbridge was open and blocking our way into downtown Charlevoix. Since it didn't look like it would be shut anytime soon, we decided to turn around and take advantage of the temporary hiatus from car traffic that it created.

8/22 - 8/24 Mackinaw City, Mi

Now it's on to further exploration Michigan's lower peninsula. We have a campsite at the Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground. This campground is amazing! It has over 800 RV/tenting sites and cabins available at varying prices based on how close to Lake Huron you are. There are many people who just bicycle around the park.

Temperatures have finally dropped into the 70's, so while still humid, the heaviness of the 80's has abetted.

We biked into Mackinaw City initially to get the lay of the land. The tourist shops didn't float our boat, so after a luncheon we headed back to the campsite. I have caught a cold, so an afternoon nap did wonders for setting me up to heal. Only 14 miles today.


Then yesterday we took the ferry over to Mackinac Island. This is a lovely tourist destination with at least 6 fudge shops in two blocks of their main drag, but the island has a grand bicycle route around it. With no motor vehicle traffic allowed on the island, everything is at a slower pace. We saw horse drawn carriages and draught wagons, a plumber riding a bicycle towing his cart of tools, and package deliveries by bicycle. No one complained about our pedal assisted trikes, but we couldn't fly our flags, because it could have spooked the horses.

A lovely day where my computer registered 40 miles, but that also included the ferry ride back and forth. Check out our snaps...

Once we returned on the ferry, we found Biere De Mac, a local brewery in Mackinaw City. This place was amazing! We want to go back there to try their food; their beer was superb! We love beers aged in oak barrels for their finish, and these folks had several we thought worthy of sampling again.

Then today we decided to take the North Central Trail in the other direction towards Cheybogan. 32 miles today of unpaved, pea-gravel trail, largely tree covered.

We stopped first at a portion of the state park that has rebuilt a sawmill on Mill Creek, the only creek in the area with sufficient drop to power a water-driven mill.  They showed how trees used to be cut by hand, and how the sawmill was such a boon. The sawmill was originally built during the late 1700's, and supplied lumber to Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island.

Of course in Cheybogan we found the local brewery, so after getting a sandwich to share, we returned to the brewery for a flight to share. The brews this time were quite unusual but very tasty: Blood Orange Honey, Blueberry Cream Ale, Lighthouse Amber, and Chocolate Covered Cherry Stout. Not beers we would typically choose, but each was distinctive and tasted fine.

Cheyboygan had some weird street that we thought we should show you...

We returned to the campsite just before it began to rain. What do bicyclists do when it rains? Trip plan of course. We're charting our continued adventures. Stay tuned.