Trails and Trials on the Upper Peninsula

We had a great night’s sleep, Kelley particularly with her new mattress! It rained a bit in the night, but we were able to do a short hike down to the lake and have breakfast. Then it rained some more. We got in our tent and waited it out. It was peaceful and relaxing.

Once the rain cleared out, we packed up our campsite in the mud and went exploring the historic part of Fayette State Park. Fayette was once a bustling center for making pig iron, and the remnants of the town and the operation are still there. We explored the ruins, and enjoyed the views of the Big Bay de Noc. The sky was perfect and there was a stunning rock bluff soaring over the azure waters across the bay.

Back on our bikes, we had to back track 9 or so miles on the hilly road we came in on. It was still hilly, but not as bad as yesterday! It was just as beautiful though! We got to the bucolic small town of Garden and stopped for lunch.

Undaunted by the Google fiasco of yesterday, we decided to use those directions to keep us off busy highway 2. It started out fine, but then a gravel road. Then a second gravel road. Then that road turned into a muddy, swampy double track. Our bikes fishtailed from one deep puddle to another and the grass in the middle was knee high. Bruce’s bike toppled into the edge of the swamp on one of the fishtails. We persevered because Google said we were only in this for one mile. However, when one mile came, and we were supposed to turn on a road, there was just more of the same.

The going was so tough that Kelley decided to just walk her bike, which was fine until she saw a snake! All of the sudden we heard motors coming up behind us. Three folks on ATV’s came up. We had passed them on the road earlier. They couldn’t believe we were in this swampy mess. They let us know it continued for 5 more miles, but if we backtracked and continued down the road we initially saw them on, we could get really close to Manistique, our destination.

We turned around and were so relieved to be on pavement again. It didn’t last, but for about 15 miles we had very doable gravel- clearly an actual vehicle road, and not some path through the wilderness. There were some hills, but none that were terrible. The scenery was amazing, with thick northern forest on both sides of the brown gravel road.

When we came off the gravel road, we had just a few short miles on US 2. The traffic wasn’t too bad and before we knew it we were in Manistique. We got to our lodging, showered and walked back to town for dinner. We had a lovely walk along a boardwalk along the lake. After dinner, the same walk back, this time in the dark.

The next day we took a while to get going. We had to do laundry. When we left the hotel, we went the other direction on the boardwalk, which turned into a path for about a mile before being spit out onto US 2. That’s when trouble started. Bruce couldn’t get his bike to get into gear. His chain kept coming off the ring. We tried several things, and then realized that his thick steel bike rack had snapped and was resting on the cassette. Oh no!!! We were nowhere near a bike shop, and the likelihood of a bike shop having the heavy duty bike rack he would need was slim anyway. Out came the duct tape and the zip ties. Bruce taped the rack into place, added zip ties for insurance, and we transferred as much weight out of his pannier as we could. Fingers crossed we could make it through the day.

We decided to stay on US 2 for this day due to the broken rack. If the rack re-broke, we would have a much better chance getting help on the main road than in the trackless wilderness. It was grim going, but we got through it. 45 miles of cars zooming by at 65 mph. Ugh. Thankfully, Bruce’s rack held!

We got to Naubinway in the late afternoon. Bruce’s knees were sore and swollen from all the hills. He iced them a bit, and then we walked to dinner. Naubinway is the northernmost point of Lake Michigan. On our way to dinner we walked down to the marina to see for ourselves. The lake did indeed seem different. It was deep with lots of strong waves.

We ate dinner at a diner in a 100 year old cabin. We met a woman whose husband is battling dementia. We chatted with her for a while. Turns out she is from Buffalo, NY. Since we have bicycled through Buffalo a couple of times, we had lots to talk about!

Monday Cycling: 38 miles

Hiking: 6 miles

Tuesday Cycling: 45 miles

Hiking 4.5 miles