The U.P. is Like British Columbia

June 21, 2024

Marquette

That was my first vision upon waking this morning. To me, mosquitoes are one of the most despicable animals on earth, and slugs are one of the most icky animals on earth. Surely, the meeting of two such disgusting creatures was worth a photo.

I'm sorry I can't think of a better word for slugs than "icky," but I'm going to stay with it because that's what they are. I became very aware of their ickiness while taking down my tent. I found six of them on my ground sheet and on the underside of my tent. The ickiest part is that you can't simply shake them off because they have some kind of sticky slime that glues them onto tents. You have to actually TOUCH them. The smaller ones can be flicked off with a finger, but the big ones require picking them off with two fingers.

Slimy, sticky, gelatinous and . . . icky.

************

Less than three miles up the road, I heard a voice saying, "Good Morning."

"Good morning," I returned, as a cyclist equipped with a bikepacking set-up pulled alongside of me.

"Where are you from," he asked.

"Well, I live in the Twin Cities, but I started my bike trip in Ironwood." He had a confused look, as if he didn't know what the Twin Cities was. "Minneapolis-St. Paul," I clarified, though I still wasn't sure he'd ever heard of them.

"I'm from Paris, France," he announced.

"Wow, where are you riding?"

"I'm riding across Canada from Vancouver to Montreal."

I caught myself before blurting out, "you must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, because you aren't in Canada." I remembered a lot of cross-Canada riders dip down to Minnesota, Wisconsin and the U.P. in order to avoid the treacherous part of the TransCanada Highway that runs along the north side of Lake Superior. Instead, I said, "Welcome to America."

We rode side-by-side for about five minutes. I told him about my less ambitious tour of the Upper Peninsula, and he said he really likes it here. "It reminds me of British Columbia."

"Yeah, I can see what you mean, but with smaller mountains."

"The trees and the climate are similar."

The short dialogue I just wrote was paraphrased, of course. I can't remember the exact words, and it excluded all of the times we said things like "pardon me." "What was that?" "I'm sorry, I didn't understand." His French accent was as thick to me as my Minnesota accent was to him.

"Are you going to Marquette," he asked.

"Yes, I am."

"I will see you in Marquette then," he said as he raced ahead as quickly as he appeared.

I have a bit of a hang-up when it comes to asking people to pose for a picture. It seems intrusive. It's a little easier if they ask for a picture of me first, but Paris guy didn't do that. So I settled for a picture of him from behind.

Paris, France guy, leaving me in his dust.

This was a nice place to conduct one of the most important rituals of The Church of the Great Outdoors. While relieving my bladder, my focus was on a patch of bright green ferns.

Another batch of that Pre-Cambrian stuff

This is one the many roadside stands selling firewood I've seen over the last 11 days. I've also seen similar stands selling honey, jellies, crafts, flowers, fresh eggs, and other things I can't recall right now. It was all sold on the honor system. I wonder if bears honor the honor system.

A couple decades ago this pasty shop was featured on NBC's Today Show. I didn't stop for a pasty today, but I plan to get one at their Marquette branch tomorrow.

I took this picture for the mountains ahead, not the traffic.

A giant manhandling a digging tool and a Lilliputian trying to push a huge wheelbarrow.

Sure, I fell for a tourist trap, but at least I got to add to my collection of World's Largest things.

This might be more Tourist Attraction than Tourist Trap. I didn't go inside because my winter sports preferences lean more toward snow shoveling and bike riding.

The next three pictures were taken in the mining town of Negaunee. It is to iron ore as Houghton is to copper. I didn't ride into town to explore the famous mining history though, because I was trying to get to Marquette before the impending rain.

For the second time on this trip, nature intervened on my attempt to stay ahead of the rain. I stopped to take a picture of Teal Lake. I was happy with how I framed my picture just right. Then I snapped the button on my phone camera. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something else coming into view.

Fortunately, I already had my camera out to get an additional photo of a seagull chasing a bald eagle across the lake. Unfortunately, my phone isn't the best zoomerer-inner. I quickly snapped two pictures. I can't decide which one is clearer, so I'm going to post both.

I didn't buy an Iron Town Pasty. As much as I wish otherwise, my body couldn't handle a pasty from every pasty shop I see.

From Negaunee, it was a seven-mile downhill cruise to the Lake Superior port city of Marquette. It started raining, but I made it to the Holiday Inn before I got totally soaked.

I'm really pumped up to show off the town I remember from my college days. That, sad to say, will have to wait until tomorrow.

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Emily SharpIf MN is the land of 10,000 lakes, do you know how many lakes the U.P. has? I constantly amazed at all of them in these maps.
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6 months ago

Gregory GarceauI'm guessing the two states have a similar number of lakes, but the U.P. doesn't feel the need to brag about it.
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6 months ago

Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 330 miles (531 km)

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