Twenty-Four Photos--With So Much Nature, I Couldn't Help Myself

June 20, 2024

Van Riper State Park

The temperature got down to 47-degrees outside my tent and I slept like a bear cub in hibernation. (Which reminds me, I haven't seen a bear since last week. I think today would be a good time to see another one.) I slept TOO well last night because I overslept the sunrise by at least a half-hour.

I ran across the highway to get a picture of the sun coming up over Keweenaw Bay anyway. I was disappointed in the result, but that won't stop me from posting it. When I got back to my campsite, I got a whiff of the bacon some nearby camper was cooking. The scent made me disappointed that I only had coffee for breakfast. Generally, coffee is all I want, but if they had come over with a plate of bacon that was fried up in a cast iron skillet, I'd have accepted without another thought.

Alas, no such offer was forthcoming. If I was a bear, I'd have lumbered over to that campsite and TAKEN all their bacon. I'm not a bear though, so I packed up my gear and started my day.

I bet this looked better thirty-minutes ago.

Packed up and ready to go. I just wish that highway wasn't there between me and the bay.

Less than two miles up the road I got this good-bye picture of Lake Superior. “See you again in a couple days,” I assured the lake.

Then I had gradual climb away from the lake for the next hour-- maybe longer with all my dilly dallying.

As I'm working on this journal page, I just noticed the freaky clouds in the last three photos. They look as thin and holey as one of my 20-year old T-shirts that The Feeshko keeps telling me I should get rid of.

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At this point, I'm going to have to change the style of my narrative. I can't do justice to the rest of my day with the standard chronology of “this happened, then that happened, here's some pictures, then I saw this, then I saw that, then I did this, then I did that, here's some more pictures, then I went to sleep in my tent.”

I saw more nature today than any bike tripper should be allowed to see in TWO days—all courtesy of the U.P. The only way I can think of to write about all the nature is to divide it up into what I'm going to call “Nature Chapters.” I'm going to start with Chapter One.

CHAPTER ONE: Rivers, Streams & Creeks

I crossed bridges over more rivers and streams than I could keep track of. Twenty would not be an exaggeration at all. Some were wide, some were narrow, some were fast, some barely seemed to be moving. Some of them even had waterfalls visible from the road.

The Falls of Falls Creek. That's not an error . . . it really is named Falls Creek and it had this waterfall.

I got an unexpected chance to do a little hiking to see that last one. Michigan Tech University owns a large tract of forest along my route, and they built a nice hiking trail to a nice waterfall. It's all part of the college's dedication to environmental research. I never did anything so constructive when I was a college kid. My “research” mostly involved going to the library and using the Dewey Decimal System to find books about such things as Supreme Court history, Robert F. Kennedy's relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, 1800's political “bosses” in American cities, Ernest Hemingway, Friedrich Nietzche, and useless stuff like that.

Bacco Creek also runs along the MTU trail.

CHAPTER TWO: Animals

I only have two pictures, but I have a couple of exciting stories. The best one involves a ruffed grouse. If you've ever startled one of those birds, you'll never forget the loud drumbeat of their wings when they take flight.

As I was pedaling to the high point of my route, I did startle a ruffed grouse (a relative of what's known as a partridge in other places.) I heard the drumming and saw the (I assume) mama bird and a couple of smaller ones fly from the ditch towards the woods. The commotion almost caused me to swerve into traffic. As I passed, I looked back and saw the mama bird flying about four feet from my head. She looked as big as a bowling ball. I shouted “WHOA!” and she veered away back to her babies.

I also saw a family of wild turkeys, a deer, several turtles, lots of crows, butterflies, horseflies, ducks. Probably a few other animals I'm forgetting too. I didn't see any mooses, but I did see a sign that gave me hope.

I made friends with this chipmunk at my campsite. I think he wanted food. The fact that I didn't feed him, yet he stuck around, makes me think he liked my friendly personality.

CHAPTER THREE: Lakes

I saw several lakes, big and small, along the way. None of them were as magnificent as Lake Superior, but here are few pictures of the ones I most enjoyed.

This one is my fave. I spotted a couple picnic tables while riding and decided to stop there for my favorite bike tripping lunch of peanut butter—straight up, no bread.

Lake Michigamme, from tonight's campground

CHAPTER FOUR: Rocks

I think these are examples of Canadian shield rock from the Pre-Cambrian era. I'm no geologist, so I don't know what that means, but I learned about it while on my bike tour that included northern Minnesota, Ontario and Manitoba. Until then, the only thing I knew about rocks was that small flat ones were the best for skipping over a body of water.

CHAPTER FIVE: Wildflowers

There were hillsides of wildflowers almost all day. I can't believe I stopped for only one picture, and it's far from the best photo opportunity of the day. I did redeem myself with a close up of some mushrooms mixed in with cute flowers.

Purple Missile Flowers, She Loves Me She Loves Me Not Flowers, and Yellow Angel's Wings On A Stem are everywhere. Every once in a while you can see Orange Sunshine Blooms mixed in. (The Feeshko calls the Orange Sunshine Blooms "Indian Paintbrush.")

CHAPTER SIX: Camping

Van Riper State Park was my last, best hope of seeing a moose. Those big members of the deer family have been seen here on occasion. The park also has a beach on Lake Michigamme, friendly chipmunks, and at least one cheerful park ranger.

On the downside is that I experienced the worst mosquito infestation of my bike trip so far. As far as the bites go, it was nothing a few squirts from my vial of 100% DEET couldn't handle. Even so, it's a little creepy seeing those bastards flying around your head just outside the DEET zone.

Van Riper has a very large campground--something like 150 sites--but I picked out a small site far from the Rvs. I remembered to take a picture of my site. I like it.

Michigan state parks all have those huge, ugly fire pits to spoil a great campsite picture.

Blueberries are sweet, healthy, and my favorite fruit. The best ones are picked in the wild, in the late summer, in the U.P., but these will do.

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Emily SharpOh, the Neligan Rd looks inviting. Think I might have had to route down the Nestoria-Herman Road - it looks interesting. Also looks like lots of short sharp hills and a whole lot of view-blockers though.
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6 months ago

Gregory GarceauTo Emily SharpI looked at the Herman-Nestoria Road, but it seemed a little too rocky. It would definitely be YOUR kind of road though.
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6 months ago

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 300 miles (483 km)

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Suzanne GibsonWhat a day! Thanks for lots of pictures!
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6 months ago

Emily SharpI like the chapters - it's sort of like bible verses for the Church of the Great Outdoors. It's certainly a beautiful place with lots of nice views and view-blockers, thanks for the tour.

I think 47 degrees is just about the perfect overnight low for camping if it's not raining. Cool enough to cuddle down in the bag and sleep well, but not so cold through the night it wakes you up.
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6 months ago