As I mentioned last month, Kris McNeal and Zach Chase left Duluth on May 1, 2012 intent on bicycling the 5,300 miles around the lakes in three months. I just learned they’ve passed the half-way mark and are now in Michigan on the way to Alpena (click here for their progress map).
Can you imagine doing this?! Very amazing.
You can follow their adventures at Big Water Bike. Also watch for the documentary that will be based on their travels.
Ellen Airgood–author of the novel, South of Superior, and the newly released young-adult novel, Prairie Evers–posted a link to the UP Book Tour 2012 on her Facebook page. I would love to get to at least a couple of the authors’ talks during my August circling of Lake Superior, but they take place in June and July. Darn. In case you are interested, here’s the UP Book Tour 2012 calendar.
If you want to visit Grand Marais, check out this page of nearby awesome attractions like Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with Grand Sable Dunes. My first backpacking trip was to Pictured Rocks many years ago on the first weekend in May. My then stepdaughter, Katie, two others, and I hiked in and set up base camp at Mosquito campground (click here for map PDF). Fortunately it was too early for mosquitoes. The weather was actually quite strange. We were prepared for cold weather so were shocked when the temperature reached 80.
It was a gorgeous place to camp with a small cold stream, spring wildflowers and wild leeks, and, of course, the big lake stretched out in front of us. Katie threw a snowball while dressed in shorts, and every day she bravely dove in (and right out of) the cold blue lake. Brrr. At night in the campground we could hear loud splashes as massive chunks of ice fell off the sides of the pictured rocks. I imagined that must be what the calving of glaciers in Alaska sounds like.
Chapel Falls
One day we hiked to Chapel Falls taking a lunch of apples, peanut butter, and pita bread. While sitting in the wilderness by the falls enjoying our lunch, the beauty and silence was shattered by a jet ski. The jet skiers had come from Munising, took one look at the falls, and back they went. Wow. We all felt a little sick about the intrusion by folks there to just check “Chapel Falls” off a list rather than really experiencing the beauty and holiness of the falls and surrounding nature. And, of course, I couldn’t help but think of the petroleum pollutants spewing out of the jet ski in addition to the noise pollution.
Here’s an official link to backpacking at Pictured Rocks and here’s an article in Backpacker Magazine from May 2010. Hope you get to enjoy this gorgeous area! And on foot!
Life has gotten hold of me as I finally settle into Ann Arbor. I did take four days over Memorial Day for a photo safari to Tobermory, Ontario. Tobermory is at the very northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula and the gateway to the Georgian Bay and tens of thousands of islands. This is also where you catch the ferry to the world’s largest freshwater island, Manitoulin. It was an amazing trip focusing on endangered coastal wildflowers, rocks, lighthouses, and Flowerpot Island. I’ll save most of these photos until I circle Lake Huron, but thought I might brighten your day with an image of this classic red Canadian Coast Guard vessel, the Cape Commodore.
Loreen posted a map of her 2012 adventures
I’ve been following the journey of Loreen Niewenhuis since she started walking Lake Michigan in 2009. I also read her book about the walk that I purchased at my local Ann Arbor independent bookstore, Nicola’s. Then today I read an update about Loreen’s 2012 adventures in an article by Catharine Hadley. All I can say is wow! Hope you take the time to read the article especially about how the walking makes Loreen feel. I share those feelings and I’m sure they will resonate with others. You can follow Loreen’s journeys on her blog and by liking her on Facebook.
In terms of my own journey around the lakes, plans and preparations are in full swing. Spring fever has a strong hold on me and I’m excited about my August adventures circling Lake Superior. Right now I am completing various projects at home and in world of digital photography. Then in a few weeks I’ll have my motorhome, Ecovision, dewinterized and upgrade her house batteries. I’ve begun making detailed plans for the journey as well as writing a Great Lakes islands book proposal that I sketched out years ago and has now been requested by a publisher. Much fun and, of course, lots of hard work.
Fortunately, I have 25 years of Great Lakes policy work to draw on and I’ve been to various locations around all of the lakes. I was born in Detroit and began boating on Lake St. Clair with my family when just a baby. I have lived all but three years of my life in Michigan, which is the heart of the Great Lakes ecoregion. Over time I have grown to love the lakes more deeply and to become even more committed to their long-term conservation and well being. They still take my breath away.
Very soon I will start sharing here regularly so please stay tuned. You can sign up to follow this blog and also check out the full scope of my various activities including photography at karenvigmostad.com. In addition to @circlethelakes, I Tweet @aboutthelakes and @abouttheislands.
Kris McNeal (left) and Zach Chase. (Photo by Kris McNeal)
I like to support others who share a passion to get up close and personal with the lakes. I just read an article in the Duluth New Tribune about Kris McNeal and Zach Chase who will be circling all five lakes this year (to download PDF of the article click here). On bikes. Averaging 60 miles a day. Wow. You can follow their Big Water Bike trip online and I’ll link to their travels in the right column. They take off May 1 in Duluth and plan to return August 5th. They’ll be videotaping their journey along the way and will create a documentary. So wish them well, and perhaps I will run into them in early August as they head back to Duluth.
Route map of Big Water Bike
Circling the Lakes 