Here is a collection of things as I remember them from this
trip. IT was far more amazing than I can put into words, and I'll be sure to
add to it, as things come back to me. If anyone has any questions feel free to
ask, or if you are planning a trip around the lake, I'd be happy to discuss
what I've learned on this trip.
Day One Friday – Buffalo MN to
Hinckley MN
We left buffalo about 6:30; it was a nice ride up to Hinckley.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened here. We went to the casino for some gambling,
dinner, and drinks. We had a blast, and met with a few more riders.
Day Two Saturday – Hinckley MN to
Thunder Bay Ontario CA
It rained overnight, thunder storms, etc.. We gassed up in
Hinckley and headed to Duluth via 35. Stopped at the overlook, took some
photos, stretched a bit, and then continued on to Two Harbors. We had lunch at
an Irish Pub in Two Harbors. The food was amazing, the service was okay. It
took about a 1.5 hrs. to get done with that. Heading North there still wasn’t
anything exceptionally crazy happening. We all had seen this portion of the
North Shore numerous times. We stopped at Palisade Head for a group photo and
went up a pretty wicked narrow road. Once we hit the town of Schroeder there
was a noticeable difference in temperature. It stayed rather cool the rest of
the way. From there we stopped in Grand Marais for fuel, and made our way to
the Border.
Crossing over was easy. One of our group had a leak in his
cooling system that reared its head. It wasn’t anything major but gave us a
scare. Once we got across the border we began heading to Thunder Bay. The
Scenery was awesome the further north we got. We arrived in Thunder Bay and
found our hotel. It was called the Victoria Inn. It was a nice place, and it
had a bar/lounge attached to it. We enjoyed an evening of drinks, and had a
fantastic dinner of the best Wings I’ve ever had. Against our better judgment, we
hopped a cab to Downtown Thunder bay to experience a Rave, a great band, and an
awful band. There was a DJ spinning Dub Step at the first bar. It reminded me
of the scene in Blade when the vampires throw the big club party so they can
feed on the ravers. The 2nd bar had a SRV tribute act that was AMAZING. When
they finished their set, they changed clothes, and came back out with about 9
additional members to perform some sort of “tribute act” to the band Modest
Mouse. It was the most awful thing I have ever heard. The music was too loud,
and the music sucked. The Canadian People are very polite though, and they just
clapped and cheered after every awful song they played. We went back to the
hotel after that.
Day Three Sunday – Thunder Bay ON
to Nipigon ON
This day started out great. Had a nice breakfast at the hotel,
hopped on the bikes and headed north to Kakabeka Falls. These are the largest
falls in Canada behind Niagara Falls. It was a short ride north of town to see
them. As we headed back in to Thunder Bay we stopped at the H-D shop, got some
stuff, and headed out. There was a large beautiful scenic overlook just outside
of town (forget the name) and it began to rain. We geared up and hit the road.
It basically rained all the way to Nipigon. We arrived in Nipigon to find
limited resources. After we booked our Motel, we discovered that the grocery
store was closed, we could not buy beer or liquor on Sundays, and there were no
Lounges or Restaurants open. And it was 4:30 PM. So we had some sandwiches for
dinner, got some snacks from the gas station, and dried out our gear/clothes.
It was an early night.
Day Four Monday – Nipigon ON to
Wawa ON
We wanted to get an early start this day as there was much to
see along this stretch. Unfortunately nature had other plans. It was raining,
and foggy. I have NEVER seen fog like this in my life. Visibility at best was ¼
mile, but mostly worse than that. The bad news is this was supposed to be the
most scenic part of Canada. The road from what I remember was hilly, curvy and
awesome. Elevation changes were rampant, curves were plentiful, and from what
I’ve read, the views were supposed to be breathtaking. It wasn’t until after
late lunch that we finally escaped the fog and got into some desirable riding
conditions. But we had already passed the beautiful hills, mountains, lake,
falls, etc. We stopped at a few scenic outlooks on this day as well. Some were
obscured by fog, some were not. We took as many photo opportunities as we
could. The town of Wawa was great. The weather cleared up for us and it was
HOT. 90 degrees I bet for the last few hours of the ride. We found an awesome
Motel with a great “boat shaped” deck for us to sit out on, and drink beer and
order pizza from. It was a relaxing evening.
Day Five Tuesday – Wawa ON to
Sault Saint Marie, MI, USA
This was a great run. There was some AWFUL rain again in the
morning but we rode through it. Saw some great scenery on this stretch. Once
the rain stopped it got HOT again. The temperature was at least 90 again. This
portion was rather ‘inland’ if I remember correctly, and there were many lakes,
rivers, curves, dips, hills, etc. Getting back into the US was easy and we made
good time. In SSM we stayed downtown near the Locks. The hotel we stayed in was
supposedly ‘haunted’. It was laundry night also. We experienced some other
establishments in town, and got back in time for another great meal before bed.
Day Six Wednesday – Sault Saint
Marie, MI to Munising, MI
We walked over the Lock and Dams before we departed, just in
time to see a ship come in from Superior to head to Huron. It was cool to see
this happen in front of us. That ship dropped at least 30 or 40 feet to change
elevation. The weather was beautiful and we hit the road. We rode all the way
to Newberry to have lunch, and then back tracked to see a Bear park. They had
many Black Bears there, and My Wife and I got to pet and feed a bear cub. It
was pretty sweet. I got a little turned around, and took us away from the shore
for a bit. At first I was upset, until we came into this ridiculous Thunder
Storm. We pulled over in time to put on our Rain Gear, and we had to ride into
it. There was no other direction to go. The temp dropped about 20 degrees, the
wind picked up enough to throw us around and the rain was coming down in
sheets, sometimes sideways. A potato farm was on the right, I pulled us into
their parking lot, and they waved our entire group into their barn to wait the
storm out. It was very nice of them. It was pretty intense when that storm hit.
Once it let up enough, we headed into the next town for a beer and to relax a
bit. In Munising we ordered in some food, had a few drinks, and went to bed
early.
Day Seven Thursday – Munising, MI
to Houghton, MI
This day started out awful. One couple from our group parted
ways to start heading home that morning, and it was raining to beat all hell.
We decided to delay our departure a bit to let the cells move through. Once it
was time to go, my bike wouldn’t start. It was so wet and water logged it just
wouldn’t go. We were able to push start it and ride on through the rain. It
rained for another hour or so, and then off and on until we got to Marquette.
Then it was HOT again. We stopped at the H-D Dealer, and got some advice and
weather updates. We determined that we would not make Copper Harbor before the
storms so we made reservations in Houghton instead. Lunch was at a nice
brewery/pub on the north end of Marquette. The ride up was awesome, until we
plowed head long into a wicked dark cloud that was dumping rain on us again. We
pulled over to gear up. Once we got back on the road, it stopped, and the sun
came out. It stayed nice until we got to Houghton. No sooner did we get checked
in and make a beer run, than the clouds opened up again. We spent some time in
the Pool/Hot Tub/ Lounge. This was the nicest Super 8 I’ve ever seen.
Day Eight Friday – Houghton, MI
to Ashland, WI
After getting cheated out of scenery in Canada due to fog/rain,
I didn’t want that to happen again. The sun was shining when we woke up, so we
headed north to Copper Harbor. This was THE BEST ROAD on the trip. It winds up
the hills, through a canopy of trees, corners, hills speeds of 35-45 tops. It
was amazing. I wanted to turn around and do it again. The skies looked like
they were going to dump on us, but they didn’t. Copper Harbor was a cool little
town. It is a good thing we didn’t go all the way there the night before, as
lodging is EXTREMELY limited there. We came down the coast back to Hancock on
another windy fun road, and began the rest of our trek across the UP. This was
some good riding. There were rolling hills, long sweeping turns, and good
weather. We had lunch in Ontonagon and then rode through the Porcupine
Mountains. This was about a 50 mile road, very narrow, but very cool. Except
for the washouts and the potholes. I think one of them blew out my shocks in
the back. The ride was never the same after that. We ended up spending the
evening in Ashland at a beautiful Best Western on the Lake. There was a town
festival going on so lots of people everywhere. Wife and I had a nice walk out
to the marina, watched some people fish. Caught a nice sunset, then had another
GREAT dinner.
Day Nine Saturday – Ashland, WI
to Buffalo, MN
We woke and hit the road about 9 AM this day. The weather was
perfect. More of our group departed for home, and we decided to stay off the
freeways. We skipped going up to Bayfield, as we wanted to be home this evening
so we cut across to Superior via Hwy 2. This whole ride was great. It was not
very scenic but nice roads and not much traffic. From Superior we stayed on the
Wisconsin side all the way down to Danbury, then headed across 23 to Milaca,
then to home. I filled up with 110 Octane fuel in Ogilvie, and the bike seemed
to like it. However, at $8.40 a gallon I don't think I'll be using that
exclusively. As promised, it rained when we pulled into Big Lake. We knew
it was following us the whole trip. We stopped for a late lunch and a beer at
Buffalo Wild Wings in Monticello, then we went our separate ways.
