Saturday, June 30, 2012

Here I am

I'm at the far end of a good size sand beach.. Might be private property? No buildings near me though.

Latest start yet : )

I didn't get underway until just about 11 AM. There was yet another wonderful meal. A breakfast of an oven pop over kind of thing.. with fruit and maple syrup...and bacon. Yummy!
I had begun packing the boat prior to breakfast so it was not long until final good byes with Frida, Ron, Eryka and Chelan.
It was windy as I set out and for an hour or more seemed to be getting stronger.. It may have been shoreline effect or the wind just died down as I was heading to Presque Isle Point. There were some confused remnants of yesterday's wind which I found bothersome. I did manage to make it to where I planed but it might be private property? I paddled from 11 AM to 6:50 PM so almost 8 hours. I stopped for one break way past halfway.. Lunch around 4 PM I think? My shoulder it getting worked? It will be interesting to see how it goes tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I paddle past the private property of the Huron Mountain Club so no breaks on land for a long time. I guess I've kind of been doing long no break stretches anyway.

How the wind had drifted around my kayak.. The breakfast with oven pop over kind of things!

Heading through the Marquette Harbor areas .. There were a couple in an inflatable up ahead as I began to go around Presque Isle Point. The wind which was pretty strong nicely died right about then.

Crazy mansion kind of place I passed on Garlic Point

Continuing on looking for a place to stop for lunch not private.... My lunch stop was about 4:15 pm. Likely private but no sign of anything?

Finally the bay before Big Bay.. Beach with mouth of the Little Iron River. Might have been private? Certainly it was next to private property..

My camp near Little Iron River

The mouth of the Little Iron River did seem private .. I was down on the far end of beach? Private or not....

Friday, June 29, 2012

Wow what a dinner!!

Well the wind finally began to die down this evening. Eryka and her boyfriend Chelan cooked up a wonderful dinner, and I believe head back to Bozeman, Montana tomorrow. Eryka's anthropology professor and neighbor, Marla joined us for dinner on the deck. It was a lovely evening right down to the desert and watching the local TV news report and interview on my kayak circumnavigation.
It looks like I'll be heading out in the morning with 10 knot NW winds and waves calm to 2 feet in the forecast.. becoming calmer and SW that evening. With good conditions I hope to be heading toward the Keweenaw Peninsula in 4 days. Potentially I could be arriving to Duluth in 2 weeks but only with 2 straight weeks of flawless paddling conditions and no windbound days.

Frida, Ron, Marla, Chelan and Eryka .. The new puppy Karhu

Awesome desert .. with coffee!

Just east of Marquette

It was a lovely morning paddling out of the Laughing Whitefish River yesterday. I had about a 16 mile paddle to get to my destination just east of marquette. I'm having a great restful visit with some nice folks who Dave and Amy had met in 2006 on there paddle around Superior. Frida and Ron, who's daughter Eryka and boyfriend are visiting from Bozeman are awesome hosts! From the guest room with private bath I stayed in, I looked out the window and noticed the wind was pretty strong. The marine forecast was sounding much better for tomorrow so I'm staying a second night. We all went out to eat last night and now there are preparations going on for dinner here tonight. I'll spend the day packing the additional food I bought yesterday and research more on camping options further along. A day or two from here I will pass the shoreline of the Huron Mountain Club which is private, large and guarded with security so I'll want to paddle through that 20 or 30 miles all in one day. Staying a second day will make getting an early start easy.

Heading out to the Laughing Whitefish Rivermouth

Approaching Shot Point

Almost there....

The little metal sculpture Frida put out to help me find their place!

You can see Marquette in the not to far distance .. They have a floating walkway across a pond .. Filled with white water lilies

A lovely home in a lovely setting

Checking out the Marquette Harbor before dinner

The guest room .. One more night and it's back to living in my tent

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

On toward Marquette Micigan

It would have been nice to spend more time in Munising but at $22 a night it was time to move on and try for some free camping for a change.
I was pleased to have heard back from Frida. Dave and Amy had met them and stayed there back in 2006. They live just east of Marquette right on the beach. I figured two days to get here but having left the Munising Tourist Park Campground at 8:40 am I found myself at the place Carl said I could camp by 1:40 pm. I thought about going all the way to Frida's but my shoulder was hurting enough after the 22 miles. Clearly I need to slow down or take more breaks to put in longer days. It's a bummer to have this shoulder that feels good for the first 5 miles.. Not too bad for the next.. Then becomes bothersome for some certain amount of miles then not as bad... It's a huge distraction to the enjoyment of my trip. I especially have a painful time when fighting into a headwind. It sure has been a windy June.. I thought that was one of the calmer months?

Shortly after leaving the city campground. Heading toward Fivemile Point

Au Train Point .. Crossing Au Train Bay to Au Train Island .. Now to find a spot for lunch

Lunch on Au Train Island

On toward Laughing Fish Point

Laughing Fish Point

Approaching the mouth of Laughing Whitefish River

A small boat ramp located about a quarter mile up the flowage from Superior.

My campsite and sunset