Day 42
We also stopped at a 101 year old bar, full of extremely friendly people. We got beer, huge scoops of ice cream, and 6 candy bars to round out our remaining rations. Wouldn't want to run out of carbs!
The Porkies on the horizon
Location: Ottawa National Forest
Distance: 21.5 miles .. oops
Weather: Frosty morning then sunny and 60s
Mood: a rollercoaster of emotions today!
Back on the roads!
Another night below freezing, but we stayed warm! Today we are back on the roads for a road walk connecting Gogebic County Forest with Ottawa National Forest, where the trail resumes. The roads today were busy! Lots of traffic, but that meant a whole day of waving to drivers as entertainment! Some were not so interested today; we seemed to be on a main fall color throughfare with many rental cars and lots of people up from Illinois and Iowa. But many seemed excited to see us walking by, and a few people living along the road stopped to ask us what we were up to. "No shit!" one of them exclaimed when I told her how many miles we had walked to get here.
We also stopped at a 101 year old bar, full of extremely friendly people. We got beer, huge scoops of ice cream, and 6 candy bars to round out our remaining rations. Wouldn't want to run out of carbs!
Someone on the side of the road mentioned a ski jump observation tower that we'd be going right past that got you high enough to see across the lake: we'd see 3 states and Canada, he said. We found the place about 7 miles ahead, but the elevator had broken just hours earlier and they weren't sending anyone else up for the day. What's more, they were doing major road construction and cut off our route, leaving the only option an additional 2.5 mile detour back to another way around Complete bummer!
A nice tourist asked to take our picture and took one on my phone too, so not a total bust, I guess.
We trudged back down the way we had come, then followed the main road over the peak. I saw people taking pictures of the golden leaves from their cars, many drivers courteously giving us room to walk along the white line, and got lots of waves. On the descent, we got our first glimpse of the Porcupine Mountains, our final destination, in the distance. Road walking is not all bad, even when it's longer than expected. We reached the forest and completed the last bit of road we'll walk on this journey, and incidentally the longest mileage we've hiked in a single day. Tomorrow is our last full day, and it's all trail from here on out.
We trudged back down the way we had come, then followed the main road over the peak. I saw people taking pictures of the golden leaves from their cars, many drivers courteously giving us room to walk along the white line, and got lots of waves. On the descent, we got our first glimpse of the Porcupine Mountains, our final destination, in the distance. Road walking is not all bad, even when it's longer than expected. We reached the forest and completed the last bit of road we'll walk on this journey, and incidentally the longest mileage we've hiked in a single day. Tomorrow is our last full day, and it's all trail from here on out.