Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Molly's Epic Adventure












Molly, winning her Environmental Science degree from NDSU, was deserving a adventure. Lake Superior and the Circle Tour supplied such an adventure. We started on 23-May, late in the day and made it to Split Rock State Park. This is a place where my ~70 yr old dad wanted to jump the fence when we stopped one time on the way to the BWCA many years ago (roll reversal, I talked him out of it). After sunrise and tea on the shore, Molly and I paddled under the lighthouse to get a view that the paying crowd could not enjoy.
The next night we made it to Sleeping Giant Provincial park but at $50 for permits, we opted for a private campground at Nippigon. This staged us for our outing at Rossport, to Healey Island. We stopped at Quarry Island on the way and hiked the trail to the top, a great trek and view. The winds were predicted to be 20 knots the next day but we lucked out and the wind and waves behaved.
The Provincial Park prices drove us to cruse through Canada (still a fabulous visual experience) and head to Mackinac Island which was a fun tourist trek. We camped at St. Ignas, Straits St Park which gave us an excellent view of the bridge. Molly mentioned that if we paddled through the bridge we would be hitting 3 of the 5 great lakes. Molly and I scared each other; me, when I paddled by myself through the bridge and "disappeared" and Molly when I turned back and she was not waiting where I expected. All was well.
The last stop was Little Sand Bay. The winds the next day did not favor the Sand Island caves but were excellent for the Meyers Beach sea caves. These caves were a first for both of us and I was glad to share the experience with her. 1,523 miles and I believe we had an excellent adventure.


QOD: There are those who make things happen, There are those who watch things happen, and there are those who say, "What just happened?". Unknown.