To Marquette on Lake Superior, Sault Ste. Marie, and back to Mackinaw City.
Nice day today, but a lot of driving. I decided to take a trip to the Upper Peninsular before heading to Mackinac Island, because Marg recommended Marquette, a city at the center of the Upper Peninsula, where she visited and played at a local music festival. I didn’t plan to drive all the way to Marquette though, as it’s almost 3 hours northwest of Mackinaw. Instead, I thought I’d drive maybe an hour into the Upper Peninsula and get a good sense of it, and especially the forests that I known northern Michigan is known for, and then come back and go the island. That’s not what happened, though.
In checking at the ferry dock about later going to Mackinac Island. the guy said you know there’s nothing open there, just a bar and something else, and walking’s about the only thing you can do. That seemed okay, but did play into my later decision to go all the way to Marquette, and then back east through the middle of the Upper Peninsular to Sault Saint Marie, and then back down to Mackinaw City. All in all, about 400 miles of driving, and around seven hours. I had no problem with all that driving, and I realize I have and always have had a capacity for driving long distances. Years ago, when I took that motorcycle trip across country, I was riding for 12-14 hours a day, until nightfall actually.
At any rate, as I left for the Upper Peninsula, going back across the bridge (I measured it at around 4 miles from where I got on to where I got off) into St. Ignace, and was again struck by the number of pastie shops and stores smelling smoked fish, both of which must be local favorites. I did have a pastie later, but it was frozen and microwaved, and a very different crust than a Cornish Pastie, but was decent, and the stuffing was tasty. Not great, but this microwaved version is probably not a good representative.
The weather was warm, and heading for 71 degrees, although as I headed northwest it fell into the 50’s and became overcast, and later rained. When I returned at the end of the day, it was still cool, but it was dark by then, and raining, and continued raining for the rest of the evening.
In heading to the Upper Peninsula, I first traveled back along the Lake Huron shore line, seeing small waves lapping in the lake like a tide, but it’s apparently the result of wind across the lake, which is not tidal.
After about 70 miles, I headed north, away from the shoreline and up into the peninsular. The further I drove, not only could I see more and more forest, but the landscape was getting more and more impressive and remarkable. I’d say incredible, actually. I didn’t think that at first, but it just got more and more intense as the wooded lands gave way to, or really developed into, vast, densely packed, endless forests along both the sides of the highway.
The forests were sometimes green, sometimes golden fall colored, and sometimes bare. They became immense, thickly lining and looming over this remote highway. It looked like what you might expect in northern Canada or Alaska. It became more and more remarkable. This is why I kept going, instead of turning around and heading back to Mackinac island, which I never did get to. The road just kept getting better and better the further north I went.
I also saw a bald eagle this morning, flying out of the forest and across the highway for a moment, above my head, before heading back into the trees. This is just the second time I’ve seen a bald eagle, the other in New Hampshire a couple of years ago.
Highway 77 north took me to highway 28 toward Marquette, now right in the upper Upper Peninsular, near the the southern shore of Lake Superior, the really big lake. The dense forests really are endless, and frame everything, including every home I saw along the way and the small towns through which I passed.
Despite some small towns along the way, the area is remote, with nothing but endless miles of dense forest. Despite this, in the small village of Shingleton, population about 500 people, I passed two cannabis stores.
Always dense, the forest not only ranged in color between deep green to autumn gold and red, they also changed in size and shape, species, and whether most trees were fully leaved or bare. Large patches and groves of what I think are white birch added to the beauty and diversity of the forest.
I passed through Munising, now on the Lake Michigan southern coast, on Shelter Bay, but kept going. Munising was the first more substantial town so far, around 2,000 people, although as I headed along the coast line, more small towns appeared until reaching Marquette. I actually didn’t decide to go all the way to Marquette until I was within 40 minutes, than then I thought it ridiculous to turn around, and I knew I’d then always wonder what Marquette was like. I’m glad I went. It’s not only a great looking place, population about 21,000, but it’s the most New England town I’ve ever seen.
I mean, if someone wanting to make a movie set in a classic New England town, Marquette is the place to shoot it.
After looking around Marquette, which is really nice looking place, I decided to go across to Sault Sainte Marie, at the very tip of the Upper Peninsular, and the last stop before Canada. As usual, I know nothing about it, other than it could be a nice place to see. The travel time to Sault Ste. Marie, almost three hours, was about the same as the drive back to Mackinaw City, so I decided to go see Sault Ste. Marie, and from there head back to Mackinaw City, about an additional 1¼ hours. The route east, highway 28, passes through the densely forested middle of the upper peninsular, so much of the drive, probably a hundred miles or more, was along the forest-lined highway, and the road didn’t see the Lake Superior southern shoreline until just before Sault Ste. Marie.
By the time I arrived in Sault Ste. Marie, it was not only getting dark, earlier than usual because of the overcast skies, but t had been lightly but steadily raining for a while. I drove around the town even quicker than I passed through Marquette because of that, and because I had another 1¼ hour drive ahead.
Sault Ste. Marie is another nice looking town, connected to Canada by way of the International Bridge that crosses the St. Mary’s River, and also connects this Sault Ste. Marie to its twin city, Sault Ste. Marie on the Canadian side. Mine was only a quick drive through, but my quick impression was that Sault Ste. Marie is not an especially quaint or hip town, unlike quite a few other towns I’ve visited on this trip, including Marquette from my quick drive through earlier today. Sault Ste. Marie seems more practical, down to earth, and plain middle class. I could be wrong, though, as then I was off heading south.
Then I sort of dashed off for Mackinaw City, wanting to get there before it got too dark, but also chose to stay off of interstate 75, and stay on the local roads. The ride back took me along more forested roads, although a little less dense and not as huge and endless, with some lovely fall color, and nice views of the highway running along Lake Huron as the road neared the Mackinaw Bridge.
I got my back to Mackinaw City in the dark, of course, and, also of course, I wasn’t able to get to Mackinac Island, but the trade off was worth it, for sure. I would have missed the beauty of the great forests in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsular.
Tomorrow I head down along the coast road to Standish, Michigan, where I’ll spend the night.