Circumnavigate Lake Superior

[njnear]

Thought I would try to put some pic's on from my trip riding around Lake Superior.

Spent the night in Paradise, MI. Beach on White Fish Bay. Beautiful crisp morning on our way to the Soo.

[njnear]

Early morning at the Shipwreck Museum w/ brother-in-law (Harley guy).

[njnear]

Here's the proof!

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Break on south side of Whitefish Bay.

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Lunch somewhere on ON 17. That's Goldwing Guy. Or "Wing Man."

[njnear]

Post lunch looking south somewhere on ON 17.

[njnear]

If you get your compass out, you can calculate where we ate lunch somewhere on ON 17!

[njnear]

Old Woman Bay.

[njnear]

Second verse, same as the first.

[njnear]

Thanks to a nice Canadian from Winnepeg who was "camping" in his motorhome, pulling his Wing back east for Holiday. I'll let you guess where we are....somewhere on ON 17.

[njnear]

ON 17 looking south.

The weather was very pleasant for pre 4th of July weekend. Lows in the 40's, highs never much more than 60 (F!).

[njnear]

Rainbow Falls.

[njnear]

@ the 49th parallel in Nipigon.

[njnear]

Second verse, same as the first.

[njnear]

Oimet (sp?) Canyon.

[njnear]

Kekabek (I know I spelled this wrong) Falls near Thunder Bay.

[njnear]

You are here!

[njnear]

Near Beaver Bay, MN.

From left to right: Wing Man, Bumble Bee (yellow helmet), Harley Guy, Yamaha, ST.

[njnear]

The better pictures are 2+ Meg and I'm not taking the time to downsize them. Hope this inspires some to give our friends to the north a tour. A picture is worth a 1000 words, but no pictures could capture the essence of our 1500 mile jaunt.

5 days wasn't enough to see all the sights. Started from Stevens Point, WI. If you have time, take the full week to ride around. We spent very little time on the south shore as we have been to Copper Harbor and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. But there are another 4 days one could spend on the south side in the UP.

Everyone in Ontario was very nice, helpful and friendly, eh. Even the OPP. "Nice bike, eh." You were 7 k faster than your buddies, eh (I was #4 in the pack just outside Wawa and in tight formation). I'll reduce your ticket to 105 and no points. There are 3 ways to take care of this as written on the back. Have a nice day, eh."

Was quite surprised at the ruggedness of ON 17 north of Soo. I'll call them mountains. Bigger than the Ozarks, but not quite as big as the Smokies. Felt very western though with the pine trees and such. If MN is the land of 10k lakes, Ontario must be 100k. Quite a few waterfalls as well!

I was inspired to take the trip after reading "Motorcycling Across Michigan" by William Murphy. Thanks Mom for buying it. Thanks to my aunt Glenda and uncle Don for living there and inspiring us to visit Michigan!

Safe Riding.

[bluestune]

Great report, thanks!

[Rich]

Those falls look incredible. I can sit and watch them all day when I get near any sort of falls. Nice report.

[k12lts]

Great photos. I made the ride over the top of Lake Superior with my son in 2000 on the way to the National in Midland, MI.

[Gilly]

Yeah those are Kakabeka Falls http://www.ontarioparks.com/English/kaka.html , super nice area and rustic camping (it was rustic 10-15 years ago anyways. DON'T pitch tent too close to the falls, too noisy for sleeping (maybe THEY need a quiet area too!). When in Thunder Bay be sure to check out the Terry Fox Memorial: http://www.visitthunderbay.com/index.asp?page=terry_fox

Gilly

[169347]

Lunch and post lunch look like Pancake Bay. You were fortunate to find an Opp officer who used the much maligned "Eh".

Woodgrain:nono

[2beers]

I am planning to do the same trip next year. How are the roads? Well Marked? And fuel and hotel availability? Did you need a passport?

Thanks for the info.

[jpschy]

Did the ride this week off the cuff, after deciding to take the long way home to central Wisconsin after doing some work in Lutsen, MN on Monday. MN Hwy 61 and Canada Hwy 17 are great roads for bikes. The scenery is unbelievable, with the road running along the shore in a lot of places, cutting up through the bluffs and back down to the shore. The roads are good condition two lane with numerous passing lanes in each direction along the way. For a planned trip, I would take a good week and savor the experience. See www.lakesuperiorcircletour.com for more details. I was asked for my passport coming back into the US at Sault Ste Marie but not going into Canada. I think next year it will be required.

[njnear]

I am planning to do the same trip next year. How are the roads? Well Marked? And fuel and hotel availability? Did you need a passport?

Thanks for the info.

Roads are very good. Didn't run into any road work. There are many passing lanes on the larger slopes. Some truck traffic, but we didn't find it a problem.

As for fuel, it's not as bad as out west, but I wouldn't wait until the light came on to fill up. There's usually fuel every 30 or 40 miles in the longest stretches. I didn't have to worry about it since we had a Harley in the group. He always needed fuel every 150 miles or so. Gas is about $1.20 a liter or $4.50 a gallon for 87 octane!

Hotels were quite numerous. There are a lot of smaller motels that won't show up on travelocity. Also hunting/fishing type cabins abound (don't know availability of those). We took camping gear in case we couldn't find a place to stay, but never broke it out. Since we were there the weekend before the 4th of July, the thought was there would be a lot of tourists from the US (and it's about peak of summer), but we never had any problem. Did pay about $80 every night for modest but clean accommodations. As for exchange rate, there is none!

Passports are not required yet (January '08?). 4 out of 5 travellers carried theirs. Need 2 forms of government ID at the least. Birth certificate is almost mandatory if you don't have a passport. Although Harley Guy told US Customs his passport was buried in his gear and they let him by with only showing his license (after 3 had already gone through). Since we entered in Minnesota (very NOT busy) and it was raining, they were a bit lenient.

Happy trails.

[Floppp]

I just finished the North Shore yesterday. I was on my way back from eastern Ontario, by way of West Bend, Iowa,Indiana, Illinois, New York .....

Roads were very good but a couple of slow downs for minor road work. Much less this year than years gone by. I have driven and ridden that route at least a dozen times in the past 20 years.

Word to the wise - do not gas up at the service station just west of Marathon. $1.49 per litre ($6.00 a gallon). I am not sure if the gas in the town was cheaper. The town is off the main highway. The restaurant also wanted $8.00 for bacon and eggs. Hold out until Wawa to the east or Nipigon to the west.

Sort of wish I had met your OPP officer and glad I didn't. I have lived in Canada for my whole life and have never heard anyone use "Eh!" I would have found it as funny as you guys do. Glad I didn't meet him because I was pretty constant at 120kph.

[k75karol]

Oimet (sp?) Canyon.

It's actually Ouimet Canyon, French for something:p Isn't it a great view??
The Lake Superior Circle tour is one of my all-time favorites. Did you happen to go back to the swinging bridge? It's near Ouimet Canyon. (I think it's a dirt road)

I wanted to see the bridge, but wasn't sure what the road was like, and how long it is.

[njnear]

There are 2 suspension bridges. I believe one was 150' (45m) long and the other 300' (90m) and both about 125' (40m) high. Claim was to be the longest suspension bridge in Canada.

$14 to take the tour. Only 2 out of 5 riders chose to do so (one being yours truly).

The road was good gravel and since it was dry, it was nearly as good as hard surface. Maybe 2 miles (3km) off the blacktop.

Walking the bridges gives one an appreciation for those Indiana Jones style movies! Especially the longer one.

[k75karol]

There are 2 suspension bridges. I believe one was 150' (45m) long and the other 300' (90m) and both about 125' (40m) high. Claim was to be the longest suspension bridge in Canada.

$14 to take the tour. Only 2 out of 5 riders chose to do so (one being yours truly).

The road was good gravel and since it was dry, it was nearly as good as hard surface. Maybe 2 miles (3km) off the blacktop.

Walking the bridges gives one an appreciation for those Indiana Jones style movies! Especially the longer one.

That does it....now I have to visit there for sure. The next time I won't pass it by.
Thanks