Wednesday, September 21, 2011

That's Crazy!

On Sunday morning I set out on a semi-solo bike camping trip. My plan was to ride north towards Hwy 1, find a spot to camp, and then ride the next day to Split Rock Lighthouse state park, where Trish and I would camp together. Her sister, Kim, thought that my riding and camping solo was a crazy idea, and while I don't completely disagree, I think it's good to be a little crazy.

This is the only picture I took on Sunday. It was raining at 10:00 when I left the house and it just never let up. The only times I was willing to stop was when I came across a public building with an awning.
Thanks to a good tailwind, and despite carrying 40 lbs of gear, I was able to make it 85 miles to McDougal Lake campground Southeast of Ely on Hwy 1.
Due to the rain and the fact it was a Sunday night, I got to have an entire loop in the campground to myself. It was very peaceful, and once the rain stopped, it turned out to be a beautiful moonlit night.

I awoke Monday to a bright sunny day. Things were starting to dry (I wish I could say the same about my camera, pardon the blur) and I headed out to meet Trish at Split Rock.
Despite the sunshine, I actually enjoyed the previous day's rainy ride better. Highway 1 is very hilly, or at least it seemed hilly with my tired legs. The entire 47 miles was constantly going up and down. It seemed to take forever to get to the final descent down to Lake Superior.

2011-09-19 at 10-38-06
The highlight of the whole ride was seeing this young wolf standing on the side of the road. I came across a sibling a few minutes earlier, but wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a shot. This time not only did I have time to get my camera out, but he actually stood still about 30 feet from me, giving me time to shoot several pictures.

Day Hill View

Split Rock Lighthouse
I arrived at our campsite with about 4 1/2 hours in the saddle for the day, slightly delirious and a little bit sunburnt. After eating and resting and more eating, we hiked to the top of Day Hill and took in the views. It was a beautiful ending to an overall pleasant and fulfilling trip. Not crazy at all.




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3 comments:

  1. rlove2bikeSeptember 22, 2011 at 9:37 AM

    Thanks for the great write-up!! I have never had a wolf stand like you did...that's great.

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  2. DougSeptember 23, 2011 at 10:27 AM

    Cool shot of a wolve cub!

    I completely disagree with Kim. If I didn't go solo and waited until I found someone that wanted to do what I wanted to do, I'd never get out there. By going solo, I get a lot of cool experiences that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

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  3. DarinSeptember 24, 2011 at 10:25 PM

    Trish and I were considering getting a dog trailer so we could go together more often, but I'm not sure I'd want to be dragging 70 lbs of dog and trailer plus a fully loaded bike. So for now someone will have to stay home with the little brat.

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