Wanted to share with you all the photos of my girlfriend Nicky and I’s trip we did around Lake Superior during the first two weeks of September. I rode on a Yamaha WR250R dual-sport while Nicky rode the Ural Gear-Up Sidecar bike.
Photos were taken via cellphones (although one suffered a casualty along the way), an old nearly busted Drift Action Camera mounted on handlebar of my bike, and Canon 6D paired with 40mm f/2.8
Day 1 – Sturgis, MI to Traverse City
We left nice and early 7am from Sturgis, our first pitstop had to be Yoder’s in Centreville for some fresh donuts and coffee. We decided to take the scenic (and slow) route as both bikes are quite underpowered (top speed on Ural is about 60mph and that’s reallllly pushing it). Also the fact that Nicky literally has had only about 3 hours of “butt time” riding a motorcycle before starting on this 2300+ mile adventure. She never even learned to ride a bicycle before doing this!
Crossing over the Langley Bridge in Centreville, MI
We spend the first 2 nights staying at Nicky’s grandparent’s condo on the property of The Bear Golf Course. We were able to visit her grandparents as they were also staying during this weekend and spent time going out to eat followed up by a game of dominos.
Dinner our 1st night at Rare Bird (ordered a Banh Mi, and Nicky got the Roasted Duck Macaroni)
Spending the evening relaxing playing dominos.
Evening view off our balcony deck.
Day 2 – Traverse City Area
Our first fullday in Traverse City we took the M-22 Peninsual Route, stopping along the way to visit the small villages of Sutton’s Bay, North Port, and Leland and a stop at Peterson Park to look for Agates.
Peterson Park north of Leland
“Selfie Stick” action
Amphicar in Leland, the owner was over by our Ural and turns out he also owns a Ural so we chatted for quite a while.. also was the owner of the restaurant in Leland named “The Cove” so invited us in for lunch.
Day 3 – Travserse City to Sault Ste. Marie
After our 2nd night in Traverse City we took the route north through Charlevoix and Petosky crossing over the Mackinac Bridge and to our campsite at Brimley State Park just west of Sault Ste. Marie
Campsite at Brimley State Park, we stayed here on Laborday so the park was super packed! Thankfully the rest of the trip it was not quite as busy everywhere we went. After setting up camp I’ve heard about an abandoned military airport just west in Raco we we ventured out to find that.
Searching for the airport took us on some back roads which led to gravel roads which led us to dirt paths, which led us to sand. Deep sand… Thank goodness the Ural comes with a shovel (no joke). After getting unstuck (Nicky pushed and I throttled the bike) we did find the airport. It consisted of three run-ways in the shape of a triangle. It is still used today by automotive manufactures for winter testing.
Raco Airfield (google image)
After exploring the airfield we headed back to the campsite stopping at a local grocery for provisions. Fraggle Rock hanging on for dear life on the luggage rack.
Nicky’s Fanny Pack she’s been adoring with buttons and such on the trip.
Bees were present, so in order to prevent them crawling in Nicky came up with putting a clean sock over her drink. We also packed 2 of the recently very expensive EpiPens along with us.
Day 4 – Sault Ste. Marie to Agawa Bay, Ontario
After leaving Brimley we spent the afternoon visiting the Soo Locks, unfortuently no freighters came through that day but we did visit the museum. The locks average 1 boat per hour all year long (locks are open 24/7/365 and are no fee for ships to use the locks). After crossing into Canada we kept heading north to our planned campsite at Agawa Bay. Didn’t really research this location before stopping here but wow it was a great stop.. our campsite was nearly on the beach and had great views.
Agawa Bay – Lake Superior Provincial Park Canada
After we set up camp, sunset came along and it was great to just sit on the beach to enjoy the view.
Day 5 – Agawa Bay, Ontario to Marathon, Ontario
The next mornning we set out for Wawa and to stop that evening in Marathon. It stormed heavy that night and radar showed if we left at 630am we’d just miss out on an incoming storm so we put on our rain gear and thankfully only had about 1 hour or rain until we made our way out of the path.. this was the only daytime rain we encountered on the entire trip!
Stopping that morning in Wawa we visited the falls.
Good shot showing how our bikes were loaded up.. On the WR250R panniers on the side, duffle on rear fender, and small tank bag on the gas tank. I averaged about 60mpg during the trip. Ural was fairly loaded down and managed about 30mpg. Ural sidecar housed the tent, cooking supplies, sleeping bag, air mattress. Trunk rack had Nicky’s clothes/toiletries, trunk had tools, food, and shoes. Sidebags on Ural housed our tire repair equipment, and bag on the tank held daily use items such as sunscreen and gloves.
Tim Hortons… our first “taste” of Canada.
Stopped in at the famous Young’s General Store, really about the only thing in this small town and filled up on fuel.
Ran out of gas between Wawa and Marathon, the hills really killed the mileage on this stretch.. Thankfully had our auxillary can.
White River (Homeplace Winnie the Pooh). Winnie is based of a real life bear that was raised by a park ranger.
Made it that night to Marathon, where we just checked into a local hotel as it was a looooong ride that day and we were very tired. We walked around the town which was quite overcast in weather. Ate at a nice chinese restaurant, visited a grocery store to just see the local foods.
Some random Canadian branded foods such as “Pickle Doritos”
Day 6 – Marathon, Ontario to Sleeping Giant Thunder Bay, Ontario
The next morning we set out for Thunder Bay Sleeping Giant.. which was yet quite another distance. Everything up this way a bit remote but at least the views are nice (and Canadian drivers are very courteous). The road has a passing line every 10km or so and no one seemed to be in a rush.
Aguasabon Falls outside of Terrace Bay, Ontario
Inch worm that decided to join us for lunch.
Made it to our our campsite at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, just east of Thunder Bay on the Peninsula.
Park is named after the “Sleeping Giant” you can imagine below. The story is the Giant was the a Native American spirtit whom sacrificed himself to keep the white settlers away from a silver mine in order to procect the Natives. You can read more about the actual story here:
This was a very nice park, lots of hiking trails, modern showers, and LOTS of wildlife.. when coming out from the showers I was greated by 3 deer that only stood about 10 meters away. We were also treated yet again to a wonderful vivid sunset.
Day 7 – Sleeping Giant to Duluth, MN
Rained again that night but was dry by the time we packed camp.
After leaving Sleeping Giant we headed west back into the USA. Stopping for lunch in Grand Marais, MN and down into Duluth, MN where we had a reservation in downtown Duluth.
We visited some shops downtown,visiting Duluth Trading Company, and deciding on an Italian restaurant named Pizza Lucé for dinner.
Day 8 – Duluth, MN & Bayfield, WI
The next morning we woke early to visit Enger Park on the summit of the city. It’s a very cultural park with gifts to the city from Japan, Norway, and others. Lots of great flora and gardens as well.
After exploring Duluth that morning we starting heading eastward rounding off the west tip of Superior. We made our way into Bayfield, home of the Apostle Islands and many fishing villages along the coast. Bayfield was a nice little village full of shops and a cool Maritime Museum free to the public. I personally enjoyed just cruising through the ship graveyards.
After hearing not so nice reviews at a campsite we were planning on staying we heard about an off the path campground called “Barking Beavers” so decided to give this place a try. It really was off the path! Down some long 30 minute dirt road. The camp hosts were two ladies that decided to start their own campground low budget pinterest style. Overall it was great though. They even had a campground dog who was very friendly. Modern bathrooms were open with warm showers.. plus if you wanted to add in a bit of fresh herbs just check the “pots” outside the bathroom and have at it :p
Day 9 – Bayfield to Presque Isle Porcupine Mountains
Back into Michigan! We spent most of the morning stuck in the tent due to rain which let off about noon before hitting the road once again.
Later that evening we set up camp at Presque Isle Porcupine Mountains and hiked the trails/beaches before setting for the night. Our neighboring site was a fellow on a BMW 1200GS so we chatted for a while.
Day 10 – Porcupine Mountains to Keweenaw Peninsula
That morning we packed up and wen to visit the otherside of the park to see Lake of the Clouds. Porcupine Mountains is Michigan’s larget State Park and took nearly an hour to ride there through the dense forest. Nicky got lost in these forests while on a high school field trip that required the police to come search, thankfully this time she didn’t wander off!
Arriving at a scenic overview offered us a great morning view.
Leaving the park we heard about Adventure Mine Company and it’s great reviews so we stopped in. Once thriving copper mine that shut down literally because it was too copper dense! The mine to this day actually still holds more copper in it that what was taken out over it’s ~75 years or operation. We arrived late morning with another couple that we were leap frogging the past 2 days out of Windso,r Canada. We grouped up to take the “Prospectors” Tour which was about a 3 hour tour of the mines. Our guide was awesome, he was a Michigan Tech graduate and very knowledgable. You could tell he was quite happy to not have a large group nor bunch of kids on the tour so he took us into some extra areas and let us roam around a bit more than a typical tour. One area we went into was being staged for a horror movie so it was neat seeing the movie set.
After mine exploring and learning much of the mining history we were bound to make it to the Keweenaw Peninsula, the northernmost part of the Upper Peninsula. At Fort McLain we reserved a shoreline spot for 2 nights to give us a bit of time to sightsee the area. Really should have reserved a couple more days in this area.
Afternoon cloud formation was pretty neat
With the Labor Day crowds gone we arrive at the other spectrum of old guys traveling by RV that want to talk.. with the sidecar we introduce you to what we deem the UDF, or “Ural Delay Factor”.
UDF is a constant threat while traveling via sidecar motorcycle.. everywhere you go strangers (typically the old guys, never the cute gals) come to ask the same questions over and over again.. It really makes simple tasks such as getting fuel a real chore after a while. Nicky snapped this photo of me when our campsite was bombarded, at one point there was 6 guys around asking the same questions.
Not a bad sunset at our site either
And the sunrise
Day 11 – Keweenaw Peninsula
The 1st day in the area our clothes were getting pretty raunchy so we found a laundromat in Calument. After putting in a load we browsed around town and had some coffee.. Nicky even got her latte for free being that it was her birthday. The ice cream was considered the small.
With laundry done we headed up to Copper Harbor, stopping in Eagle Harbor, Eagle River, many other small stops then back into Calumet before returning to camp.
In Eagle River we stopped for dinner at The Fitz. This place was awesome.. from the moment you pull into the gravel parking lot you are invited by the smell of the smoker. The owner came out to talk about the Ural (of course) so we offered him the keys after he said he’s researched them online for a while. We were seated at the window which is right on the beach and got their big sampler dinner which had pulled pork, beef brisket, and ribs as well as smoked mac n cheese and fries. For appetizer we go the Pork Belly French Toast.. We both left very full and delighted. On the way back to camp we stopped at the Jampot, a local bakery ran by monks. Of course we were stuffed but did pick up some jams (strawberry rhubarb jam for me) and a muffins that were the size of a child’s basketball to eat the next day (and day after, and day after!) Just outside the bakery is Jacob’s Falls.
Here is our tent setup.. Redverz Expedition Tent. Tall enough a 6ft person can stand inside, room for a queen size air mattress (inflated is 22” tall, very
comfy!) and the vestible area is large enough I can drive my WR250R motorcycle inside the tent if I don’t want it to get wet… plus tons of room for storing our gear. I brought along a USB powered disco light that I run off a portable battery back. The air mattress is powered by the Ural using an A/C Invertor.
Day 12 – Keweenaw to Munising
The next morning we visited the lower section of Keweenaw stopping in Quincy and Houghton. Visited the Quincy Mine and also the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech University.
Quincy Mine had a bunch of old mining equipment strewn around the propety.
If you are into Minerals this place is really cool.. I took a bunch of photos here but not included in this posting except for a few.
These rocks under normal lighting…
And under UV lighting… not paint or anything on the rocks, these fluoresce naturally when under UV spectrum.
Leaving Houghton
After leaving Houghton we our destination was in Munising, along the way we visited Lakenenland.. just outside of Marquette. It’s a collection of “junk to art” sculptures all done by a single artist.
We reached Munising that night and camped at a local park. We planned on doing the sunset cruise of Pictured Rocks but they cancelled all tours that afternoon/evening due to rough water so we waited til the next morning. The campsite here was nothing special.. a normal flat field turned RV park.. we parked in-between two probably near $200K+ RV’s so was a bit awkward :p To kill time that night we had Pasties for dinner and visited a local coffee shop to figure out our itinerary. We purchased tickets that night and was told by staff to arrive early as they’d be at capacity due to the delays.
Day 13 – Munising to Tahquamenon
That morning we awoke early and bought bagels/coffee at a local bakery, parked the bikes at the marina and had ate breakfast on the pier while waiting for departure. Bad part about the morning cruise was the lighting was really harsh but we still enjoyed the cruise.
After the 3 hour cruise we a staff member where he likes to eat and he suggested Johnny Dogs.. wow was he right. This was something you’d expect off of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.. I got the Homewrecker Dog with some Piggie Fries.
Finishing up with the cruise we took H-58 which is a newer road that had to be designed by a motorcyclist.. very curvy fun road! This stops in Grand Marais where we visited Sable Falls and the Log Slide Dunes before venturing on to Tahquamenon Campgrounds.
Picture doesn’t do it justice.. the dunes were a good 300 ft tall and quite steep.. they used these dunes long ago to build channels which they logged the forests and sent the logs down the dunes into the lake to be hauled away.
Sable Falls
Local doing some fly fishing.
I really didn’t know what to expect at Tahquamenon Rivers Campground and we arrived late. Being a tent camper we didn’t need a modern site so was able to go towards the back of the park and have a spot right on the river. The river was very calm and almost a mirror.. the sunset and sunrise here was amazing.. I really wish I brought a different lense and a tripod but still happy with what I was able to capture. It’s hard to imagine this was a river and not a lake with how the water was.
Sunset
Day 14 – Tahquemenon to Mackinaw City
The next morning I got up early and simply sat on the picnic table enjoying the view. Every few minutes it looked different as the sun was all the way risen. In the distance you can see the mist off the river.
After breakfast and packing up we went to the Shipwreck Museum at White Fish Point. Been here a couple times in the past and enjoy it everytime I go.. the guides here are very into sharing the history of Lake Superior.
We visited both the upper and lower falls.. the upper falls offer a more dramatic view.
After Tahquamenon we spent the afternoon/evening in St. Ignace where a custom Semi-Truck show was going on.. some really nice rigs there and got to witness a huge convoy of them crossing the Mackinac Bridge.. Speaking of the bridge on the way back over the bridge they had the paved lane closed so we had to ride on the grated section.. not so much fun on knobby tires or on a bike that tends to have steering issues as-is.. Made for a pretty tense ride! We spent the night at a hotel that had an indoor pool.. was the only time on the trip I was able to get my head underwater. Superior was waaaay cold.
Day 15 – Mackinaw City to Muskegon, MI
The next morning we made our way back south and took the scenic route by taking Tunnel of the Trees. It’s a 30-40 mile long road with lots and lots and lots of curves.. lots. Many motorcyclists on this road and for good reason. It dumps out just north of Petoskey.
Stuck at the Lift Bridge in Charlevoix, MI
Detours… I really hate them. Well Nicky more than me.. Just before taking the following path Nicky told me to turn around I of course said whatever we can make it no problem… whoops.
You can see we used the carpet we had for the tent as traction, the muffler here was flush with the ground. We were able to talk an ex-military guy in the neighborhood into helping us push it, just in the nick of time as soon as we got it out it started downpouring.
We spotted an English Bulldog puppy on our way home, Gemma was a sweet 11 week old pup I don’t think she was too interested in going on a ride. I'm missing my bulldog Luna a lot at this point.
We spent that night at my old roommate’s house and he hosted us for dinner and breakfast. Him and I went out for a spirited ride just outside of Muskegon before departing.
Day 16 – Muskegon, MI to Sturgis, MI
Not many pictures this day as it was just a ride home.. we took M40 in lieu of 131 and crossed again over the Langley Covered Bridge. Overall via GPS statistics we recorded 2604 miles of travel.. Trip consists of 2 countries and 3 states. Longest day was about 300 miles and shortest day was about 100 miles. For Nicky barely being on a bike before this trip she did awesome and I was very proud of her.
Our animals excited that we are home…
Until next time!
-Pete
Home 
Latest images 
