Northern States Tour – Day 8

Day’s distance: 300 miles
Total trip distance so far: 2,488 miles

The weather remained pleasant, temperatures in the 70’s and winds light with the occasional gust. Skies were partly cloudy.

I grabbed a morning photo from the marina inside the campground before leaving.

I followed the southern shore of Lake Superior along Hwy 13, a pleasant two lane highway.

It passed through one small town after another, with many celebrating the long weekend in various ways. Port Wing, for example, was having a car show and Herbster (I think) was having a running event. Lots of bikers on these roads.

A stop in the tourist town of Bayfield was next. One of the draws here is a ferry to Madeline Island from the marina.

My draw was lunch and I chose to eat at Morty’s Pub. They serve fresh whitefish and chips and it was super good.

I think there were almost as many motorcycles here as cars. This is Harley Davidson country. I don’t recall seeing another BMW there during my visit.

Soon after lunch, I crossed into Michigan.

I have no idea what is meant by Pure Michigan. To me, it sounds like pure bull marketing, but who knows.

I rode through the Ottowa National Forest and towards the Keweenaw Peninsula and Copper Harbor. The ride passed through some beautiful country with diverse and healthy forest lands.

I was pleasantly surprised by the last 11 miles of Hwy 41 as I approached Copper Harbor. The roadway narrowed and got twisty as the tree canopy reached over the roadway. It was beautiful! The trees are just barely starting to turn their fall colors.

With the final time change of my trip, it was after 7pm when I arrived in Copper Harbor. I had reservations to camp at the State Park.

Once I registered, and asked the folks who parked their vehicles in my spot (the place was packed and chaotic – think long weekend), I had only about 20 minutes to visit the Fort before it closed.

Here are a few photos from those 20 minutes 🙂

By the time I returned to my site and set up the tent, it was dark.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain here, but be clear to the east in Mackinaw City. I will probably take a full day off there. I need to do laundry, get a haircut, and some social media marketing work for this coming week’s end.