“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” - L.M. Montgomery

During October in Wisconsin, you have to take every advantage of each and every nice day (especially weekends) to get out and do something outdoors.  This has become our philosophy...we know what's coming.  This is the final countdown!

The last couple weekends involved 2 state park trips:  hiking at High Cliff State Park with Teddy, and biking 22 miles on another stretch of the Ahnapee State Trail/Ice Age National Scenic Trail, from Kewaunee to Casco Junction.  The leaves have been very colorful over the last few weeks, an added bonus for sure.  A lot of leaves are down now, but the weather has been generally mild.  Therefore, the "get out and enjoy it" philosophy tends to conflict with work and household chores over long periods of time.  Oh well.

Apple picking at Oneida Orchard ; Mountain-Bay State Trail in Green Bay

 The Niagara Escarpment (the Ledge) at High Cliff State Park

Lake Winnebago at High Cliff State Park

22 mile bike ride on the Ahnapee State Trail, Kewaunee River Segment.  Don't let flatlands biking fool you!

Pure Michigan

We had been meaning to give the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (The UP) a decent visit ever since we arrived in Wisconsin.  September was busy at work for both of us, so we tentatively planned a weekend camping trip for October, which provided something fun to look forward to.  It may not be Wisconsin, but still the Upper Midwest for sure.  The weather was fantastic last weekend (60s-70s in October!!), so the trip was on and it was fantastic.  Scott was heard saying several times over the weekend..."Is this really Michigan?" 

We decided to drive the 3 hours to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, one of only 4 national lakeshores in the country and my first visit to Lake Superior (Scott had technically seen Superior in WI during a work trip, but really his first visit too).  The trip up was beautiful as we drove all the way up the west shore of Green Bay (it takes almost 2 hours) and then through the Hiawatha National Forest.  We arrived at the visitor center in Munising, MI (Chippewa for "place with the island") and starting driving along the shore scenic route to the campgrounds.  I was concerned that we were showing up too late on a prime weekend, but we were the first to arrive and had our choice of site at Hurricane River Campground, right on Lake Superior.  We spent the afternoon hiking to the Au Sable Light Station, joined an excellent tour, and climbed the 98 steps to the top of the tower.  After a little more sightseeing, we ended up in the "town" of Grand Marais ("the big marsh" in French, basically one intersection of a town) at Lake Superior Brewing Company.  The slogan on their website is accurate: "we're a little hard to find, but harder to forget."  We ate dinner with lots of Youpers (i.e., people from the UP) and a few tourists.  After the ride back to the campsite, we listened to the waves of Superior all night long.

 Wagner Falls, Hiawatha National Forest   

 Lake Superior- the largest, the deepest, the cleanest...and lots of shipwrecks!

Au Sable Light Station and view from the top!




The next day, we headed back toward Munising and stopped to hike to several waterfalls along the way.  SO many waterfalls in this area due to the rocky shoreline.  The lakeshore was pretty crowded on the last weekend of the season, so it REALLY must be crowded in the summertime.  The last sightseeing stop was at Pictured Rocks Cruises at Munising City Docks.  No better way to actually see the pictured rocks than by boat!  We learned a lot on the tour and had some great views of the shoreline and East Channel Lighthouse on Grand Island despite being trapped on the boat with all those annoying tourists!  Last stop of the day- Pictured Rocks Brewing Company for another drink and a sandwich.

 Miner Falls

 

Spray Falls, from Pictured Rocks Cruise boat Grand Portal

 

East Channel Lighthouse, Grand Island

Sunday morning meant that we had to start heading south.  We packed up the campsite and stopped at the Chapel Falls trailhead for a morning hike to a beautiful waterfall.  Then, it was on down the road to Escanaba, MI for lunch and the first half of the Packers game at Hereford & Hops, our last microbrewery of the trip, and one more lighthouse.  Then, back to Central Time Zone and Titletown.  Go Pack Go!

 

Chapel Falls

Escanaba Lighthouse

Perhaps the Pure Michigan slogan is right on? Eh?

Ahnapee Trail: 31 miles for 31 years

Last weekend, we decided to go for a bike ride since naturally our "nice" days are now numbered with the onset of fall.  Last Sunday had temperatures in the lows 70s, but it was still pretty cloudy and breezy.  Nonetheless, it makes for good biking weather when the sun is not beating down on you. We felt like biking somewhere new, so we decided to try out the Ahnapee State Trail (pronounced ANN ah pee).  The mainstem of the trail (around 16 miles) runs from Algoma on the Lake Michigan shore in Kewaunee County to the northwest to Sturgeon Bay on the Door Peninsula.  The route is the old railway for the Ahnapee & Western railway.

We drove east to the city of Algoma (which originally was called Ahnapee, or "land of the great gray wolf") with the intention of riding "some" of the trail and turning around whenever we felt like it.  Reviews suggested that the trail was pretty bumpy and not well-maintained since it is also used for trail riding with horses.  We set off on our bikes from Algoma and had a nice ride through farmland and forest along the Ahnapee River for several miles, and through a few small communities.  The trail itself was fairly remote without much in the way of rest stops or points of interest on the way, but was in pretty good condition despite the crushed gravel surfacing.  By the time we made it to the 12 mile point, it made sense (at the time) to just keep going the last few miles to Sturgeon Bay, making the outbound trip about 1.5 hours total.  Another factor in the decision to keep going was the fact that the Ahnapee Trail is a segment of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, one of the long distance trails we try to visit as part of our Wisconsin travels.  This 16 mile stretch was a new segment for us, plus it was nice to have the opportunity to do a section by bike.  We took a break in the parking area in Sturgeon Bay, and turned around to head back to Algoma.

Needless the say the wind shifted and was working against us (pretty flat so not "uphill both ways", but into the wind both ways!), plus fatigue set in by the time we set out for the return trip.  We did see lots of wildlife including porcupine, deer, a garter snake, and even stopped to observe some sandhill cranes near the trail.  It was not crowded and for most of the ride, we had the place to ourselves.  The one thing we did not account for was to bring enough water for a 30 mile bike ride.  There were no points along the route to fill up since the two parks we did pass did not have running water.  Even so, we made it back to the truck in one piece (barely) and finished the last of the water.  After a little moaning and groaning and wondering why we did such a thing to ourselves, we realized we had biked 31 miles round trip- coincidence?  I think not.

Next stop was Ahnapee Brewery to grab a celebratory beverage right before they closed and a quick view of the Algoma Lighthouse.  Then, back to Green Bay to get ready for another busy week.

Several cool murals in town

Algoma Light on Lake Michigan