Da Yoop – Part 1

As somebody who lives “up north” in the eyes of most Michiganders, I try and head up north myself at least a few times a year, meaning the Upper Peninsula. I was lucky enough to recently have a week in September off from work and headed across the bridge with a buddy and a car full of gear (aka beer and encased meats) for a tour around the eastern UP. Here’s some shots and a brief recap of our trip.

Here’s a visual of our approximate route:

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We drove close to 900 miles in 5 days (in a Prius, relax hippies). That’s an average of a little over 3 hours in the car each day. When put that way it sounds kind of awful, but driving around in what feels like the middle of nowhere has a great sense of adventure to it.

We headed up late in the afternoon from TC to near Grand Marais to set up camp and hit the sack before an early morning back in the car. That first morning was a trip directly to the Mouth of the 2-Hearted River. I’d only been here once before and that was before the Duck Lake fires in 2012 so I was very curious to see how the area was recovering. Some of the growth is coming back, but there was some damage to the campground and the general store near there was completely destroyed. Driving through the burn zone was definitely both fascinating and depressing. I’ve never visited a wildlife area after it was ravaged by fire. The picture below gives a sense of how surreal it was; both beautiful and a reminder of nature’s devastating power.

2-Hearted Burn Zone

Finally we arrived where the 2-Hearted runs into Lake Superior. This is one of my favorite spots in the world. It’s incredibly remote (it’s billed as the most remote campground in the UP. IN THE UP!) and after the long, winding drive down dirt roads, you feel like you’ve arrived at the end of the world. The magnitude of Lake Superior is amazing and the silence is rejuvenating.

Unfortunately, we didn’t camp here this trip, but just wandered around the beach for a bit before heading onward. We also got buzzed by a Bald Eagle, but didn’t have the cameras at the ready. So that kind of sucked.

2-Hearted River running into Lake Superior

2-Hearted River merging with Lake Superior

Next up was a quick stop at Tahquamenon Falls on our way back to Grand Marais before attempting to find a campsite at 12-Mile Beach in Pictured Rocks.

Lunch at Lake Superior Brewing Company in Grand Marais was a must, but not before making a phone call real quick at what has to be the only remaining phone booth in the state.

Phoning home

Sustenance!

Everybody I know that’s been to Lake Superior Brewing Company raves about it. I’ll be honest, it looks like your typical hole-in-the-wall UP dive bar. In fact, I’ve been to Grand Marias numerous times but had never stopped at LSBC for that exact reason, you can’t even tell if it’s open for business until you walk inside. But once you head in you

realize why it has such a great reputation: good food, decent beer, & friendly service. The food at LSBC is your typical bar fare, but it’s really well done, especially when it’s the last meal you aren’t preparing yourself on a camp stove for a few days. I had fried fish and it was dusted perfectly with batter and lightly fried. They typically have 3-4 of their own beers on tap. The blueberry wheat was quite refreshing. You can count me in now as another advocate for this place as a must stop when passing near Grand Marais.

Next stop: Pictured Rocks

After our resupply we headed straight to 12-Mile Beach in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and set up camp for a few days. This ensued:

The view from our campsite (yeah, seriously!)

We had perfect weather for the first part of our trip, low 70s and sunny with a light breeze. If you haven’t been to 12-Mile Beach then you’re missing out. The campground is up along a bluff overlooking Lake Superior. But due to its beauty, it’s very popular & I’ve had a few trips where we had to resort to “plan B” because it was full. But if you can snag a spot I definitely suggest staying for as long as you can, the landscape is second to none.

Sunset over Lake Superior

Part 2 to be posted shortly…stay tuned!

Mountain Biking at Glacial Hills

As summer winds down and those days at the beach become less frequent, one great way to spend your weekend days is out on some of Northern Michigan’s primo mountain-biking trails. This area is quickly becoming a cycling destination with the amazing trail networks right in our backyard, including the VASA, Muncie Lake Trails, and the Big M. Throw in one of the country’s premier races, The Iceman; the early season tune-up Mud, Sweat, and Beers; & the inaugural X100, and riders head here from all over the state to get their fix of singletrack and speed. But a recent newcomer to the mountain biking scene is currently the talk of the locals; that would be Glacial Hills, just outside the quaint village of Bellaire.

While hiking around Glacial is a great way to spend an afternoon, tearing it up on your mountain bike is why this place is quickly becoming one of the go-to spots in Northern Michigan for riding. The singletrack was cut in a way to make it flow smoothly while flying around on your bike. There aren’t any super-steep climbs or hairy descents, it’s just smooth and fast, all the way around. And while it definitely does get your heart pumping, it would be an enjoyable ride even for the novice cyclist as there isn’t anything technical out there that’ll cause you to hesitate. In fact, trying to describe how fun this place is to ride is pretty difficult, so check out the video below (that I shot with a camera strapped to my helmet) to get an idea.

Details of one of my ride’s out at Glacial are in the photo gallery below. And here’s a link to that ride on Strava.

If there was a knock on Glacial it would be that some of the new trail is being cut a little wide, so it isn’t singletrack, but it is still a blast to ride and you can actually open it up a little bit more than on the tighter stuff. Just be careful as there are often hikers out there as well as other cyclists (the trail isn’t directional, meaning you can ride either clockwise or counter-clockwise).

Even better yet is the recent addition of miles more of trails, all located on the Vandermark Road side (trail map). Rumor is that eventually there will be 20+ miles of trails. Also worth noting is that these new trails have a trailhead at Orchard Hill Road, meaning you can hop on the asphalt and after 5 minutes of pedaling, you’re in downtown Bellaire. Best way to make an epic day on the trail even better: drinking Michigan craft beer.

You can access Glacial Hills from 3 trailheads. Eckhardt and Vandermark roads both have parking lots and both of these roads are accessible from Bellaire Highway. Orchard Hill Road is on your left as you head north out of downtown Bellaire.

A ride at Glacial Hills on a crisp day during color season is an easy way to make you forget all about summer!