Cycling around the Great Lakes:
Lake Superior

Harvey MacHattie, Dylan MacHattie, Stephen Kamnitzer
21 days, 2300 km, May/June 2004  

This trip was a follow-on to our  rides around Lake Michigan on 2002, Lake Erie in 2001, Lake Huron in  2000, Lake Ontario in 1999. ....

At the end of the day-to-day description of this trip you will find a section on logistics, planning (or lack thereof), equipment etc.

May 29, 2004, drove from Toronto to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, 3 bikes on the roof of Harvey's Honda Civic. Spent the night at the house of Harvey and Dylan's uncle and aunt where we left our car for the duration of the trip.

Schedule: (ON=Ontario, MI=Michigan, WI=Wisconsin, MN= Minnesota)

• Day 1/May 30:  Sault St Marie, Ontario to Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Paradise  MI  (121 km/12 hrs)

• Day 2/May 31:  Tahquamenon Falls State Park, Paradise MI to Newberry MI (46 km / 4 1/2 hrs)

• Day 3/June 1:  Newberry MI to Munising MI (106 km / 10 hrs)

• Day 4/June 2:  Munising MI to Marquette MI (76 km / 8 hrs)

• Day 5/June 3:  Marquette MI to Baraga MI (120 km / 10 1/2 hrs)
• Day 6/June 4:  Baraga MI to Copper Harbor MI (128 km / 12 hrs)
• Day 7/June 5:  Copper Harbor MI to Painesdale MI (98 km / 10 hrs)
• Day 8/June 6:  Painesdale MI to Porcupine Mountains State Park, Silver City MI (103 km/ 9 hrs)
• Day 9/June 7:  Porcupine Mountains State Park, Silver City MI to Saxon Harbor WI (122 km / 11 hrs)
• Day 10/June 8:  Saxon Harbor WI to Brule WI (112 km / 12 hrs)
• Day 11/June 9:  Brule WI to Duluth MN (64 km / 8 hrs)
• Day 12/June 10:  Duluth MN to Gooseberry Falls State Park MN (71 km / 9 1/2 hrs)
• Day 13/June 11:  Gooseberry Falls State Park MN to Tettegouche State Park MN (74 km / 9 1/2 hrs)
• Day 14/June 12:  Tettegouche State Park to Grand Portage MN (104 km / 13 hrs)
• Day 15/June 13:  Grand Portage MN to Ouimet ON (157 km / 11 1/2 hrs)
• Day 16/June 14:  Ouimet ON to Rainbow Fall Provincial Park, Rossport ON (130 km / 12 hrs)
• Day 17/June 15:  Rossport ON to Neys Provincial Park ON (92 km / 10 1/2 hrs)
• Day 18/June 16:  Neys Provincial Park ON to White River ON (123 km / 12 hrs)
• Day 19/June 17:  White River ON to Lake Superior Provincial Park ON (128 km / 7 1/2 hrs)
• Day 20/June 18:  Lake Superior Provincial Park ON to Batchawana Bay ON (130 km / 11 hrs)
• Day 21/June 19:  Batchawana Bay ON to Sault Ste Marie ON (87 km / 9 hrs)

Total Distance: 2218 km.

Bicycle problems etc:

1. Stephen's bottom bracket became very noisy in Plainesville. WD-40 and some oil kept it going until Munisung where it was rebuilt by a very friendly bike/sports store.  
2. Dylan one flat.
3. One of Stephen's front panniers came off on the last day after he hit a big pothole coming into Sault Ste Marie. This almost caused Dylan, who was just behind to have a bad fall.

References: Books, maps and websites:

MAPS USED ETC

1. www.lakesuperior.com will send you a nice free brochure about Lake Superior with driving distances and a a detailed map. Its worth buying their Lake Superior Travel Guide for about $10. Its a fairly thick soft covered book with lots of useful information. Its all you need and covers the entire coast of Lake Superior and a little way inland. 
2. AAA Road Maps  for Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota
3. Free official State Highway Maps for Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota (obtained via e-mail requests to State Tourism offices)
4. Free official Ontario provincial road map.
5. Wisconsin State Bike Maps, Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, Northern one.. I called a Wisconsin bike store whose address I found somehow on the web. I think there are four of them. The map has the resurfaced rail trail that we used part of the way from Ashland to Superior.