Sturgeon River, Briefly - Day 353

  Well, I did manage to put feet on the trail today, but the forward progress was so minimal it fades into insignificance compared to the amount of driving and work to make it happen.

After a false start on the planned 9.7 miles in deep and deepening snow, I doubted my ability to do even that in a reasonable amount of time. Maybe I'm losing my nerve, or becoming a wuss, but the walking was really difficult.

We went in search of a shorter piece I could do. The problem is, I've done most of those pieces already. After trying two impassibile roads, we did manage to get to the Camelback Bridge on Old 41 on the Sturgeon River. These bridges are almost unique to Michigan. There are a few in other states, but they are less aesthetically pleasing. These were built mostly in the 1910s. (The exact engineering name is a concrete curved chord through girder bridge.)

From there, I began to walk along the Sturgeon River. This is not very far from its source, and the trail is right down beside the water. This is a new piece of trail since I was here last. Although it starts out flowing southwest, the Sturgeon curves around and ends up flowing to Lake Superior.

Before long, the trail had climbed to give views like this one.

In only 1.5 miles, I was at the graceful bridge on US 41 that spans the river.

From that point on, the river becomes more energetic. Although this next little distance won't count in my total for now (because I'll just have to hike it again later), we decided to walk in the quarter mile to see Canyon Falls. This route has recently been added to the trail, removing a roadwalk. I'd seen pictures, but only in summer. I think there is a vantage point to get a better view of the falls, but in the snow on slippery rocks, I settled for this side view which doesn't begin to do it justice.

The most amazing scene was these ropes of ice on the far wall. I've never seen anything like it, and I don't know how it forms. Perhaps it's from mist being blown by the wind as it freezes. Anyone have any knowledge of this?

It isn't even consistent in the angles at which it forms. Fantastic!

Sue found a nearby geocache.

By then, we were close to L'Anse, so we went to town to get something to eat and to visit the Father Baraga Shrine. He was a Slovenian priest who came to this country in the 1830s to work with Native Americans. He earned a reputation for really caring about the people he worked with. He spoke 8 languages, created a dictionary and glossary for the Ojibway language, and walked hundreds of miles on snowshoes to visit the five missions he served. (The five legs of the statue represent the five missions.) He became known as "The Snowshoe Priest." He was also the first Bishop of the Upper Peninsula. The Keweenaw Bay is in the background.

We had fun, but in terms of this hike, today was beyond disappointing. The number of hours and miles driven to enable me to hike even a small piece of trail are becoming untenable. And, it took me 1.5 hours to walk the 1.5 miles with 6 inches of new snow. This is not a pace that will work for good distances in short daylight, and there aren't enough access points. I don't have the equipemnt for sustained winter backpacking, and I'm not sure I'm even willing to do it. We made tentative plans to hustle to the eastern UP where there is very little snow cover. Then I looked at the weater forecast, and they are supposed to get 8 inches tomorrow.

We are going to do some pieces in/near Marquette that don't require as much driving. But a major change in plans may have to happen.

Miles today that count: 1.6. Total miles so far: 4086.3.

See Sampling the Difficulty