NW/WWF-Day 4-Split Rock Disappointment

What a great night last night! Lulled to sleep by the waves lapping on the pea gravel shoreline. One thing that makes Superior look like a lake, and not the ocean, is the quality of the waves. They are not crashing like the ocean. Fun fact, I have now ridden my bike to or along all five of the Great Lakes. 

Sunrise over Superior. 

We packed up, not in a rush, and were back on the Gitchi Gami Trail at 8:15. Just a few miles along the trail, we came to Split Rock State Park. We wanted to go to the lighthouse, so we got off the trail and rode down to the Visitor’s Center. There is no way to see the lighthouse without going through the Visitor’s Center, and paying $15. We didn’t even get to decide whether we wanted to pay because they didn’t open until 10:00, and it was just after 9:00. We hoped we might get a view further down the trail, but no. A bit of a disappointment…

Some cool rocks before the park. 

It seems if we had gone into the State Park, we would have been able to see the lighthouse (near campsite 4).

We went back to the trail, and continued to Beaver Bay. We stopped at the Holiday gas station and picked up a few resupply items. Resupplying at a gas station convenience store is always delightful. Pretty limited selection, and on the expensive side. But, I didn’t need too much. 

Back on the trail. Notice the colors are changing. 

Nice little waterfall along the trail. 

The Gitchi Gami Trail spit us out at Silver City. We didn’t need anything, so continued on the route. We had some longer climbs heading up away from the lake again. Nothing was too difficult, and it was all paved. 

We came into Finland. This was where we were originally going to stay, but we had only come 27 miles (we are ahead of schedule). Still we stopped at the General Store and got some food for lunch. Lani got a whole bag of kale and cabbage salad kit (3 or 4 servings. I thought she was pretty clever. She opened up the bag, kinda like a plate. Then dumped the dressing and the toppings on, and ate it like that. She was quite full afterward. I had a chicken salad packet, a banana, and a Green Machine smoothie drink. After that, I got some ice cream. We spent a bit of time digesting our food before heading out again. 

Funny sign outside the store. 

Up until Finland, the route had been entirely paved. From the store, we had just 16 miles to go to Ninemile Lake USFS Campground. The road finally turned to gravel not far out of Finland. 
And now for some gravel to finish the day. It was a very wide, and mostly smooth road. There was a surprising amount of traffic (in fact, if you look closely in the above photo, you can see a large truck coming). Some parts weren’t so dusty, but I had to use my “dust bomb protector” several times (it’s a Buff).

I was counting down the miles when I spotted something moving on the road ahead. I got to it, and it was this. 
A little turtle about the size of my palm. Of course, I had to rescue it, so it didn’t get squashed by a vehicle. I got him safely into the grass on the side. 

Finally, after 43 miles, the sign for the campground came into view. Both Lani and I gave a whoop whoop! Our butts we’re ready to be done! Even though it was our shortest day, and we finished earlier than any other day (and started later…except for the first day), we were glad to be done. 

We wanted a spot by the lake, but they were all taken. 

This is still a nice one. 

There is a well, and vault toilets, and, of course, a picnic table…all the luxuries. We walked down to the lake. 

Sun going down over Ninemile Lake. 

There were two bikepacking cyclists at the lake. Becky and…Kevin(?) from Portland. They are also doing the Northwoods, but in the opposite direction. Per the usual, we gave them some intel, and they gave us some intel. 

So, that was our day. We are still ahead on mileage, but now just 16 miles instead of 20. We are still planning to go further than originally thought, and we’ll be wild camping on USFS land.