Lake Superior Circle Tour, part 3 of 4: Days 6 & 7

[Strelnikov]

Wrapping up the actual tour before heading home over the final two days, report of which to follow.

Day Six: Tofte MN to Wakefield MI (202 miles)

We were reluctant to leave the next morning and hung out on the balcony as long as we could. The stay had refreshed us.

Duluth posed some problems as encountered construction detours both to the HD dealer and when trying to get out of town. The dealer, Duluth Harley Davidson in Hermantown, MN, was another nice experience. Got the shirts, and a recommendation for breakfast at The Social House nearby. Again, very good breakfast.



The detour signs for leaving town were incomprehensible, so after circling we rode to the waterfront and headed south – where we found access to I-35 over the bridge to WI. Big mess but we escaped undaunted. We took Rte 2 into WI and stopped to catch the breeze at the public beach in Superior.

About two hours later, we landed in Wakefield, MI, a ski town out of season. We had reservations at Snowriver Mountain Resort but could not find it at first. After following a bad road for a few miles we came to a large construction site surrounded by a number of buildings, none of which bore the name we were looking for. We finally stopped at one of them and found out they were all the same resort under different names. Whole place was under renovation but the rooms were done, and were nice.



After settling in, we walked down the hill to Jack’s Bar & Grill. We were the only people there and sat out on the wobbliest deck in America, eating pizza and beer. While going to this place, Kevin pointed out that the view was of a huge valley filled with trees. Without looking, I had assumed it was water as usual. Great effect. From the deck we could see new standards had been put up for a new ski lift. When we went inside to pay, the place was packed. Must have been 50 pickups in the lot.



Day Seven: Wakefield to Baraga to Copper Harbor to Baraga MI (240 miles)

In the morning we warmed up our leftover pizza and took it to eat on Jack’s deck. Great view.

Took the scenic route to Baraga, checked in at the Baraga Lakeside Inn. Great place. Updated, clean and bright. Restaurant/Bar right on the water. Baraga itself is perfectly positioned in the "crotch" of beautiful Keweenaw Bay. Great spot.



We then took a round trip to Copper Harbor at the top of the peninsula. Nice tourist spot. Most interesting thing was seeing the end of US 41, which stretches from there to Miami (1990 miles; sounds like a ride in the making). The final eleven miles to CH closely resemble the famous Tunnel of Trees on MI’s lower peninsula, which we had ridden in ’20. Very twisty and hilly.

We had dinner at the Inn’s restaurant, which was chaotic due to lack of help. Spent some time on the deck (not wobbly) and turned in.

Our return to Baraga marked the end of the Lake Superior Circle Tour. The final two days of riding would be the return home.