On the Saturday morning of Easter week end, Jourdan and I decided to wander our way up north to see some of the northwoods and explore a little. We started out in mid morning and made our way up to Rhinelander and Eagle River by lunchtime and had a delicious lunch at the Blue Moon Coffeehouse in Eagle River. It was pretty chilly and with the streets torn up in ER we didn't have much of an opportunity to look around or shop so we opted instead to drive further north to cross over into the UP to see what we could see and also to look for bald eagles.
We're not strangers to the UP but the last time we'd been there was a week during mid-summer in the 1990s and we'd gone up through the Straits of Mackinac and over the big bridge to camp. This time it was sort of like sneaking in the back door. Earlier this week northern Wisconsin had received several inches of snow and we'd actually had a light dusting on Saturday morning here in Wausau. As we drove north, the snow got heavier and in a number of places there were spots where the roads were covered or patchy.
Not long after leaving Eagle River we saw our first bald eagle flying low over our heads along the highway. It was magnificent. We think there might have been a couple more in the area but they were too high up to easily be identified. We crossed over the border into the UP at Land O' Lakes and continued north to Watersmeet, Michigan.
At that point we had a decision to make. Should we turn back or pursue other options. As Jourdan looked at the map and we saw signs, we realized that Ontonagon, Michigan was a mere 48 miles further and there we'd be on the shores of Lake Superior. So onward we drove.
Bruce Crossing was the next town about 20 miles further and there it was time for a pit stop. The snows were much deeper by that time and the parking lot of the IGA/BP gas station was actually packed snow and people were driving up on their snowmobiles to get gas. After a quick stop we kept driving through some beautiful hills passing through Rockland before eventually coming to Ontonagon.
It took a few minutes to get our bearings there but we finally found our way to the country park and lakeshore area. It was simply awesome. The pounding of Lake Superior on the shore there created an environment of ice like we'd never seen before. The sand was semi frozen in places where you could see it and most of the shore was covered in field of ice. The lake was several hundred yards out and to get there we walked on an undulating terrain of very intense ice and actually climbed up to a point where another kind of ice had formed, this time more like round balls that were frozen in place. This was still over a hundred or so yards from open water and as we looked out you could see an expanse of the same kinds of ice balls actually moving and floating against the shore in the water.
To say it was cold is an understatement. The wind was ripping. The ice field we walked on was very slick. Patches of snow helped us get traction but there were some places where my shoes simply would not take me and I had to find alternatives to get to the high point of the ice field to take pictures. After about ten minutes we returned to the car and cranked up the heat full blast to get warm. We hoped for a coffeeshop in Ontonagon but the only one there was closed and our options were a couple of bars so we chose instead to head back.
The trip back seemed to go faster. It wasn't long before we were back in Land O' Lakes for a quick stop and a chance to de-ice the Echo. The roads there were wet and sandy and combined with the cold temperatures caused a very hard crust of ice to form along the bottom of the car and in the wheel wells. On the way back we saw one more bald eagle clearly and that was a nice way to conclude our wanderings.
Its a long way that far north but we are planning a return trip this summer more likely to the Apostle Islands area and the NPS area for camping and exploring. We're going when its a little warmer too. These additional pictures provide a glimpse of how stark and beautiful the shores of Lake Superior can be in winter.
Oh, one more thing, US Hwy 45 goes all the way to Ontonagon. In Illinois we often crossed it in our travels there and in places it was known as Lagrange Road. But way up north its just US 45 and connects places like Bruce Crossing with Rockland and Ontonagon. There is actually a turn around there and you head back south. I don't think I've come to the end of the road very often in my life. But this week end we did.
