Nomad Life - Day 319

With my earlier bed time last night, I managed to sleep much better and woke up at 0525.  As usual, I started teleworking, with only a short break (at 0800) to pick up breakfast food in the lobby of the Superior Motel (Munising).  Otherwise, I continued working.  At 1300, I cooked and ate lunch in my room.  Taking a break from my computer in hopes of an opportunity to visit nearby Grand Island, I left the hotel at 1420 and drove (via MI-28) to the Grand Island Ferry Service location in Grand Island Township.  I arrived at 1430 and bought a round trip ticket for the ferry; while I was at it, I decided to add a bike rental too!  Actually, the whole thing wasn't too bad - the net cost for renting a bicycle (rather than bringing my own onboard) was only about $25 for the entire day (wish I'd arrived sooner...).  While I was being given biking instructions by the ferry captain, I asked him if I needed a lock for the rented bike (i.e., theft).  He replied “this is the U.P., you can take a breath!"  With ticket in hand, I went back to my car and packed a daypack with biking gear.  While waiting near the ferry landing, I met a young man who was planning to bike camp.  We had a nice conversation about the area and exchanged suggestions about fun things to do.  We boarded the little ferry (just about 30 seats with some room for bikes) at 1455, departed the landing at 1500 and made the crossing of the East Channel in less than five minutes!  The boat was only about half full (it looked like everyone else was a camper).  The afternoon was sunny and warm and the conditions for biking on Grand Island appeared to be perfect. After checking out the National Recreation Area (Hiawatha National Forest) buildings near the ferry landing, I started biking on the West Rim Trail.  These were not roads - instead, I had to contend with roots, rocks and loose beach sand.  Along the way, I passed campsites, cabins and beaches.  At times, I got good views of some small islands located deeper in Lake Superior.  There were a few other folks out on the island (most were sunbathing) but I was by myself for quite a while.  For about four miles, I made my way easily along the trail - before long, I had reached the Mather Lodge/Cabin (Interpretive Site).  At that point, I found the trail blocked (due to construction).  On top of that, there were busy trucks driving there that kicked up a tremendous amount of dust (cough cough).  This was OK because I had less than two hours of biking left before the last ferry departed the Island for the night (1800).  So, I turned east and made my way (0.5 miles) to the trail junction for Echo Lake.  From there, I had to pedal about 0.3 miles (through a small river) to the Echo Lake Observation Site.  There were some interesting birds there and a sign about how beavers might have constructed the lake almost 1000 years before.  After taking the 0.3 miles back to trail junction for Echo Lake, I rode about three miles on a big wide road (and a gradually steepening hill) until I reached the Trout Bay Overlook.  Signage in this area got a bit confusing and I had to rely on instinct and luck - by 1640, my plans paid off with a spectacular view of the East Channel and many of the sites I'd seen while paddling a few days earlier.  The wind started picking up at that point so I backtracked to a trail I'd seen that appeared to head towards the ferry landing area.  This turned out to be more of a mountain bike track and I had to be VERY careful as I descended a steep hill towards the water.  After riding about one mile since the Trout Bay Overlook, I intersected with a much wider trail and found a group of young people (mostly girls) walking south.  At this crucial moment, I made an error and missed my chance to turn north and find the beach on Trout Bay.  Oh well...  Continuing south, I pedaled about 2.5 miles in the direction of the ferry landing.  Stops along the way included visiting the boardwalk at Duck Lake, the beach at Murray Bay and an ancient cemetery ("oldest in Alger County").  At the latter location, I was surprised to see lots of American Flags and some recent burials.  The rest of the ride was punctuated by passing pretty cabins on Murray Bay and encountering walkers from the 1700 ferry who had reservations for lodging there.  Just before I reached the ferry landing, I turned down the West Rim Trail and pedaled out to the 1.0 mile marker so I could get a bit more mileage out of my bike rental.  With this extra two miles, I reached 14 for the day and was very happy to sit and wait on a picnic bench at the ferry landing (1745).  I'd done very little stopping all day and was pleased to have ridden 2.8 hours under more rigorous conditions than I usually see while riding a stationary bike in a Fitness Center.  The ferry returned at 1805 and dropped off even more campers.  In fact, there were only three passengers during the return ride to the Mainland...  We reached the dock by 1810 and I thanked everyone while returning my bike.  In my car again, I drove east on MI-28 and stopped at Muldoon's Pasties, which had later hours than the location in Munising, for a pasty combo meal (1820)  I ate outside and covered my pasty (a local "delicacy") with gravy.  The combo also included cold slaw & sugar free Sprite.  With my meal completed, I drove back into Munising and returned to East Channel Brewing Company for the third night in a row.  This time, I had a flight of beers and enjoyed some good (live) music.  The venue was much busier and there was a different bartender (not as nice).  I wrapped up my visit at 1920 and then went in search of some North Country Trail mileage.  After passing my hotel, I drove (via MI-28 to MI-94) for 1.1 miles until I reached the Wagner Falls Scenic Site parking lot.  With the day's adventures completed, I headed back to my hotel (arrived at 1935) and got back online for more teleworking.  Wrapped up my workday at 2130 and then spent the rest of the evening reading and working on Duolingo exercises.  I finally went to bed at 2330.  Another exciting day in the Upper Peninsula!  North Country Trail Today = 1.1 miles / Grand Total NCT = 191.7 miles