Home 45 miles.

Went to Square Lake to take in the lake. The lake is used for scuba diving and it is one of the cleanest lakes around. Especially that day when they were preparing the beach for Labor Day. Hills stopped interesting me.

When I went to the beach I locked up my bike close to road so I could walk down then up the hill to and from the beach instead of biking up the hill. Came home tired and ready to be back but the journey was well worth the effort.

 

William O’Brien State Park 30 miles.

One place I knew I had to stop off at was the Franconia Sculpture Garden in Franconia. Always interesting to see what is new and what they kept. They are now adding a beautiful learning center. They do so much for the local and international community. Was ready to get back home after spending time in the sculpture garden.

Wild River State Park 67 miles.

It is rare I bike more miles than my age but this time I did it with the help of a tailwind. I got fascinated by the surface designs on the St. Croix River and took more pictures then I probably needed to. Always enjoy coming to this park.

Banning State Park 55 miles.

There were two construction projects on the Munger trail. Fortunately I laminated the trail map so I could see where the trouble spots were. The first one by looking at the map it was obvious the road to take without going too far out of the way. The second one wasn’t to bad either going up. Going back they closed the road I used to detour from the trail. So I had to make a detour from the detour. Took a few wrong turns before I found the road back to the trail.

After the gravel roads coming up decided on different way of going home. My first time at Banning State Park and it was well worthwhile to visit. Stopped in a little cafe in Finlayson where I decided not to enter a raffle to win a rifle. Made me realize what a different culture that is there then what I am used to. Purchased solar panels before I left to recharge my cell phone while I was biking. It worked great until for some reason it stopped charging my phone. After which I nursed the phone as much as I could. Would sneak in a 10-15 minute charge here and there and minimized battery usage as much as I could. Was able to get home with about 10% power left.

Jay Cooke State Park 50 miles.

Just south of Duluth on the Willard Munger trail someone told me a storm was coming in and should find shelter. Just started coming down when there was a little shelter I ducked into for a couple of hours until it stopped. Biked to the state park and once there the thunder and lightning started up again. Once it died down a bit set up my tent and listened to the thunder from my tent. Was fortunate though if I had not stayed that extra day in Jay Cook when I came up would have gotten into a major storm where there was wind and about four inches of rain fell instead Jay Cook only got maybe an inch.

Two Harbors 40 miles.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened to me today. Usually would hike any trail that was on Highway 61. This time passed over any trail that did not look flat. One advantage of spending an extra day at Jay Cook was that my ride on Sunday the road had a wider shoulder then the Grand Marais to Tettegouche ride I would have been on. This was the busiest the roads had been on the days I rode. I noticed that a lot of times traffic would be going north and nothing going south or the reverse so there was more room for cars to maneuver around me but today there was a lot of traffic going in both directions.

(No pictures today)

Tettegouche State Park 54 miles.

Afterwards for the first time my legs felt tired. I was not in a mood to do much of anything. Biked and hiked over 200 miles in the last four days over hilly terrain and was definitely not used to it. Encountered another bicyclist who was biking around Lake Superior and he asked me when the hills ended. Told him that at the border there was a mile stretch that looked flat The waterfalls I identified might or might not be correct.

Grand Marais 42 miles.

Weather turned overcast and rained off and on so it was pretty much straight biking into Grand Marais not good picture taking weather. People did not talk to me as much this time as opposed to a couple of days ago. Last time about five came up to me and said they saw me biking anywhere between Two Harbors and the Split Rock Lighthouse.

Grand Portgage State Park 51 miles.

Found a post along the road which I could lean my bike against to see what the problem was. The side on the bike rack that I taped up because the screw was missing had to be re-taped and the screw on the other side was broken off. So I taped up the two sides up as well as I could so that the tire would not rub against the rack. At times the rear tire would barely rotate because it was laying on top of the rack.

Grand Marais was only 10 miles away. Was able to bike there with the makeshift arrangement. While eating the bike rack had collapsed again but fortunately the bike shop was a couple of blocks away and was able to get a new bike rack. With a new bike rack and the wallet around my neck only one minor problem arose after this.

The ride to Grand Portgage was hilly and spectacular. At the top of one of the hills you could see the Suzie Islands and they were beautiful to look at. And the tallest waterfall  in Minnesota is located in the park.

Cascade River State Park 42 miles.

Because I enjoy stopping and taking in the scenery often get to the campground a little late so would set up camp and not do much after I arrive. So in the morning would hike a lot of the trails. This seemed to help stretch my legs and help my biking for later in the day and another reason would get my destination later than usual. Hiked around Tettegouche with someone who had recently retired from Colorado. It made my walk a little longer than usual but enjoyed the conversation with him. Stopped at Sugarloaf Cove a little south of Schroeder another beach that is growing in popularity and it is well worth stopping at.

This turned out to be an interesting day. Everything was going well until I stopped at a store to get something to drink and I couldn’t find my wallet again. Thinking that I left it at Tettegouche was going to call them but did not have internet service so continued on my way until I could make a call. At one point while on the bike path was able to check my e-mail. Received an e-mail telling me someone had turned my wallet to them and told me I could pick it up at any time. Backtracking about 6 miles to pick it up was not something I looked forward doing. Someone was walking along the path and wondering how I was doing so started to whine about how I was going to get the wallet back. She could not take my whining anymore so she said she would drive down there to pick it up for me. Ever grateful she was willing to get it for me readily agreed. About half hour later she drove by and dropped my wallet off to me. Then put my wallet on a lanyard hung it over my neck for the rest of the trip. The bulge at the tummy where the wallet hung probably looked weird but at least I knew where it was. When one is totally absent minded you are dependent on the kindness of strangers.

By biking straight to the park I could get there before dark. However while eating and drinking outside of a store a person came up to me and we started talking and talked way too long so I would not get there until dark While biking to Cascade River noticed that it was more of a struggle biking then it should be. Struggled to get into the park and by the time I got there the park was just closing. Found a deserted area and just laid down for the night without bothering setting up a tent. Woke up in the middle of the night and looked up in the sky and it was completely clear and the stars were so bright it was an amazing scene. Wheeled my bike out of the park as early as I could so I would not be noticed.At times my rear wheel would not move and have to lift up the rack for temporary relief.