Ah, to ride…finally, to ride. And a loverly ride it twas. We left Duluth and headed northeast up the coast of Lake Superior. You couldn’t ask for nicer riding weather — high 60’s and a tailwind. Even with my out of shape human we just flew up the road. Heck, we traveled so fast we just had to stop for chai and cookies (such horrible punishment, eh?)
About a quarter of the time we were on bike trail. First, coming out of Duluth and then through Split Rock State Park. Now, lest you associate bike trail with those straight, flat spoke numbing rails-to-trails freeways for bicycles, this was not the case. We twisted, we turned, we went up and we went down, prairie and woods. Such a pleasant ride it was, we completely missed the turn to see the lighthouse…the “iconic” lighthouse that you just “must see”.
But, you know, we so enjoyed that ride, that it just didn’t seem important and we just continued on, enjoying the day. Further down the road the humans went poking around a locked parking lot and found the dive start for the Madeira, a schooner-barge that sank in 1905. Twenty-nine ships went down in that storm, after which the lighthouses were installed. At the dive start you could see the point that took out the ship as well as the point for the Split Rock Lighthouse, that quintessential Minnesota lighthouse. So, in the end, we saw the lighthouse after all, just not from the standard vantage point.
For a lake with a horrible reputation, in the last 3 days, we’ve barely seen a wave. Hard to imagine that this placid body of water can generate 30 foot waves and see winds in excess of 50mph. <shudder /> I’ll take placid.
Travels With Edwina 