Travelling ~ Ishpeming, MI to Grand Rapids, MN

A good day....

The sun was rising with no clouds. I decided to explore and headed for the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness SP after scraping frost off my windshield. From Ishpeming, I first drove west, turned north to the town of Baraga and then west again to Ontanagan where I hoped to find something to eat. Ontanagan is a little town and I drove through the three blocks of downtown businesses not really finding anything and was about to head to the Porkies (as the locals call them) but on the way out of town, I discovered a coffee shop. I bought coffee and a plain donut also (the best plain donut I have ever eaten as it was warm and greasy with a slightly crunchy exterior) and drove south along the lake shore in the early morning sun. Near Silver City, I pulled off into a modest local park and walked the shore for 30 minutes, drinking my coffee and filling pockets with stones, thinking of Maria.

The whole morning I was in the midst of a thick verdant landscape of new spring greenery on a million hardwoods. And trillium along the roadsides about half the time along with marsh marigolds in the moist bottomlands.

I went to Lake of the Clouds and walked a short trail which ended on the top of an escarpment, so there is that Grand Canyon vertiginous feeling but there are (of course) stone and wooden walls for protection. Still, the cliff face drops straight down hundreds of feet. A plaque described what birds might be seen, including several raptors. There was a lot of information about the peregrine falcons that can be seen "spring and summer" as this is perfect habitat for them.

Lake of the Clouds is a long lake fed (or drained) by a slow meandering stream easily seen from above. And then suddenly I realized a peregrine was in the sky above me, circling and squawking, allowing good looks as it wasn't even that far away. I watched it for a minute before it seemed to disappear into thin air but probably dropped to a nest on the cliff face. A turkey vulture also moved by, kiting on the wind. The peregrine was unexpected and a life bird for me!

Since there were at least 300 mosquitos per cubic yard of air, I left. The gentleman at the visitor center said that, while the peregrines are known to be here, one doesn't always see them. Like it's not a sure thing.

School kids were on class trips and were running around with bug nets and other gear.

I watched a blackburnian warbler working high in a tree on the edge of the parking lot. (This bird deserves a google!)

There is a "South Boundary Road" which I took and which eventually came out very near the western edge of the UP. I think I saw two other vehicles in the hour it took to drive that. I thought how incredible this route would be in the fall as it was mostly through hardwoods. I stopped and took a few photos at the Presque Ile River, one that is as wild and scenic as any in the US. Huge, huge evergreens had been uprooted and were stuck in the middle of the roaring water very near the bridge. The North Country Trail runs through here with large cautions about the dangers of wild water. "Even experienced swimmers drown in these conditions."

On through Wisconsin and into Minnesota at Duluth. I thought there was a small loosening scab on my tummy and pulled it off and it was a tick. Jeez. Again, without thinking, I flung it away, but being in the car, guess what? It was also in the car and within a minute or so, I felt it crawling up my leg. As I was in city traffic and looking for the turns for US2, I just flung the tick AGAIN, but in the commotion had missed my turn so pulled into a Walgreen parking lot, searched the floor area by the pedals, found the tick and flung it outside the car.....finally rid of it. I did wonder if it was the same one as the night before and decided it probably was. Believe me, I totally checked out my body after that, and my jeans, socks, shoes, etc.

There is a Great Northern Visitor Center right outside Ashland, WI, and I stopped because it is out in the country in quiet open fiels, and I had a double cheeseburer to eat. I decided to go in and check to see if there were bird feeders. There were but not filled. I bought a little book on Lake Superior beach stones and asked the friendly lady at the desk about Sax-Zim bog. This is an important birding venue up here, especially in the winter, when there is a Birding Festival in February, as boreal hawks, owls, finches, etc., can be seen. The NYTimes had an article on it this year.

The woman at the desk kindly printed out an informative map detailing exactly what roads to drive and where one might see certain species. So off I went. It was 25 to 30 miles northwest from Duluth and is a mostly uninhabited northern bog, measuring 20 miles long by 10 miles wide, watery on the ground, but with a variety of flora, some areas very dense, some sparse, some open fields. I drove the roads for two hours but it was the middle of the afternoon, probably the least best time to see birds in a bog. And I didn't see much EXCEPT at one spot where I sensed and then heard birds singing. I am slowly learning bird calls and knew the common yellowthroat's song. And heard it, stopped and found it, and then also saw briefly but distinctly, a golden-winged warbler! This is not a common bird and has a golden cap and golden wing patches. Wow! That made the second life bird for me today. There were also yellow warblers (common), but, other than a few sparrows and red-winged blackbirds and robins, my Sax-Zim list was not impressive. It was cool, and for some reason, the mosquitoes were still not raging. The sky got more and more overcast but not threatening and I was glad I did this, not really having planned it until today.

Sax and Zim are two tiny towns in the middle of this bog although I never saw either. I eventually drove north to Hibbing and then mostly west to Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where I stayed.