Grand Marais, MI to Twelve Mile Beach, MI: Daily miles 15.1, Total miles 1000.1
Left home around 9AM and met my brother at his house in Negaunee so he could come down to Grand Marais with us and take our truck back to his place. It was a long three hours down and I had a lot on my mind. As driven as I am to finish this trip I don’t feel like getting back on the lake. It was so nice being home with all it’s comforts and I hate to leave Rainy again. But such is life and I knew this would happen if we had to get off the lake during the course of the trip. When we got down to Grand Marais we were hesitant to get started so we ate lunch at the brewery and walked the dogs around on the beach. Eventually we ran out of excuses and started hauling gear down to the water and suiting up. We said goodbye to my brother and Rainy and paddled away from the beach at about 4PM. The sun burst through the clouds with our first paddle strokes and the weather turned amazing. The massive dunes that rose up to our left were some of the coolest things we have seen on this trip. Hundreds of vertical feet of untouched, golden sand with faint lines showing the patterns of flowing water and an occasional tree tucked into the beach where a seep runs. It was awesome. We paddled until near dark and made better miles than I expected. I am happy to be out here now. It is a nice change from the weariness I felt before our break. I miss the dog and am still anxious to finish but I feel like this is where I want to be. I am really excited to see the cliff of Pictured Rocks tomorrow.
