Done.  We slept in a bit this morning and woke up the sounds of the fishermen getting ready to go out for the day.  Over the night some of the Frat boys from MTU came in and untied all of the fishing boats so the fishermen had to rope them back in. Luckily none of them made it too far. Apparently they do it every year. Seems ridiculous to me. We were slow to get moving but there was no rush. Only 14 miles stood between us and the end of our journey.  We paddled leisurely along, passed sights we had seen a dozen times and we finally felt home.  We got into Houghton around noon and stopped at a beach on MTU’s campus to savor the moment.  We called a few friends and tried to get some people around to make our homecoming more festive and maybe get some photos but we couldn’t get a hold of anyone.  We couldn’t wait any longer and paddled the last mile and crossed under the lift bridge and landed on the same sand we left over two months ago. Sure we had been back twice since we left but now were really home.  It was all pretty anticlimactic.  No one was there. No one knew what we had done. But it felt good. Really good. I can’t even explain it.

]]> http://www.asuperioradventure.com/mattsuperior/day-73-completing-the-circle-and-coming-home-to-houghton-mi/feed/ 0 http://www.asuperioradventure.com/mattsuperior/day-72-portage-lower-entry-keweenaw-waterway-mi/ http://www.asuperioradventure.com/mattsuperior/day-72-portage-lower-entry-keweenaw-waterway-mi/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:07:13 +0000 Matt http://www.asuperioradventure.com/mattsuperior/?p=288 Big Bay, MI to Portage Lower Entry, MI: Daily miles 47.1, Total miles 1150.1

Holy Shit! I did not expect to sitting on the shores of the Keweenaw tonight. This was by far the biggest day yet and the most rewarding.  Everything fell into line to make this day perfect.  The weather was awesome without a ripple of wind all day.  We slept really well and got up at a reasonable hour, 7AM. We are well rested from out week off and we are so motivated it hurts.  The shore flew past all day. It was pretty generic shore with some rocky beaches and miles of forest.  We passed the infamous Huron Mountain Club, which owns miles of shoreline and aggressively patrols it to make sure degenerates like us don’t land and spoil and their exclusivity.   We stopped for a short lunch on a sand beach but were too excited to stay long.  We really only planned on paddling to the campsites at the mouth of the Huron River but we got there at like 3PM and found it packed with RV’s and powerboats so we kept moving.  We swung out to point Abbye and got our first looks at home.  The idea of making the big 12 mile crossing had been floating around all day but we never really took it seriously until we could see it.  It seemed so close and looked so easy.  We didn’t have our maps but figured it couldn’t hurt so we took a short rest and launched across the bay at target we could barely see.  The cross was really easy. It took about three hours and we didn’t see a wave the whole time.  When we hit shore there was nowhere to land and we didn’t actually know where we were.  We pulled out on a jumbled pile of rocks to figure out our situation.  Without maps it was tough to actually figure out our location. I tried to use the GPS on my new iPhone but it wasn’t accurate enough due to the lack of cell service in the area.  Eventually we just guessed and started paddling south and within ten minutes were cruising past White City and into the Portage Canal.  We had done it.  We circumnavigated Lake Superior.  We still had about 13 miles to go until we landed where we started in downtown Houghton but we were no longer the Superior.  It felt pretty good.  We were both starving so we pulled over at a boat launch for some dinner and decided to go for the last few miles tonight in the dark.  We ate fast and climbed back into our boats, sore and tired but excited to be done.  After a few minutes of paddling into the darkness, with speed boats flying by we decided we were too tired, it wasn’t safe and we would be better just finishing tomorrow.  We headed back to the boat launch and set up the tent in an exhausted stupor.  It feels so good to be back in the Copper Country and to have paddled here this time.

We drove down to Negaunee last night and stayed at my brother’s place.  This morning we loaded up the boats and he gave us a ride down to where we took out last week.  The water was perfect, flat calm, and the sky was sunny.  The first mile or so around Presque Isle was fun because my brother ran along the shore and tried to get some photos of us together. It has been nearly impossible to get any shot of both of us on this trip.  After we said goodbye to my brother we got down to the business at hand. We were like unstoppable machines all day.  The weather was good and we only took a handful of breaks in the entire 30 miles.  Early on in the day I realized I had forgotten our maps so were blind as to what shoreline lay ahead but it didn’t matter much as we were on a mission.  We cruised by Granite Loma, a giant castle built on the shore. It is left over from the days of this area being the place to be if you were super rich. It was really cool and seemed to fit in nicely on the shore.  The shore was pretty easy all day with scattered beaches and  little development.  When we pulled into Big Bay we set up on the first sand beach we found that didn’t have a house on it. We got in about 6PM which was really early given our late start and over 30 miles of paddling for the day.  We wanted to go further but the no landing zone of the Huron Mountain Club was looming in front of us and we figured we had better play it safe.  We hung out for a while, ate dinner and set up the tent to try to get to bed early.  Just as we were laying down we heard people and a dog walking down the beach toward us.  We were concerned that it was the owners of the beach and we were about to get kicked out. Turns out it was the owners but they were super welcoming and really nice about letting us camp here. I love the U.P.  I am so excited I can hardly contain it. I am two days from the end. The actual end. Not any of the false summits we have had to endure.  If the weather is good we should be able to see the Keweenaw tomorrow. This is the only place I want to be in the world right now.

Today was a big paddling day but it went fast and felt easy. We cruised past house after house and rarely saw a bit of shore that wasn’t developed.  It is unbelievable the size of some these houses and they look like vacation homes that only get used a few times a year.  If I had the money to build a house like that I think I would spend it actually taking vacations instead of building a place to house the idea of my leisure.  Around lunchtime we were nearing a roadside park and I was hoping to make it there so I could use the bathroom. Hannah wanted to stop earlier and we got into a pretty hefty argument that resulted in us not speaking for over an hour. We ended stopping early as well as at the park.  After our short lived feud ended we started looking for the easiest and fastest way to get into Marquette.  The bay isn’t that deep but it would have added an hour or two too paddle in so we decided to shoot right across and make the big open water crossing. It went off without a hitch and we cruised around the break wall and landed in upper harbor on the nice sand beach.  We ate, relaxed and waited for my brother to come pick us up. We hung out for a bit and played with Rainy and then the three of us headed home again so Hannah could start class. I hate breaking up the ending like this. I know it will ruin the grand, triumphant return to home but there isn’t much we can do about it.  We will be back in a week and finally finish this thing.