Sunset on the Presque Isle Shoreline

I know I've probably already said this, but the Porcupine Mountains are an amazing place and I absolutely cannot wait to get back there and do some more exploring! This photo was taken near the mouth of the Presque Isle River along the Lake Superior shoreline. I was hoping to see the famous "potholes" of the river, but the water was too high due to recent rainfall and the potholes were not visible. So, I continued on down the path to the Lake Superior shore where I found this huge area full of ferns just before reaching the sandy beach. Sunset was fast approaching and the light was wonderful. I found a composition that I liked, set up my tripod with the sun directly behind one of the trees, set my aperture to f22 then waited for the sun to peek around the trunk of the tree. Once it did, I clicked the shutter and this photo was made. When you shoot with a small aperture (f16 to f22 works the best) you can get a nice starburst effect like this when the sun first peeks out from behind something. I thought it made for a wonderful complement to this "fern forest". My only regret is that Jessica was not there to witness this beautiful scene along with me. She was stuck at home working during the government shutdown. It's going to be an awesome time when we are both able to go and explore this most amazing of state parks together!

BHFTF Day 2

Yesterday it was an early call to get up and ready for the first day of the Mickelson Trail ride. Breakfast for the riders and volunteers at 6am. A shower came though as we were eating (just hoping that was not foreboding the what the weather will have in store for us). A little after 7 we rolled out for Deadwood. About 8 we were in Deadwood, unloading the bikes.
I decided to try riding the first section - climbing up from Deadwood. While the grade is not that bad (about 4%), the thinner air took its toll on me. Made it 6 miles up the hill. Had to walk the last few hundred feet to the trail head. Lactate was builting up in my muscles. Rode in the van for 2 section. Then rode 2 downhill sections from Dumont to Mystic. All totalled 24.77 miles for the day. I was pleased with my effort.
The photo here is me coming out of Tunnel C. Some very beautiful scenery down the canyon from Rochford to Mystic. Mickelson Trail Day 2 today.
Oh, yesterday I hit 1100 miles for the year.

A Trifecta?

The weather started cooperating again this week. Little windy for Tuesday Ride - I was the only one for the slower ride. I rode Valley View trail up to IWCC.
Yesterday was a little better. Went to Trail Center to ride (not sure if Indian Creek trail would be open). Rode Riverfrom trail to Northway and back. Would have ridden more, but it was cloudy and getting cool.
Today, was a really nice day. By noon, it was light wind and 55 degrees. My mountain bike was not shifting right, so stopped by Xtreme Wheels to have it checked out. From the shop, I rode over to Lake Manawa on the paved bike trail. There, I wanted to look at the condition of the mountain bike trail.
Out from the parking lot, the trail looked good to ride. Rode West Sidewinder, frequently the driest trail. Most of the trail was dry, with a couple of slightly soft spots. Coming out of the trail, I hit something that bent the de-railer. Did some work to getting the bike ridable to get back to the shop.
After the second repairs of the day, the wind had been picking up. Decided to ride over the the Wabash Trace. Rode about 2 miles up the Trace to check out the trail conditions. The trail is mostly dry and firm. Some places are a little soft. As usual, the surface has been damaged by earlier riding under wet conditions. There appears to be some horse hoofprints - not as bad as last year. Also, damage from motorized vehicle spinning wheels under wet conditions.
As Zack called it - a Trifecta -- riding on pavement, in the dirt, and on crushed limestone.

Mission not accomplished

Sunday's mission was to find Hell's Hole in Mt Jerusalem National Park. It seems this is going to be harder to track down than I expected. Evidently people I've spoken who have supposedly been there cant' seem to decide whether it's actually a waterfall or a sink hole. Perhaps both are there. I've also heard stories of caves with rock paintings on Mt Chowan in that park, I really need to spend a weekend camping and exploring there. Sunday's epic started early into a strong southerly wind that came out of nowhere. I half-hid from it by heading through Urliup on the journey south, but it was gone by the time I reached Murwillumbah.


I headed south over the climbs of Reserve Creek and Cudgera Creek, taking in the pretty but largely unremarkable climbs. There was a surprising amount of traffic on Cudera Creek Road, probably more than I woud later see on the old Pacific Highway after Burringbar. The southern excursion continued through Billinudgel and Main Arm, before starting the southern climb to reach the National Park. I last climbed this approach on Easter Monday with a full touring load. It didn't feel any easier this time around either.

At the first of the two summits I turned left onto Middle Ridge road, and started climbing again, more steeply this time. Eventually the climb peaked at around 370 metres, and I turned off on the Sand Ridge Firetrail, which I had been told would lead to Hell's Hole. At the end of this trail, there were tracks branching off to the left and right. The left fork was all downhill, eventually leading to an old log bridge and a creek. I didn't see any sign of a waterfall here, so I returned to the top.


I then took the right fork, meeting up with a family of hippies on the way. This was where I heard of the possibility that there may be a sink hole rather than a waterfall. I also found some potentially delightful campsites in the area. As it was, this track led to another section of the same creek I found earlier, and continued on in the rainforest for a short while, but ultimately didn't lead to anything that was either a waterfall or sink hole. I did explore another side track, but it basically just continued to climb, and as it was now late in the day and I had another 90km to ride home, I decided to save that one for another time.

The ride home was very pleasant indeed, as the late afternoon sun caught the forest of Mt Jerusalem National Park (but not Mt Jerusalem itself) at just the right angle. The descent back into Uki was rutted and loose, not enough to cause me serious problems, but enough for me to totally pwn a 4wd on the way down. For the final ride back to the coast I decided to climb over Tomewin in preparation for doing the same thing at the back end of 200km this Saturday. My legs had some complaints about that, but they did the job and I got on with life.
All in all it was a ride that offered more questions than answers, leaving me to find time in a busy schedule over the coming weeks to explore this area more fully. I have a 200k Audax ride next week, followed by a long bushwalk at Lamington National Park the following weekend. Just when I'll make time to complete this project is uncertain, but I'll have to make it happen sooner or later.