New Beautiful

Day 49. My day of rest was quite pleasant as I was on Lake Superior Shore in a nice motel.

Day 50. Beaver Bay to Duluth. 62 mi. 2800 feet elevation. Weather perfect.

I was up before the sun this morning at about 5:00 a.m. Looking at the weather, I was terrified that the wind would be blasting in my face off of the lake as I headed south to Duluth. Thankfully, it never did, or I was early enough that it didn’t shift into my face. I have to admit that I’m not a morning person, but watching the sun come up over the forest and then the lake was beautiful.

Lake Superior is not exactly what I think of as a vacation destination. What I should say is that I haven’t thought of it as a vacation destination. Watching people just enjoy quiet, calm, and beautiful shorelines changed my mind. At the lodge where I stayed, people just sat in Adirondack chairs and stared out across the beautiful waters. They played chess, they put puzzles together, they built fires, and cooked s’mores. They even appeared to be talking to each other – crazy!. It was wonderfully calm.

I wasn’t able to take trail the entire 60 miles to Duluth, but there was an incredible amount of trail between Beaver Bay and downtown Duluth. Several of them wove their way in and out of beautiful state parks right on the shoreline. Others just hugged the shoreline, giving a sense of almost riding on the water. It made me think of riding Highway 1 in California but without taking your life into your hands. Highway 1 has no shoulders.

At one point on the trail as I entered Duluth I stopped to fiddle with my phone or figure out navigation. An older woman, keeping in mind I’m older, was walking down the trail, and she started asking me about my trip. Being the ever-friendly guy that I am now (lol), we had about a 15-minute conversation. She has an e-bike that she recently purchased. She envied me for being on a trip that she wanted to take. I don’t think she was trying to pick me up, and if she was she must be desperate because I look like a hobo. It turned out her daughter was living in Alamosa just a couple of hours from where I live. It was fun to visit, and I kept encouraging her to get on her ebike and start traveling.

Eventually, I made my way to a bike shop I had previously called in Duluth. They were wonderfully helpful, and I left the bike to get another tire as I keep wearing through them. They were also going to do some minor adjustments. Accordingly, I will be offline for the next two days, taking a breather in this beautiful area. My only complaint is I don’t have a bike to enjoy the trails that are so prevalent in Duluth.

Thursday, with my bike fixed up, I’ll be on my way to wisconsin.