Nomad exploring life wherever I am
As the last stop on my 2021 tour of the Great Lakes, Duluth was a good pick. Full of good food, interesting shops, and places to visit, it was a massive treat for all my senses. I hadn’t been in this big a city for months, which also meant I hadn’t seen much traffic in a long time so that was an ongoing adjustment. Luckily, I camped near the Waabizheshikana Trail along the St. Louis River so I had a nature escape handy. The views along the trail were indeed fantastic.
Between Michigan and Minnesota on the south shore of Lake Superior is a tiny sliver of Wisconsin. Mostly, it’s all at Saxon Harbor Park, so that seemed a perfect halfway spot between the Porcupine Mountains (my previous stop) and the trip-ending destination of Duluth. The view of the lake was pretty good from here, too.
Back to one of my happy places on this earth, the Porcupine Mountains of far west Michigan, right at the shore of Lake Superior. Honestly, this was the place I’d planned my whole Great Lakes/UP trip around. I had such a magical time here in the fall of 2017 that I’ve wanted to come back ever since. And this is why. Look at that campsite right next to the lake. There aren’t many of these spots, but it’s worth the time and effort to score one.
As I drove from Pictured Rocks to Baraga, I realized I was retracing the route I had taken on my very first Alto trip, way back in May of 2016. And I’m pretty sure I found the same rest stop on Lake Superior, too. That Alto looks pretty good after 5 years on the road. On to Baraga, and new adventures…
Warning: This is most likely a post that only battery nerds will love. In the Alto groups on Facebook, there are long-running discussions about battery usage, especially when it comes to the 12v fridge vs. the propane/120v fridge. I spent four nights dry camping (no electric or water hookups) at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and tracked my battery usage using a Victron battery monitor. Let’s walk through the four days of no electric hookups, see what the solar panels contributed to the effort, and then see how the battery recharged when I got to a powered site. Day 1: Fully…