Nomad exploring life wherever I am
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…
Once more on this Great Lakes tour, I had a chance to get out on the water. No, not in those little kayaks, but as a passenger on a catamaran cruise up the coast of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Well worth the 80 miles round-trip driving to Munising and back and the $48 cruise ticket because you get to see rocks and cliffs like this.
Late one day at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, I decided to watch the sunset, from start to finish. I walked down the beach till I found a nice big rock that made a comfortable bench, dug my toes into the warm sand, and settled in to watch the show. 9:12 PM This far north, the sunsets come late in July. It’s after 9PM and the sun isn’t even close to the horizon yet. I wait, though. I have nothing but time and patience this evening.
Picking a campground in a place I haven’t been can be a lesson in serendipity. Sometimes, the campground is closer to a highway than I thought, with the accompanying traffic noise. As soon as I pulled into the Hurricane River lower campground and looked left to see Lake Superior, I knew this place was a winner. I backed into my site, quickly set up the basics, and then headed down to the shore. Oh, my…