Road Trip to Grand Marais pt. 2
Posted by derrick on July 16, 2008
Grand Marais is a village of about 400 people placed on an almost perfect natural harbor on the southern coast of Lake Superior. Like many towns in the region it was once part of a thriving community built on the shipping and logging industries that have long since faded away. These days fishing and tourism do just enough to sustain the small populations. Residents are left to drive an hour or more to find other jobs or even a larger grocery store. 8 oz. of cheese costs nearly $5 in either of the two small downtown shops. One thing is sure, Grand Marais is the place to come if you want to get away from it all.
From the northen coast of Lake Michigan we drove north on highway 77 which is the only direct route to Grand Marais. The road was under construction most of the way and took some time to navigate. This part of upper Michigan has few main roads and many unnamed and unpaved roads that disappear into dense northern forests. Sadly we never saw a bear for the whole of the trip. Not that Black Bear are known to stand by the roadsides to wave at holidaymakers as they wiz by, but when entering bear country you can’t help but hope for a sighting. My consolation was a short encounter with a Monarch who landed on my hand for a few moments, then took off again into the wilderness.
We arrived in Grand Marais around two pm (losing an hour in a time zone change) and found it easy to locate the important stops. Our motel sits just a short walk from the bay. The main symposium is just a few blocks west and already filling with kayakers. In between there are a few restaurants and 2 small stores offering some limited and expensive supplies. Luckily we’re here to paddle and won’t need much to sustain us.
At first glance the coast in this area seems very similer to the western Lake Michigan coast in the lower part of the state. Large sand dunes rise from the water to both the east and west of the bay, very different from the sandstone cliffs and caves of the Apostle Islands region.
We walked from our small motel down to the bay and noted the novelty of stepping into two of the great lakes in just a matter of hours. A small number of people were out enjoying the warm day. A canoe floated by the small boats moored in the harbor as two kayaks launched out through the high grass not far away.
Grand Marais provides a perfect location for a sea kayaking symposium. The bay is wide, protected and warm. Outside of the harbor open sea stretches nearly 100 miles or more in all directions. The prevailing winds sail over nearly two-thirds of Lake Superior before reaching land at Grand Marais. This and the number of Shipwrecks recorded in the area only hint and the wild conditions that must occasionally arise in this part of the inland sea. There are chances of thunderstorms on and off over the next few days so it will be fun to see what happens.