When I went on my first road trip in 2009, the main thing I needed to figure out was how to adapt my previous backpacking experience to traveling by scooter. I’d be traveling light, and staying at state park campgrounds, so a fair amount of the gear and preparation were the same: tent, sleeping bag, weather preparedness, etc. But there were some important differences.

A major consideration for backpacking is food. On my last expedition in 2006, when I spent over a week in the wilderness, about half of my pack weight (when I started) was food. But on a road trip, it’s almost a non-issue: you can stop almost anywhere and order a hot meal, or to buy some granola bars for breakfast. Equally important when backpacking was water, which I had to hand-pump and filter from lakes and streams. That’s easily replenished on the road. By comparison to wilderness backpacking, scooterpacking is a breeze.

But on this trip, I’m doing both. And that poses new challenges. For the two days I’ll be on Isle Royale, I’ll need to be in backpack mode. But I’ll be on the road for five days before I get there, and during that time, in addition to scooter mode, I need to carry gear and provisions for the other.

So, for backpacking, I’ll need a couple days’ food. I have a few freeze-dried meals left over (good thing those don’t go bad), so I can pack those for my dinners. But… how to prepare them? I have a small camp stove that I can bring, but… do I need it? Freeze-dried meals can be prepared with cold water, they just turn out better (and more quickly) if it’s hot. Same with oatmeal (my standard trail breakfast). Or I could just bring granola bars for breakfasts (which I could pick up in Copper Harbor). Because I’m only going for a couple days, I can bring simple semi-perishable stuff like fruit or bagels for lunch, and get those in Copper Harbor as well.

A similar calculus applies to water. If I were only going to the island for one day, I’d simply fill a couple bottles with tap water and be done it. But for two days… I probably need to bring the water filter/pump. Neither the pump nor the stove is particularly large, but my current scooter-packing system doesn’t have any open spaces left for them to go into. And I’m sure there will be other items that I’ll want for hiking, that I’ll need to find a place for. Something tells me I’m going to have to lash more stuff to the rear rack.

So, assuming I get everything I need up to Copper Harbor, what then? I don’t wear a backpack on the scooter, because it just isn’t a good way to carry gear on a motorbike. Instead everything goes under the seat, on the rear rack, or in the shoulder bag that sits on the seat behind me. So how do I carry the tent, sleeping bag, clothes, food, cooking gear, etc. on the trail? I can leave most of the clothes and the riding gear with the scooter on the mainland. I’ll probably have to bring a small daypack to carry the rest, and strap that to the rear rack the rest of the time.

I don’t think any of these are insurmountable challenges. But unlike the last few rides, where all I needed to do to prepare was to pull out the same packing list I’d used before and do the same thing again with minor changes, this one is going to take some re-thinking, and some test-packing ahead of time.

Is it too early to start planning next summer’s ride? I hope not.

As you can see from the helpful map on the main page here, I am only 8 counties away from my neurotic goal of visiting every county in Michigan. The 8 farthest counties, at the west end up the Upper Peninsula. Also some of the least populated ones.

I’ve tentatively mapped out an itinerary:

1. From Grand Rapids to Ludington State Park on Lake Michigan.
2. Take the S.S. Badger to Manitowoc WI, then ride to J.W. Wells SP near the southernmost tip of the UP.
3. Northwestward to Bewabic SP.
4. Northwestwarder to Porcupine Mountains SP, near the western tip of the UP.
5. Northeastward to Fort Wilkins SP (Copper Harbor) at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula sticking into Lake Superior.
6. Leave the scooter(!), take the Isle Royale Queen to the island, and hike to a camp site.
7. Hike on Isle Royale. Camp again.
8. Hike back to port, then ferry back to Copper Harbor/Fort Wilkins.
9. Ride to Van Riper State Park in Marquette County (mission accomplished).
10. South to Manitowoc, and onto the ferry overnight.
11. Ride home.

The riding days (except the next-to-last) are all about 100-140 miles, which is standard for these trips.

Days 6-8 are a “necessary” diversion from the scootering; I’m not going all the way to Copper Harbor but then skipping my favoritest national park. Isle Royale is wilderness, and I don’t plan to bring proper backpacking gear, but I think I can handle a couple days and nights by taking the tent and sleeping bag off the scooter rack and carrying them (somehow) along with a couple days’ food. Back in ’06 I spent a whole 10 days alone on the island; I think I’m qualified to “wing it” for 48 hours.

Even without the detour to Isle Royale, this would be my longest ride yet: 10 nights on the road. But just getting to the territory I haven’t been to yet (or back) is a 1.5-day journey by itself, so there’s no getting around that. And like I said: the side trip is something I’m just not going to skip. I could cut it short by a day, but… I don’t want to. My coworkers will just have to get by without me for 11 days.

Shortly after leaving camp this morning, on a short ride along the Pine River, I chanced across an antique gas station. It’s a fascinating look back into history. It’s located on what’s now a little-used route for residences and small farms along the river, which I’m guessing was more “important” before the highway system developed. The building is just a small wooden structure, with a pump out front. The last price charged was 43 and 8/10 cents per gallon; this would place it around 1970 when it was last selling gas.

Shortly after this I set out on farm roads, which stretched on and on and on. They aren’t unpleasant to ride on; I vastly prefer them to busy highways. They can be relaxing and even scenic in their own way. But after 20 miles without turning, they can get a little… old. The good news is that you don’t need weather radar in farm country: just look out to the horizon and you can see whatever might be coming your way. I had some storms get close, and got a few drops here and there, but again (this time by blind luck) found a hole in the front.

The ride was mostly uneventful. I rode through Greenville and Belding, mostly because those are two nearby cities/villages that… I’ve just never been to. Greenville’s been hard-hit by the closure of the Electrolux refrigerator plant there some years ago, then by the bankruptcy of a solar-panel manufacturing facility. But at least so far the city isn’t falling into ruins.

On my previous ride, my plan to ride out of town on Grand River Drive was thwarted by a race taking place there that day. So I chose to end this ride by coming through in the opposite direction. I picked it up at Lowell, switched to autopilot and rode home. Everything’s just as I left it (well, a couple plants need watering), and I now prepare to return to my life as usual.

The other campers in my part of the campground had a generator going when I arrived, but I didn’t worry because of course they’d turn it off before night. And they did. Then a little after 10, when I was completely dark and I couldn’t relocate… they turned it on. And left it on all night. I was tired so I fell asleep quickly enough, but when I woke up a few times in the middle of the night… it wasn’t so easy. This morning I left a simple note for them explaining the problem.

There’s a huge storm system moving in across… the UP. 🙂 Glad I’m not there today. There’s also a line of rain that’s going to cross my path some time this morning. So I’ll gear up when it gets close and hope for a gap.

I have 120 miles to go today. But since I have no sightseeing planned, it should take less than the 6 hours that might otherwise take. I should be home for lunch.

The trip’s not over, so this is a little premature, but there isn’t much to do here at the campground, and I’m too tired to go anywhere, so… a few thoughts about how it went.

I brought some new gear this time. The tent (Sierra Designs Light Year 1) is new this year (it also went to Indiana earlier I the summer), an update of the one that went missing last year. It is just slightly roomier than the old one, which I appreciate. I can actually sit up in it. 🙂 I’m not sold on some of the other design changes, but there are no show-stoppers.

The good camera (Fujifilm Finepix HS20EXR) is new this year too. The bulk and weight is a little more of a pain to carry around (as if my bag weren’t heavy enough already), but it’s performed well. The autofocus is frustratingly hit-or-miss (my kingdom for full manual focus!), and the exposure makes some odd choices, but it’s pretty easy to override the exposure, so that’s not a major problem. It lasted until today on a single set of lithium batteries (I brought spares). None of the pictures posted on the blog so far are from that camera; they’re all from my iPhone, which does pretty well for snapshots.

Last year I brought my Nook, in case I got stuck anywhere I the rain without Internet. It came in handy instead when I got stuck in a Motel 6 with only TV. I brought it this year for the same reason as last year, but I haven’t used it. Which doesn’t mean it was a mistake; I haven’t needed most of the stuff in the first-aid kit either.

The air mattress – taking its first trip ever this past week – was a smart purchase. I really should have gotten it right after last year’s spine surgery. I’ve slept better this year than with the foam pad, and haven’t had any problems with my nerves being pinched. I’m not crazy about the waterbed-ness of it, but I like being able to sleep in more positions without it hurting. I kinda wish I’d gotten the wider version, though; if I lie flat on my back, my arms fall off the sides, which feels awkward.

I think the Frogg Toggs rainsuit may have seen its last ride. I’ve had them for 10 years, and they’re starting to wear and rip in a few places.

The scooter is far from new. It’s going to be close to 17,000 miles when we get home. It amazes me how well he’s held up… Getting the same gas mileage and going even a little faster than he did the first couple years. If you want a good scooter: buy Genuine.

I’m not new either. But I’m definitely in better shape than last year, and also more fit than the previous two years. I’ve put on a bit of weight in the past several years, and it was showing in the level of physical endurance, flexibility, and just the ability to climb a sand dune without gasping for breath. I’ve been working seriously on that this year. I still have a ways to go (another 20 pounds off would be good), but I’ve gotten better.

Most of the route I took this year was “leftovers”: counties I didn’t choose to ride through on previous trips. But they really shouldn’t have been. Today, for example, was great, and the ride north was pretty cool too. And the remaining counties in the UP should be good as well.

Aside from the rain on the way to Petoskey and the wind yesterday at the Straits, the weather has been cooperative. That’s about as good as one can hope for. There’s a chance of rain tomorrow, but if I get wet… I can fix that when I get home.

(The above is a rare image taken by me using flash. Of Flash. 🙂 )