UP-Scale Running

I don't do much up-scale running, but I do do running in the U.P. and that's what this post will be all about.

It's our second attempt to get to Isle Royale and this time we're gonna make it or else. After stopping in Chicago, we spend the night in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where I do my first run, It isn't particularly fast, and it's not even pretty. Google Maps had displayed what looked like a bombed-out area, and I learn that that's because it is a bombed-out area. Bombed by the Wisconsin Army National Guard, no less. I didn't attempt to get too close, so back around the long way I went.

Our staging area for the ferry to Isle Royale is Copper Harbor, Michigan. It's at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. I am up and out early this morning. It's like old times: out the door before four. The reason? The ferry leaves at 8, but check-in is 45 minutes prior to that. Brekkie is 20 minutes before that. And shower and other preparation is a good half-hour before that. But the real reason I'm out so early is that aurora borealis is forecasted.

On the one hand, we're so far North that we stand a good chance of seeing the northern lights. But on the other hand, the nights are short up here in mid-July. That's why I'm really out so early. I'd been worried that it might be cloudy, but I do see stars. Yet they're not super bright, even here in this dark-sky area. I figure there must be some high clouds.

Try as I might, I don't see any aurora. I decide to try to get out of this small town and into the woods where it will be darker still. This doesn't take long - soon it's so dark I can't see a thing. I still see only a smattering of stars. 

But then there's a sudden flash of brilliant light. It's so bright that the woods all around me are completely illuminated. It only lasts a split second, but it nearly knocks me down. Not that there's any shock or even any sound at all, but the unexpected suddenness of it all completely overwhelms me. Naturally, I stop running to take stock of what happened. Was it lightning? There were no clouds that I could see. Aurora? Too sudden, I think. At the moment, I'm at a loss. 

Scared and shaken now, I stumble back into town. I jog around some more, now even slower than before. Eventually, I spot some more of what I determine to be far-away lightning. I now even see the source clouds that happen to be low in the sky.

It's getting light as I am about to complete the run, and the flies and mosquitos are already out and about. I get a couple bites. Now I am (finally) running fast.

Later in the day, Lady Adventurer and I actually make it to Isle Royale, where we set off on our planned hike on the Stoll trail to Scoville Point. When Lady A. turns back early, I walk/shuffle/scoot/run the rest of the way out and then all the way back, so I suppose you can count this as a run as well. You can read more about this part of the adventure in my travel blog post.

Our final stop for this trip is Bay City, more than halfway home. There's a Menards, a Meijer, a Ponderosa, a Culver's, an Uno. There are gobs of banks, churches, and what they call party-stores. There are a couple of hotels, including ours. But what do they not have here? A place to run! It seems to happen a lot when I travel to Southeast Michigan - nothing but busy five-lane roads with no sidewalks. After dancing around parking lots and taking my life in my hands on the five-lane (it wasn't all that busy on a Sunday morning), I finally find some residential streets on which to run. So it's a not-so-memorable end to an otherwise nice trip.