try and explain this one

When I was a little boy growing up in Canada, anytime my parents said road trip, I was always the first one in the car ready to go. I knew from experience that a road trip was going to be something special, not one of those trips to a place with hundreds of tourists ready to ruin your trip. My mother loved to travel especially to places off the beaten track. That’s where the adventures begin and we experience the unusual happenings.

I remember one time going to Niagara Falls, definitely a tourist trap spot of all times and although we checked out the falls, we went to another cool place not too far from there, the Welland Canal located in a near by town called Sarnia. Not too many people get to see the big ocean going vessels go through a series of locks which take them from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie or vice a verse. Although I appreciated the falls and still remember the times, the trip to the canal made a bigger impact on me for the rest of my life. We were invited onto one of the ships and to experience part of the process from a different prospective. For many a year to come, this would be my philosophy in travel and followed it for many years. I had forgotten what’s really important to me, my philosophy in traveling and whenever I went on a fishing trip, I was always in a hurry to get to my destination. Having unusual experiences as a younger man getting from point A to point B was no longer my priority, getting there was. I missed a lot of experiences I might have had, had I kept up with my philosophy.

Once I began painting landscapes and nature scenes, the priorities of travel slowly came back to me. I no longer rush like everyone else to their destination, instead, I look for signs leading me to some really cool adventures. I would have never thought that I’d be looking for this at my age of 66. It all just happened as I was seeking for ideas for paint projects.

Earlier this summer while on a trek for ideas which took me around Lake Michigan and even to the southern shores of Lake Superior, I came upon some great adventures, just because I decided to get off the beaten track and see what else I can find. When one is in the north woods, one never knows what may be just around the bend or down an old logging road. I made it my priority to check out areas which might add to my collection of experiences.

I was headed towards Copper Harbor which is located at the top of Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I’m a Yooper at heart and have traveled to the U.P. for the last thirty eight years on fishing trips. I was somewhere between Hancock and Calumet where I had just experienced something really weird at a boat launch site. I didn’t realize that it was going to get even weirder once I got to Copper Harbor. I had taken an old beat up road from the main highway which was to take me to the launch site so I took it. After that strange happening, just about a mile or two after stopping to grab some lunch, I came across another road sign pointing down a paved road which would take me to another boat launch. I had no clue how far down it may be or if it was an access site for a lake or a river as the sign didn‘t say. Either way, I was sure that I would get some great photos and ideas for my paint projects so I decided to see where it took me. I might point out that I had no Michigan map as I never needed one before. I’ve always just followed my feeling and a compass.  According to the compass in my truck, I had just turned south.

I drove and drove for several miles looking for some sign for the access site. There was nothing at mile three nor were there any side roads along the way. Nothing in the way of a sign at mile five nor seven. At mile eight on the right I saw a sand/gravel road. I decided to follow it. I followed it for another five miles heading west. I came upon an access sight sign pointing to the right and made my turn. I was now headed north on a single lane dirt road that was overtaken by weeds. It was one of those winding roads that took me into the thick of the woods with the weeds swiping my side view mirrors. I drove for about 500 yards or so and saw the lake just ahead through the trees.

painting of the lake

When I got to the lake, I noticed that it wasn’t that big but it sure was pretty. There wasn’t a parking area so I just parked where I felt like. There wasn’t anyone around and when I got out of my truck, I couldn’t hear a sound, not even the birds. There was no wind rustling the leaves on the trees. It was dead silence. I thought that it was odd because usually one can at least hear birds or crickets. The weeds were pretty thick all around me, I was in my shorts, so I changed into my jeans, put on my boots, a long sleeve shirt in case of ticks and was ready for action. I noticed that the lake was down a steep hill with several tree tops and bushes in view. There was an island with some trees n the middle of the calm lake. There were no houses or any signs showing that anyone had been there in quite sometime. I pulled out my camera and took several photos.

For some odd reason I pulled out my cell phone to see if there was a signal in case of an emergency. Nope, it was In sleep mode to save on the battery. I thought that it might be a good idea to stay in view of my truck so I wouldn’t get lost in the area. It was a bit weird being in a desolate area by myself especially with dead silence all around me. I just figured that it was part of nature and left it at that. I soaked in the view and the silence for about an hour and headed on out. When I got back on the road I came in on, where I was now headed back east, about an eighth of a mile into my drive, there was another dirt road and a sign on my left which said; to hwy 41. This was the main hi-way which I was on earlier headed to Copper Harbor. I thought to myself “that’s just weird, I didn’t see that road nor the sign coming in.”

Since it was where I needed to go, I turned left, once again heading north according to the digital compass built into my dash. I drove on the road with no one in sight, just the thick of the forest all around me, for about three quarters of a mile, when I saw a paved road in the distance. My digital compass point was, still mind you, north. When I got to the paved road, after stopping I saw a sign pointing left to hwy 41. I decided to take another gander at my compass and now it’s telling me that I’m at the stop sign headed east. What? There were no turns and my compass showed that I was headed north just a few seconds ago, how is that possible?

I turned onto the road and looked at my compass. It showed I’m headed north again. Here’s where it gets even more weird. I could see hwy 41 in the distance less than a quarter of a mile and when I got to the intersection, I noticed that I was on the same road I took earlier looking for the boat launch site. The sign was missing. Wait, what? Did I not drive for miles headed south and then west to this lake and now in less than five minutes from there I’m back where I started from? Was I just hallucinating the whole thing? Maybe my camera had the answer so out it came and took a look to see what was on it. There they were, the pics I took of the lake.

When I got to Copper Harbor later in the day and after securing a motel room on Lake Superior, I decided to connect my lap top to their wi-fi, fire up my Google Earth program and see if I can find these two lakes. I was more curious about what transpired in this story since it was just too weird. I spent a few moments trying to find the two areas in question with no luck. I decided to check it out more later in detail, but right now, I wanted to enjoy the view with a couple of glasses of wine.
I never did find that particular lake, but I did find the road which took me several miles south where according to Google Earth, there was an airport and a small lake just east of the road. The little lake didn’t look like anything I saw and was much smaller. At the end of the road was Torch Lake.