Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine | JUL ’19 73W
ith a web of old logging and mining roads and plenty
of ORV routes, one can drive across the UP, east to
west, entirely on dirt roads. Now this may seem like an
ambitious task, because it is. Perhaps thankfully, these roads don’t
fit our modern standards of convenience, cruise control, vacation
time and ETAs. So driving east to west across the UP on dirt roads
is definitely possible, I just didn’t ask for enough time off work.
Although failure was imminent, we embraced it. Laura (my wife),
Layla (our dog) and I rolled onto the ferry to Drummond Island
as it bobbed in the cobalt water of Lake Huron. The easternmost
landmark in the UP, the island was an obvious starting point. The
Porcupine Mountains would be our journey’s end in the west.
Pedro, a 2005 Chevy Suburban with a memory foam mattress,
was full of the creature comforts of home—our bed had four
pillows and a down comforter, Thai curry and venison backstrap
were on the menu and the heaviest thing I carried was the case
of beer across the grocery store’s parking lot. Heck, even our dog
had her own bed.
This type of trip does demand an appetite for exploration and a
keen sense of navigation, though. Yes, you can stay at campgrounds,
but campsites fill up (and I never have the foresight to make reserva-
tions). We camped on public land, those giant swaths that make
up almost one-third of the UP. These lands, those (usually green)
areas on maps, belong to all of us. Public lands are the foundation
of our conservation system and the reasons (among many others)
why we can still see wildlife, hunt, float rivers, get lost and explore
this beautiful nation. We are public landowners. What kind of
landowner doesn’t take the time to enjoy their own land?
DIGITAL MAPS ARE GREAT, BUT NOTHING WILL EVER REPLACE THE
SATISFACTION OF DRAWING A ROUTE ON A MAP. // NOT ALL ORV
ROUTES CAN HANDLE 4X4 TRUCKS, MAKE SURE TO SELECT THE
RIGHT ROUTE BY PICKING UP A MAP FROM THE DNR.