Trip Report on Mount Arvon, 1929'

Highpoint of Michigan

July 27th, 2007

Steve Bremner

We flew into K.I. Sawyer “International” Airport, a former Air Force base late Thursday. The goals of this long weekend trip were to 1) climb my 44th state high point in Michigan, and 2) run my 45th marathon state in a trail run on Grand Island. Despite a 3-hour + layover in Milwaukee, Midwest Airlines had managed to lose my bag with all my running gear in it. We spent that night in a Holiday Inn in Marquette, Michigan, the largest city on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Friday, after spending about $150 in Marquette on running gear in case my luggage didn’t show, we were off to L’Anse and a round about route to the state’s highpoint.

Michigan’s high point is remote and hard to find. We had tried in May 2006, only to be thwarted by a freak snow storm after a week of floods had combined to wash out a key road. Now in high summer, though there had been little rain, it still was not easy finding the high point.

From the intersection of US Hwy 41 and Broad Street immediately south of the quaint harbor town of L'Anse on Lake Superior, we proceeded north into town on Broad Street for 0.7 miles before turning right (e) on Main Street, which became Skanee Road. 13.7 miles after L’Anse, following the south shore of Lake Superior, we turned right onto Sawmill Road. Another set of directions I had found on the Internet called for proceeding a further 2.5 miles along Skanee Road before turning right on Roland Lake Road. Either way gets you there, but Sawmill Road is the shorter way. Indeed, after 2.5 miles Sawmill Road runs in to Roland Creek Road, which becomes Ravine River Road. We followed Ravine River Road more or less nearly all the way to the high point. That is until the road branched near a pond. The branch going up obviously being the one leading to the high point was too steep and rough for the Ford Taurus rental so we parked it there.

Rebekka chose not to go up with me. She didn’t like the sounds of logging coming from up the road. I proceeded intrepidly, not wanting to run into someone who would tell me I couldn’t go any further. I hadn’t come this far only to turn around short of bagging the high point. About halfway there was logging activity down and below the road, but I could only hear it, not see it. Hearing the sound of a vehicle coming down the road I hid behind a tree. Shortly afterwards eight teenagers came screaming down the road on two ATVs. It took about twenty minutes to reach a set of broken down benches and a yellow summit register box that marked Michigan’s highest point, Mount Arvon, 1929’. Still in the woods there were no views to be had. I took the obligatory pictures and headed back down to the car.

Retracing our path we came to a branch in the road with two signs; one said L’Anse indicating the way we had come, the other said Big Bay, which would take us closer to Marquette and the way back to Munising, our destination for that night. “Let’s try it.” I said “We can always turn around if it doesn’t work out.” Famous last words.

Most of the branches had a sign for Big Bay, so we proceeded – keeping an eye on the odometer. After some seven miles the road became rougher and very much “4W drive only” grade. At one point Rebekka chose to get out and walk for a stretch. I wasn’t driving very fast. I avoided bottoming out the rental though I came close. At ten miles on the odometer I told Rebekka that I expected to pop out on a paved road near Big Bay at any moment. At around 15 miles we saw the last sign for Big Bay. Finally at 30 miles on the odometer we came out on a paved road. I turned right towards what I thought would be Big Bay. The road came to a T and I turned right again. After a mile or so it turned to dirt. I flagged a passing motorist and asked him how to get to Big Bay. His response? “I tried once to get to Big Bay on the back roads but never found the way.” “Where are we then?” “If you turn around you are about 20 miles from L’Anse” In other words we had come out just a few miles down the road from where we had first entered the woods at Sawmill Road. We backtracked to L’Anse and the “long way” back towards Munising. One bright spot was getting in contact with Midwest Airlines where I learned that my bag had arrived. We stopped at the airport to retrieve it on the way to Munising, where we arrived in time to pick up my race packet for the next day’s Grand Island Trail Marathon.

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