17 WINTER 2020 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 01

SNOWGOER . COM 18

Peninsula – gave us an honest but still positive report . Yes , the ground was white , he said , and the groomers were running , but conditions weren ’ t great , and powder riding was out of the question .

“ Your only problem may be finding lodging ,” he said . That ’ s because Arctic Cat and Yamaha both had crews in the area doing late-season calibration work and rented most of his cabins , and a visiting snowmobile club had taken over every room at the renewed Parkview Lodge across the street . Shortly thereafter , he called us back with a solution : Krupp ’ s had one cabin available for the night of our arrival , and the Parkview had one room become available for the next night . If we didn ’ t mind moving once and having three guys in a room with two beds , we were set .

Merely three hours after receiving that call , the sleds were loaded and me and riding buddies Steve and Dave were leaving for the Keweenaw ; we ’ d have six hours in the truck to figure out the sleeping arrangements ! We didn ’ t see snow – not even in low spots in the ditches – for the first five hours of that drive . But as we logged some of the last twists and turns up Highway 26 , the reflection in the headlight became whiter and our attitudes became brighter , thanks to a season of lake-effect snows . We pulled into the Krupp ’ s Resort lot at 2 a . m .

Morning came quickly , but there would be no lollygagging ; we were on a riding mission .

After topping off the fuel tanks at the famous-for-its-pasties Krupp ’ s Mini Mart – previously operated by the same Krupp family that ran the resort but now under different ownership – we hung a right on Trail 3 and started our adventure toward the northern-most tip of Michigan ( not including islands ). At the first trail stop , Steve asked , “ What ’ s a pasty ?” I told him he ’ d just have to experience the U . P . delicacy , because words don ’ t do them justice .

Trail 3 is … efficient . It ’ s a rail trail that gets you where you ’ re going in a hurry , which is another way of saying it is long , straight and , frankly , can be rather boring in stretches . Luckily , it passes through some fascinating areas that add to the entertainment value .

The trail starts with a run through the cool little towns of Toivola and South Range before leading to the U . P .’ s twin cities of Houghton and Hancock . The trail hangs a hard right when it approaches Portage Lake , taking riders along a bluff and then down to the shoreline into the edge of Houghton , where a massive blue bridge first comes into sight .

The unique Portage Lake Lift Bridge dates back to 1959 and features two levels – the upper level for automotive traffic and the lower level originally for rail traffic . After the rail line was discontinued in 1982 , the lower level is now used almost