Familiar Territory

Another day of cloud surfing looked in the offing, with a similar forecast along the coast as the day before. Scattered cloud ceilings somewhere between 3,500 and 5,500 feet, with a broken layer from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. The only difference was that scattered rain was in the area, but with good visibilities across the board. Looking up as I worked the pre-flight on the airplane, the sky had lots of blue and sunshine, so a go for Thunder Bay was the decision. 

Saint Ignace Island

After take-off into that blue sky, the clouds quickly thickened, and rain could be seen on the horizon. Fortunately, the visibility was forever, and the rain transparent. This little video gives a picture of what we circumnavigated all the way to Thunder Bay. 

 Circumnavigating

For safety, I hugged the coast where the main highway was, with stretches of road that would make a fine landing zone. There were even a couple of airports not on the chart to my surprise. Evidently corporate fields to serve what I presumed were a paper mill in one instance, and some sort of quarry in another. 

Rain Clouds in the Distance

As we crossed the Sleeping Giant, the territory became very familiar. From Nipigon all the way down, I could pick out islands and bays we had sailed in the past. The last 10 miles into Thunder Bay required quite a bit of jinking around showers and lower clouds, so after arriving in T-Bay we hunkered down in the FBO flight room to see how the weather developed before moving on.

Cloud Bay and Isle Royale - familiar sights

While there, I thought I'd call U.S. immigration in Grand Marias to set up an inspection. No one answered the phone. Any of the phones (supervisor, agent in charge, random extensions). The only other option was another night in Canada. After calling several different offices in Duluth, Central Communications in Grand Forks, and finally the Grand Portage station, I finally found someone who could scare up an officer to meet me at the airport on a Sunday. Apparently those arrangements should be made during the work week if arriving on the weekend. Makes sense, but I had just not thought of it. After landing in Grand Marias, a very kind officer met me and walked a strange hand held machine around the entire airplane, scanning all parts of it from the outside. "Must have a banana in there, huh?" he said with a smile. Indeed I did, one I had forgotten about from days before. How could.... huh? "Oh, yeah, this thing can pick just about anything from a distance. Especially potassium." Technology!
After clearing customs it was on to Duluth, with an uneventful, sightful flight along the north shore. At Sky Harbor I was met by my very tolerant wife who took me out to dinner for my first whiskey since leaving South Saint Paul airport. A successful conclusion to a very successful air voyage around our Great Lakes. Mission accomplished.

Duluth Sky Harbor (KDYT)