We stopped at a restaurant called Fish Tales because we were in dire need of a bathroom and wanted to ask for directions too. We ended up staying for lunch and we shared two platters of food. One plate held country fried chicken, eggs, toast, and hash browns and the other boasted delicious eggs benedict. Our waitress seemed uninformed and slightly confused but she was nice. Before we left we got talking to who we think was the owner, a rugged and talkative woman who spouted explitives left and right. She helped us plan our day, recommending visits to Agate Falls, Bond Falls, and the mysterious Paulding Light. The Paulding Light is an unexplained phenomenon accompanied by an eerie legend. She recounted her experiences with the light, and told us she had visited the location many times and never failed to see it. She described the light as a green light that sways back and forth as if it were a lantern being carried down a hill. She said it would begin to blink red and would be overtaken by an extremely bright white light, supposedly the light of the train that had crushed the legendary railway brakeman to whom the lantern belonged. After we were given directions to the location of this oddity (Follow M45 South from Paulding until you see a brown sign advertising Robbin Pond Campgrounds, but instead of taking Robbin Pond Road, follow the dead end road on the opposite side of the Hwy), we departed from Fish Tales and headed towards Agate Falls.
We stopped at another gas station and checked a map and talked to the attendant lady, who told us we wouldn't be able to access the falls because everything closes down on September first and we'd need to be towed out if we tried to go there. So, we went to Agate Falls. The visitor center was closed, but we just parked along M28 and walked through the woods a short ways to a wooden footpath/overlook of the falls. It was a scenic area, but the next spot was much more magnificent. After taking a few pictures we drove to Paulding, to see Bond Falls. The road was plowed, and even the trails were accesible and used enough that it was no problem. When we parked there a small snowy hill and the lighting played an optical illusion, making it look like there was a vast depressed plain and large icy cliffs off on the horizon. We followed the path along the river and took pictures of small but beautiful falls before descending beside the Bond Falls, which were breathtaking. We took many photos of that beautiful scene before continuing south to check out the area of the Paulding Light. It was still light so we kept truckin' to a gas station for another pee break, and as there was a casino next door we decided to go. We played video poker first but lost 3 bucks. Then with our remaining 5 bucks cash we found and played Bonus Frenzy! We won big on that machine, and left with a 3 dollar profit on the adventure. Plus we got free tea and honey packets along with the entertainment that only high stakes gambling can provide. It wasn't quite dark when we left the casino so we went south in search of Ovaltine and milk, and we ended up in Land O'Lakes, WI. There we found Ovaltine, and milk, but for whatever reason they don't carry Land O'Lakes products so we got Jilbert milk. It was dark and we were headed to see a ghostly light, so we bought a flashlight. Josh was trembling at this point, and Joy was maybe a little nervous. Flashlight in tow, we headed to the Paulding Light Site.
We parked on Robbin Pond Road and fear set in as we turned the car off and realized just how dark it was without the headlights. We crossed the highway and trudged through a foot of snow down the dead end road for a while, feeling pretty scared. We kept watching ahead, not sure if we believed in the whole thing but sort of expecting to see the Paulding Light ahead of us at any moment. We kept walking and wondered if we had gone too far, since the lady at Fish Tales mentioned a guard rail and we hadn't seen one. We remember shining the flashlight up the small hill and couldn't see much. Then the next thing we knew we were facing the other way, back towards the car, watching the light. It was definately real, and appeared to us as a small very bright green light which seemed to swing slightly to side to side like a pendulum. It seemed to come closer to us as we watched in horror, mouths open and eyes wide in awe. What really freaked us out was that we were expecting to see it on the hill in front of us, not behind us...trapping us. One explanation on the internet is that it is distant car headlights, but it was green, and it was casting light on the snow not that far away from us. It was also too bright to be distant headlights, and the fact that so many people see it and that it is reliable doesn't jive. After a time (30 sec to 2 minutes?) or so the light went away. We stood there in the snow, freaked out and amazed that it was real, and as we began to walk towards the car 3 vehicles came down Robbin Pond Road towards us. Their behavior was unusual and it really scared us. Two of the vehicles pulled up to the stop sign, but side by side using both lanes, as if barricading us from the car. Then eventually they turned the same way, but the third vehicle seemed to stop by our car for a while, but it eventually left too. So then we booked it back to Carlos and were very happy to find that it started, and we got the hell out of there ASAP.
From there we headed to Ontanogon, hardly believing what we saw but knowing we didn't somehow make it up because our stories matched perfectly. We found it really weird that both of us do not remember first seeing the light - one moment we were looking forward and the next thing we remember we were turned 180 degrees around watching the light advance. It was the spookiest thing we've ever seen. Upon reaching Ontanogon we stopped at a Holiday for directions to Scott's Inn, which were unclear but we eventually found the place and checked in. We went back into town for dinner and stopped at the Harbor Cafe. We could tell our waitress didn't want to be there and she wasn't too accomodating but the food was delicious. We had an order of garlic cheese bread and had a mushroom and cheese pizza that was excellent. We also got a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie to go for breakfast. We went back to Scott's Inn and drank some wine, played double solitaire and speed, took pictures with stuffed bears, and Joy lit a pleasant fire in the fire place of the fire-placed lobby. Then we gave each other massages and cuddled up and slept.
Then we drove back to Robbin Pond Road and retraced our steps at the Paulding Light location. We also drove down that road, to the end where we ended up on private property. There was a man and an older lady standing in the doorway when we pulled up, eerily, as if they'd been waiting for us. We took off in a hurry. We stopped in Bruce Crossings at the Co-op and used the restrooms. Unfortunately they did not have black licorice, which we were both craving. From there we took M28 to Berglund and jumped on M64, which took us north to Silver City. We pulled into the entrance to the porcupine mountains, and the visitor center was closed so we went around a 'road closed' sign and drove up a snowmobile trail. We parked at the top of a hill and jumped on a foot trail there, where we set out on a very grueling walk. We found some cross-country skiing trails which were groomed and decided to follow the trail network to a place called West Vista. It was about 2 hours later, after trudging through snow, uphill most of the way, that we finally arrived at West Vista in time for the sunset. There was also a yurt we checked out. We found no yogurt... We knew we were going to be stranded in the dark, so decided wisely to walk down the downhill ski slopes to the chalet and take the highway and road/snowmobile trail back to Carlos. The ski resort had closed surprisingly early and so we didn't see a soul on the long walk back except a man plowing the road. We reached a road at the entrance to the ski resort and hung a right. We sang the entire song "99 Bottles of Beer" as it got dark and we walked down the center of the road. There was no traffic. The road ran right along Lake Superior, and it was serene to hear the waves crashing upon the shore. We ran into a road running perpendicular to the one we were on, and figured it must be the snowmobile trail where the car was located. We finally ran into something familiar- the road block- and knew we were going the right way. The walk back to the car seemed to take forever because we were both exhausted. Not to mention we had parked in an illegal area, so the possibility was there that the car had been towed. We were so exhausted from walking through snow all day that if the car had been gone we might have croaked in despair. We just stared straight ahead and walked, for at least a mile but what seemed to be so much further as to make us begin to wonder if we were on the right trail. It was pretty scary, being totally alone and vulnerable in the dark woods, with no light and no cell phones. It was such a relief to find the car and get out of there. We drove back up to Ontanogon and ate at Syl's. They were just closing up but let us eat anyway, and we changed clothes in their restrooms and then each ate a tasty pastie. From there we had to drive home, for Joy had to be back to work the next day. We fueled up at the Holiday in Ontanogon and drove back to M28 from M45, and took that to 2 and back home. We almost hit a pair of deer at one point, but everything turned out fine. We drove back to Duluth, stopping once, and sang along to the radio. It was a really fun and intense trip, and we are happy that we got to experience it all together :D