A true coming-of-age story of the 1960s: two mid-teenage boys undertake an eight-hundred-mile bicycle travel adventure through northern Michigan wilderness. They visit all three of the upper Great Lakes. They encounter, now vanished, remnants of Michigan history and view firsthand the changing face of their home state. When they return home they have learned powerful lessons about friendship, self-reliance, and the world they live in.

Tom Leonard is a lifelong resident of the upper Great Lakes basin. After graduating from Michigan State University, he became a social worker specializing in services to the mentally ill. Changing careers in midlife, he emerged as one of Michigan's leading advocates for environmental causes. He lobbied for public policy improvements in air, land, and water use. He defended wildlife habitat and was an early proponent of climate protections and sustainable business practices. Now he is a memoirist and writer of fiction. His work examines the American mythos. Legally blind, he writes with the help of assistive technology. He lives with his wife Susan and their two cats, Ursula and Theodore.