I've driven the length of Lake Superior along the Trans-Canada Highway. That stretch of road between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay is one of the loneliest I've ever driven.
"On Madeline Island, the season of ice means freedom—freedom from ferry boat schedules and rough seas, and the cost of transportation over to and back from the mainland. Islanders come alive in the winter, for this is the time of the year when they are most free. Only a freedom lover lives on an island to begin with. So, for a short but invigorating period of around two to ten weeks, there is an ice road between Bayfield and the island. It is maintained just like a county highway, which it is, technically. It is plowed clear of snow, making a nifty embankment on either side of the road for the driver to follow. Leftover Christmas trees are planted along this ridge to mark the road. This is especially useful in a storm when the road and sky are white but the Christmas trees are green. It is reassuring to see a tree emerge from a white-out when one is driving blind across a 2.5-mile expanse of frozen Lake Superior."