Hills and Mushrooms

We awoke the next morning ready to tackle the lower peninsula of MIchigan. However, the first thing we noticed was Kelley’s rear tire was flat. How did that happen? Ugh. At least we could change it in the room, rather than on the side of the road. We got it changed, ate a quick granola breakfast in the room and set out.

There were a few sights we wanted to see in Mackinaw City before getting going. However, Bruce’s bike was acting weird. We stopped at a park to check it out, and lo and behold, one pannier came unhooked on one side. An easy fix and we were on our way. We checked out Fort Michilimackinac State Park, then headed out. We were going to go to the McGulpin Lighthouse, but it was a mile in the opposite direction. We decided against it.

The morning was chilly and windy. Soon it started to rain. We hurriedly got our rain gear on and covered our bags. We stopped at a market to get a coke and a break from the rain. We enjoyed the conversation of a few locals before heading on.

Soon we entered Wilderness State Park, with it’s miles of beach. And Hills. Kelley was really struggling. For some reason her gears were not working well, and she couldn’t get into low gear to help with the hills. Even on the downhills it felt like she was being held back. Wilderness State Park was dense old growth forest.

We came to the quaint town of Cross Village. We stopped at a park with a lovely overlook, and the namesake cross. After lunch, we pedaled a few feet and saw the Legs Inn. This was an inn built in the 1920’s by a Polish immigrant with the help of some Odawa. They used local materials and carved fantastic creatures out of wood. The inn got it’s name because the roof is lined with stove legs. As we were leaving we encountered a woman cycling the Northern Tier. She was glad to let us know she started in Bend, Oregon.

As soon as we left the inn we entered the Tunnel of Trees, a seven mile road that is literally like cycling through a tunnel of trees. It was beyond beautiful! At first it was steeply hilly, much to Kelley’s chagrin, but it got somewhat better. The views made the hills tolerable for sure! At the top of a hill we stopped and Bruce took a look at Kelley’s bike. It seems that when we changed the flat, the tire did not get seated properly, so the gears weren’t engaging right, and worst of all, the brake was rubbing all day. No wonder the hills were so hard! We re-seated it and immediately the ride got easier.

After the Tunnel we entered Harbor Springs, which is the deepest natural harbor on all the Great Lakes. It was a beautiful town. We had wanted to stay there, but couldn’t find lodging, so on to Petoskey. Our lodging was on the far outskirts of town, so when we got there we had to walk 1.5 miles back to the nearest restaurant. It was worth it~ Delicious!

The next day we had miles and miles on a bike path- Yay! As we’re traveling along, each intersection has a curb that was not smooth, so a bumpy ride. About 6 miles in Kelley realized her jacket was missing. To go back or not? We decided to go back for a bit. We went back about 3 miles and there it was! Someone had put it on a post so it would be visible. Thanks to whoever did that! But that added 6 miles to our day.

Off again we pedaled to Charlevoix, a charming town known in part for it’s mushroom houses. They are unique homes built to fit the site. They have unique shapes and fun cedar shake roofs. Louisvillians might know of the house on Trevillian Way that has the unique roof. These are more extreme versions. The roofs extend almost to the ground. A bonus of our side trip to look at these houses was the spectacular view of Lake Michigan through dense groves of hemlocks and spruces.

As we left Charlevoix, we found ourselves in the countryside, with no views of the lake. We did, however, have relentless hills. We found that if we hammered the hills going down, in high gear, we could get a good way up the next hill before having to crank to the top. There must have been at least 10 of these hills on this road!

When we finally finished with those hills, we were riding alongside Torch Lake. The lake was clear blue and beautiful. We rode alongside it for several miles.

On to Elk Rapids! Once again our lodging was south of the town, so we stopped before to have dinner. We ate on a deck overlooking Elk Lake. Well fortified, we cycled on to our lodging.

Saturday Cycling: 53 miles

Hiking: 5 miles

Sunday Cycling: 67 miles

Hiking: 2 miles