8/13 - michigan

it's been a special day, i've been through walhalla and nirvana.  and now i'm sitting in a bakery eating oatmeal cookies and drinking hot tea.  heaven.

on the other hand, michigan is pretty shaggy.  a long hair dog that really needs to be combed and have it's hair cut and nails  trimmed.  i'm not sure why, but central michigan has no agriculture.  well, a little.  mostly second growth forests, a mix of pine and hardwood.  fifty miles inland there starts to be some farms, but they're scattered and relatively small.  i'm guessing that it has something to do with the soil.  it's pretty sandy.  i did pass an elk ranch(?) and got to see my first elk, albeit in captivity.

michigan roads are a bit strange.  they don't pave alot of them.  but i managed to ride about 8 miles of dirt road through back country and national forest.  i have learned that google maps doesn't always have the same opinion i do as what makes a good bike route.

after 50 miles, i reached the pere marquette bike trail.  it goes from reed city to midland, approx. 70 miles.  and it's flat.  and it's paved.  and it's not terribly interesting, but that's okay.  there were small town general stores, bogs, tunnels, converted train depots, and other occassional sights.  in reed city, i did stumble upon a local bakery.  that's where i was having the above cookies and tea.  the weather was windy and cloudy.  despite the forecast of no rain, the clouds were dark.  the wind was out of the north and pretty strong.  it's cooling things down, and the clouds hiding the sun were not helping.

after doing about 90 miles and getting outside the town of clare, i decided to find a place for the night.  i found the perfect camping spot.  a  small grove of pines, planted in regular rows, right next to a trail head.  the trail head has a bathroom, bench, and picnic table.  so i can cook some ramen noodles, clean up, and then, just before dark, slip into the pines.  good seclusion, wonderful soft pine needle bed, and no mosquitos.