Day Twenty-Five - Midland to Mackinac

 
The joke's on me, once again, but it's OK. After giving Nancy the whole spiel about how terrible the roads were to get to the spot we needed to hike to today, here's what happened. Because Nancy was coming from the west, I went over that way to meet her and we drove in from that side. Sue and I had accessed the spot from the east, because we were east of there. It was the way Google sent us, and I had no local knowledge that told me otherwise.

Ha! From the west, the entire way except for the last two miles was paved.

With a little digital magic, I bring you Nancy and me, at the junction where the M2M joins the High Country Pathway for a couple of miles.



After rain and snow while I was loading the car, the day proved to be wonderful. A bit chilly, but we were dressed for it, so that wasn't a problem at all.

Don't know if they knew I was coming but someone had just touched up the blazes along the High Country Pathway. Like- this week. See the paint on the ferns?



Except for about 3 miles we were on back roads for the rest of the walk. Still, this can be a beautiful experience. I really like the shape of the white pine to the left of the road.

Purple leaves! They really were this color. No digital magic.



And although it remained overcast, the sky was bright enough to set the leaves glowing.



The drive home was amazing. The trees are about at peak color north of Kalkaska. I had to stop and take some pictures along the way, but this is my favorite.



Nancy and I did about 7 miles. Perfect length for her, she said. And it was fun to have company for the day. No losing the trail, which did not break my heart.

I thought the remaining miles were all on roads of some description, so I attempted to drive through and check it out. They are indeed on roads, and the puddles that stopped Sue and me are drained or dried. Sort of "killed" me to come home with only 9 miles to go, but as of now, I'm planning to go back this next week and finish.

Home again. Had my first ice cream in nearly a month. Got one piece of mail in that whole time which is worth reading. Living room is trashed. I need to be out the door with my author brain on at 7 am tomorrow. Wow! That is a fast switch from hiker brain.

Miles hiked today: 7- which is the same number that count. I like that equation! Total trail miles hiked: 206.5. This means that my guesstimate for my hiking days has been pretty darn accurate. The total will come in at 215.5, and the official guesstimate (no one has actually GPSed this trail) is 210. Good stuff.

	See Day Twenty-Four
if you like this blog, click the +1   or