Mackinac

      Day two in northern Michigan saw us head north from our place in Indian River to Mackinaw City, where we hopped onto the Mighty Mac ferry for a ride over to Mackinac Island to spend the day exploring. The island is known mainly for two things: fudge and the Grand Hotel. The island has no cars on it. Residents and visitors travel the island either by foot, bike or horse. Shannon brought her mountain bike and me my road bike so we could see the whole island. We rode a bit around Mackinaw City to the dock, then boarded the ferry for about 20 minutes of waves on Lake Huron to take us to the island. Mackinac Island sits right at the junction of Lakes Michigan and Huron, where the giant Mackinac Bridge connects the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the lower mitten across the Straits of Mackinac.

     The weather was not the best for our island adventure. It was very cloudy with rain showers in the morning. The temp hovered in the 50s and the wind was howling across the lake. We didn't let the rain keep us from enjoying the day though. The ferry dumped us off in the town portion of the island, near all the shops. There is a paved loop all the way around the island called Highway 185. Shannon and her mom wanted to visit the shops, so Amber and I headed out on the bikes first for a lap of the island. We rode clockwise, which gave us a big tailwind early on. The road was wet, but the rain was not more than a drizzle as we made our lap. Traffic was terrible. You had to really pay attention. There were loads of inexperienced bike riders everywhere. I saw everything from weaving and just plain poor riding, to lines of people spread across the entire road walking at you with their heads down looking at their phones. There were also "road apples" to dodge. If you haven't heard of road apples before they are those piles left behind by horses. The road was striped up just like a normal road, but people followed the rules of the road even less than they do when driving so it was a real mess at times. I would hate to see the amount of crazies on the road on a nice day.

Riding the loop around the island

Mackinac Bridge in the distance to our left

     There are several natural features on the island, which is what really got me excited for this part of the trip. The first thing we came to was a rock formation called "Devil's Kitchen." It wasn't the greatest thing and not at all like a kitchen, but interesting nonetheless. I've now swam in the Devil's bathtub and been into his kitchen.

Devil's Kitchen

Waves coming in off Lake Huron

     Amber had a little mishap halfway around the loop when we stopped for a rest break. As we climbed back on the bikes and started to roll, Amber's backpack started to slide off and she tried to reach for it and inadvertently grabbed her front bike. She got dumped over the bars into some gravels, but fortunately came out with only a few scrapes on her hand. We saw several other people get really lucky with near-crashes. It was wild out there.

     The next natural feature we came to was Arch Rock, which towers up on the hill next to the bike path. We checked it out from below then climbed the stairs up the hill to the lookout point at the top. There were so many bikes on the rack at the bottom of the stairs that we could barely find a spot for ours. There were 80-100 bikes sitting down there. We locked our bikes up while we hiked. I only saw two other bikes locked up all day. Most of the bikes on the island are rentals, but I did see a few other nice bikes, including one nice Colnago mountain bike.

Gull flying along the beach

This gull was a master of the air currents, sitting in place above this rock for long periods of time without any wing movement.

Arch Rock

Climbing to the top of Arch Rock

View from Arch Rock overlook

Tranquil Bluff Trail along the top of the hill by Arch Rock. I hiked a bit of it and it was gorgeous. Made me want my mountain bike!

     Amber and I finished our eight-mile loop with a massive headwind on the east side of the island that tested my strength after my stomach bug. Shannon was ready to go out for a ride when we returned to the village. She and I turned back on the loop to go counter-clockwise so she could see Arch Rock. We then decided to take a turn onto British Landing Road, which crossed the center of the island. We found a long climb to start the road with wildflowers all along the way and even a small swamp. Once we topped the climb, we found a trail over to two other natural features, Cave in the Woods and Crack-in-the-Island. The trail there was muddy, rocky and narrow. It was a challenge on my road bike, but super fun! We only saw two other people during our time on the side roads and trails. The center of the island was the place to be if you wanted to get away from the touristy bustle.

Historic church leaving town

Stopping for lunch on the beach with Shannon

We had a friend stop by at lunch

Wildflowers along British Landing Rd

British Landing Rd

Croghan Swamp

Cave in the Woods

Crack-in-the-Island is just what the name says, a big crack in the middle of the island. The crack ranges from six inches to seven feet deep and stretches about 50 feet in length.

Shannon in the crack

Gravel trail out of the woods near the island's airport. No cars, but they do have planes.

     We took a few more backroads to find some nice views, an old cemetery and the old Fort Mackinac, which was occupied off-and-on during the 18th and 19th centuries. The fort changed back and forth between British and American occupation during that time, being built during the Revolutionary War and also being part of two battles during the War of 1812.

Sugarloaf Rock

Fort Mackinac

Skull Cave. This is perhaps the most popular place in the park. It isn't much of a cave. Legend has it that natives to the area used it a a burial place at one time.

Another sweet forest road

Looking out on the lighthouses

     Amber and her mom went on a horse tour around the island and we met back up near the Grand Hotel. I was glad they took the tour as they would have otherwise missed the inside portion of the island, which to me was the best part. We saw lots of horse-drawn carriages along the way, including one used by UPS. That's right, even UPS was delivering packages by horse. The Grand Hotel was nice to look at, but that was about it. It's a fancy place, too fancy for us. There are signs everywhere to let you know about the dress code, expected behavior near the hotel and telling you not take take a bike near the building. Everyone oogled over it, but I have no interest in places like that. I just got a picture and then got out of there. Just looking at that place made my pinky want to raise up every time I took a drink from my water bottle. They serve food inside, but at $47 for lunch and $80 for dinner, there is no way you will ever see me eating in there.

Sign near the Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel

Coming back into town

     We hit up a few shops in town before getting back on the ferry to make our way back to the mainland. We rode back to the car and then drove across the big Mackinac Bridge over to the UP, where we visited Mackinac Bridge View Park and then hiked up to Castle Rock for a nice view.

Grand Hotel from the ferry

We got splashed a few times on the ferry. It was a double-decker and we sat up on top.

Mackinac Bridge from the ferry

My ride map for the day from my Garmin

Driving over Mackinac Bridge

The bridge from Mackinac Bridge View Park

Castle Rock, with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox at the bottom

We climbed up 100+ steep stairs to get to the top of Castle Rock. This was the view north across the forest.

Mackinac Island in the distance

     Mackinac Island was a fun adventure. The ferry ride over is a bit expensive, but it was worth it for one time. I doubt I'll ever go back, but I am very glad we went. If you get the chance to go, do it. Make sure to take you bike or rent one when you get there so you can ride around the island. And don't forget to see the middle of the island!

     I was very pleased to feel decent after about three hours of riding. It was all slow riding, but even that has been making me bonk after an hour or so. I'm still running mostly on oyster crackers and ginger ale, but the strength is coming back. We spent the evening back at our rental, watching the only DVD we found in the house which was "Kindergarten Cop." Who is your daddy and what does he do?

     The following day brought an end to our time in Michigan. It was a short trip, but a fun one. We rolled out of Indian River under more clouds and rain, making it back to Elkhart in the afternoon after another stop in South Haven at Sherman's so I could get some ice cream this time. I took the day off the bike to rest up as I still was feeling weak and only had two days now until the DINO race at Potato Creek State Park. More on that race in the next post.