Mackinaw City, MI to Charlevoix, MI; 72 miles, rain in AM then clearing, 5-10 mph S, and 60-70’s
Today we started down the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan. There are large bays to circumnavigate so at times we were losing ground by going west. I had an early morning surprise encounter with a bear cub on a bike trail probably no further than half a mile from Mackinaw City. He/she popped out of the woods probably only 30 feet in front of me and took off like a shot after seeing me. I immediately stopped and listened and watched to see if mom was around. No sound so I continued glad for the experience. The route followed rolling back roads, a welcome change from the busy highways of the last two days. One road is called the Tunnel of Trees Road. It is rather narrow and as the name implies goes through the forest near the lake. That’s when it started to rain. It had to happen sometime. There were many expensive second homes every now and then back in the trees on the lake. These bays are a big summer resort area. We had lunch/breakfast in the town of Harbor Springs that was over flowing with visitors in stark contrast to the beginning of the day. The remaining 30 miles of the ride was much more congested but followed a good paved bike trail with short stretches on side roads along the lake shore to Charlevoix. The bike path keeps bikes off of busy US 31.
