After a brief drizzle and the hill on the way to US 2, we headed for Gulliver, where we made a Gatorade stop and chatted briefly with a fiber optic cable crew before turning westward once more toward Manistique, the first “real” town since leaving St. Ignace. Outside Manistique, we stopped at the local airport to check the weather radar, as thunderstorms had been predicted. We also spotted a cow sculpture and scarecrow in a field–local folk art.

We also saw two bike tourists headed east as we came into town. We lunched on hot pasties (the first one we bought at St. Ignace and ate at Epoufette had been frozen and thawed in our panniers) at the huge Jack’s supermarket. We came out to a steady drizzle, which abated somewhat as we turned north on Michigan 94 and then west on county road 442, following the Adventure Cycling map. Leaving town, we saw another bike tourist headed east. The county road climbed gradually eight miles to a corner gas station/fishing supply store, where we replenished our Gatorade and water supply before tackling the ever steeper hills ahead.

Finally, we reached the summit just north of Cooks, and zoomed through the tiny town, unfortunately breaking a spoke as we cross the railroad tracks. Only a few miles from our destination, we continued on, after bending the loose end out of the way. A stop at a roadside rest let the rain catch up with us, but we also got reassurance from the attendent that we were near our destination, the Big Bay Getaway Motel, the only and last motel for 25 miles. No restaurants, either. We dined on leftover fruit and muffins from breakfast, an apple we had picked up in Naubinway the day before, and the last of the cheese sticks we had carried in our panniers since our stay at Shanty Creek more than a week ago. For breakfast, we reserved a couple of bagels we bought at Jack’s in Manistique, to eat with peanut butter or Nutella we had also carried for the last week and have used for emergency breakfast from time to time.

The next day will be short, as we need to wait for the rain to pass and replace the broken spoke, which involves removing the rear wheel, tire, and tube. There is no telephone service for either of our phones here, and Internet access is only available, when it works at all, at the office at the small mom & pop motel on the beach, where they supplement income from the few travelers who stop with day care. Phones and Internet went out shortly after we arrived.

On Friday, we arose early and shared a bagel and yogurt we had carried with us, then pressed on up the rail trail toward Mackinaw City. The surface was mostly firm, with only a few unpacked fill areas. Still, it took two hours to cover the 15 miles. In the city, the trail was paved, and we surged ahead. At the trailhead, we discovered the reason all the hotels had been booked: tractors.

1000 tractors, assembled for a parade through town and across the 5-mile Mackinac Bridge. Apparently, this is a long-standing annual affair run by tractor collectors from all over the midwest.

We asked directions to get around the tractor parade, and headed for the ferry terminal, which required us to slip between tractors (with the aid of a traffic policeman). After paying passenger fares, plus per-seat bike fare, and and extra fare for the trailer, we boarded the ferry and headed for a unique place in America, Mackinac Island. (Which locals quickly informed us was pronounced Mack-in-Awe, like the city is spelled.)

Mackinac Island is carless. There are none. The island is full of bicycles and horse-drawn wagons and carriages. Teams of horses haul luggage carts from the ferries to the hotels. Porters carry huge stacks of suitcases in handlebar baskets to inns and B&Bs. Stacks of bricks, bags of cement, and tons of horse feed go by on horse carts.

Not having time to ride around the island on the shore drive, we at least rode far enough to see the famous arch rock.

Although the hills to the top of the bluffs were too steep for our touring rig, we did find the road to the Grand Hotel was less steep, and made a trip up to the famous site before getting on the ferry to St. Ignace.
After a mere three hours on the island, we only bought a coffee from Starbucks, having the last of our bagels for lunch. Once on the U.P. at St. Ignace, we rode several miles uphill to our hotel, which was next to a all-day breakfast diner and across from a pasty shop (short ‘a’) and convenience grocery, where we outfitted ourselves with a supply of bananas and sports drink for the next day’s journey west toward Wisconsin.

At the end of the day, we climbed to a viewpoint on the roof of a curiosity shop next to the motel to see the famous Mackinac Bridge, closed to bicycles and motorcycles because of the grated deck and high winds.

After leaving Dorothy and John’s house, we pushed up over steep hills and dirt roads (a shortcut) to get to the rail trail along Mullet Lake. The trail, though flat, continued to be loose material that impeded progress. Even though the nearby highway had a shoulder, we elected to continue on the trail because the view of the lake was so much better.

When the trail crossed the highway near Cheboygan, we followed the highway into town to a shipping station, where we boxed up all our camping gear–34 pounds worth–and shipped it to our son’s house in Washington. The bike and trailer immediately became more responsive. We stopped for lunch/dinner at a home-cooking restaurant down the road. However, it was now late in the day: we had received a recommendation for lodging from the shippers and rejoined the trail a mile or so later, turning off to stay at LeDuc’s Creekside Motel, a family-owned business on the edge of town, for a short day, but with a lot of promise for continuing our trip. We also found there are plenty of small motels along our route, so we wouldn’t be forced to camp to complete our planned route through the U.P.

When we called for reservations in Mackinaw City, we found the entire city booked, with only a few rooms left in St. Ignace. So, we planned to tour Mackinac Island on Friday, which meant an early start and hard ride to get to the island in mid-day for a short tour before continuing on to St. Ignace. However, it also meant that we would make up time from our unscheduled stop in Cheboygan.