DAY ONE: PART 2
I wandered off the trail to find the Star Lake Lookout Tower. I nav'd to the way point but couldn't find it. I circled around a little and finally found it... or what was left of it.
I underestimated how much light you lose in the woods. This was about 40 minutes before sunset:
I wish I would have taken a picture of the group of riders that I met along the way. It was three generations of trail riders. They were super friendly and the patriarch of the group gave me his cell phone number and told me not to hesitate to call him if I ran into any trouble. He checked in on me periodically over the week.
I finally decided to stop and figure out where I was going to eat and sleep. I probably should've thought of that a little earlier:
I dropped some way points at a road crossing a ways up the trail so that was where I'd hop off for the night. I rode the last section of trail nearly in the dark:
I stopped at one motel but they said they only had cabins left and wanted more than I was willing to spend. I went to the restaurant across the street and ate like a king. I forgot to take a picture so here's one from maps:
Next stop was to check the Lazy Days Motel and if that didn't work there was a campground past that where I'd stay. This motel only had cabins available but for half the price of the last place; SOLD! I checked in with my wife and let her know I was in for the night.
I liked the door lock!
Here's my tracks from that day. The Cyan line is the trail and the Red line is my ride into Branch Township for the night.
And here's my overall progress. I knocked out 53.6 trail miles and covered 71.9 total miles.
Overall I was feeling pretty good. It turned out that my cabin neighbor is a trail rider so we talked for quite a while before I turned in. I set my alarm and then reviewed my tracks for the next day until I fell asleep. I didn't get much reviewing done before I was sleeping.
I wandered off the trail to find the Star Lake Lookout Tower. I nav'd to the way point but couldn't find it. I circled around a little and finally found it... or what was left of it.
I underestimated how much light you lose in the woods. This was about 40 minutes before sunset:
I wish I would have taken a picture of the group of riders that I met along the way. It was three generations of trail riders. They were super friendly and the patriarch of the group gave me his cell phone number and told me not to hesitate to call him if I ran into any trouble. He checked in on me periodically over the week.
I finally decided to stop and figure out where I was going to eat and sleep. I probably should've thought of that a little earlier:
I dropped some way points at a road crossing a ways up the trail so that was where I'd hop off for the night. I rode the last section of trail nearly in the dark:
I stopped at one motel but they said they only had cabins left and wanted more than I was willing to spend. I went to the restaurant across the street and ate like a king. I forgot to take a picture so here's one from maps:
Next stop was to check the Lazy Days Motel and if that didn't work there was a campground past that where I'd stay. This motel only had cabins available but for half the price of the last place; SOLD! I checked in with my wife and let her know I was in for the night.
I liked the door lock!
Here's my tracks from that day. The Cyan line is the trail and the Red line is my ride into Branch Township for the night.
And here's my overall progress. I knocked out 53.6 trail miles and covered 71.9 total miles.
Overall I was feeling pretty good. It turned out that my cabin neighbor is a trail rider so we talked for quite a while before I turned in. I set my alarm and then reviewed my tracks for the next day until I fell asleep. I didn't get much reviewing done before I was sleeping.