Michigan Camino is done and dusted. 15.92 today. 36,000 steps.
Today the trail was packed with people. Cyclists. Walkers. Runners. Everyone was out enjoying the trail on this lovely Saturday morning. It’s nice to see the community using this resource.
Q: What did you think of this hike?
The monotony of this hike was tough. Six days of essentially the same views and the same flat route was tough mentally. That said, my main goal was to train for the Camino and I accomplished that. Over 100 miles in six days. France and Spain will be no problemo.
Q: Will be there be more Michigan Caminos?
I hope so, but I have to find a more varied route. I chose this one because I could make lodgings work-out, but there have to be other routes with adequate infrastructure for us “inn-to-inn” hikers. I welcome suggestions.
Saw two painters today.It was market day in Rockford. Rockford was may favorite town that I saw on my walk. Cute downtown. Nice park by the water. Lots of people out enjoying the day. (A couple of you suggested Dam Dogs for the best hot dogs around. I walked right by it, but it was closed. I’ll need to come back.)For you history lovers.The last mile marker.I finished in Comstock Park at the LMCU Ballpark. My feet hurt a lot more than I expected. I’m using a different model of shoe than I did for the last Camino, but I think I’ll go back to the old model. The old model wasn’t perfect, but my feet never got this tired and sore last year.While I was hiking, Shirley visited one of her friends on the west side of Michigan. Turns out she was in Sand Lake just a couple of days after I was. Here she is on the trail. She should have hiked with me!
Today was rough. 14.7 miles. 34,000 steps. Straight as an arrow. Flat as a pancake. It was really boring. The one saving grace, my host at the B&B drove me to the trail and helped cut off about 4 miles from the walk. I would have gone crazy if I had to walk 19 miles today.
Tomorrow is my last day. I’ll meet Shirley in Grand Rapids.
These two went by me like I was standing still. I had to remind myself… “a bad day for the ego, is a good day for the soul.”Finally, cows!!!This appeared when I still had about 5 miles to go. I felt like they were taunting me. Sand Lake, Michigan. Population 469. Almost all these small towns have a dollar store, but very few have a grocery store. That seems unfortunate.
The entire trail from Big Rapids to Stanwood was closed today. Argh.
Initially, I thought it was just one small section that was closed, so I took a parallel road to skip a mile. Then I realized it was a much longer closure, but I could see no signs of construction anywhere, so I just risked it and walked on the closed trail. Camino Bill lives on the edge. And it was a good decision, it proved to be the best day of walking so far. The entire trail was dirt. My sore feet were so happy.
I eventually did see some workers. They were doing some work to prep the trail for paving later this year. I’m glad I got to enjoy the trail now before it is paved. I’m sure the cyclists will be happy, but for me it had echos of Joni Mitchell… They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
I walked 18.63 miles today. 42,000 steps. Originally, my plan was to cut a few miles out of my hike by taking a Lyft/Uber. But even in the college town of Big Rapids, no rides were available. I had to do the whole distance, but it was a lot easier on a soft trail. A joy, actually.
Not sure why this needs to be paved.Or this.The region where I’m staying has many Amish farms. This gentleman (young man, really) rode by me a few miles before I reached my B&B. The Land of Jubilee B&B. I have a lovely room and the hosts are friendly and welcoming. I really like the B&B experience. Great way to travel.“Provision Center” must be for hikers to get their supplies, right? Umm. Not exactly. (For you non-Michiganders… pot is legal in Michigan. Shops have popped all over the state. Including this “provision center” in Big Rapids. I guess it’s one possible treatment for blisters.)
I walked 16.75 miles today. My watch says that was 39,000 steps.
It would have been shorter, but there were no food options near my lodging, so I had to walk 2.5 miles past where I was staying to grab a late lunch, and some supplies for dinner. After eating, I tried to get a Lyft back to the house, but it’s so rural here, there were no drivers available. So I hoofed it back.
Is there anyone on this trail with you?
I don’t see many people, but nearly all the people I see are on their bikes. Frankly, this route is better for bikers than walkers. So far it’s been 100% paved, which bikers love, and hikers dread (we like soft dirt trails). The walkers I see are just out for a few hours, no backpacks.
Are there any cows?
Stop it.
Started the day with a great breakfast at my B&B. My hosts were great. They had been missionaries in Central America for 20 years before buying this farm a few years ago. I learned after I left that they were classmates of my dear friend, Peg Tewksbury. Small world!Most of the morning was pleasant and went through forests and some nice fields.The afternoon sucked. Several miles of the route was near a large highway.My Air BnB is fantastic. Comfy furniture. Small kitchen. Nice bathroom. Fast internet. Great place to put your feet up and recover.In Europe, I didn’t listen to much while I walked, but this trail is pretty monotonous (and today had an unattractive stretch), so I’ve been listening to eBooks more. Yesterday, I finished “The Heros Way” by Tim Parks. It’s about an author who follows the 1848 escape route of Italian founding father Giuseppe Garibaldi and his army from Rome to Ravenna. I really enjoyed it, but hiking 500-miles to follow the path of a historical figure is the kind of stupid thing I would love to do. Today, I started “Walking with Sam” which is the story of Brat Pack member Andrew McCarthy’s walk with his son on the Camino de Santiago. It’s pretty good too, but again, I’m the target audience. I like hearing him talk about the places I visited (and will soon visit again). Perfect for me, but I can’t promise you’ll love it.
First things first. If you haven’t seen “The Way” yet, it is now streaming on Amazon. Watch it, and we can be friends again. It will cost you $6, but our friendship is worth it.
For fun, and for training, I tried to put together my own mini-Camino here in Michigan. There are plenty of great trails all over the state, but I don’t like to camp, so I needed to find something that is fairly long, but has lodging every 12-18 miles. That’s pretty tricky in rural Michigan.
I settled on the White Pine trail that runs north/south between Cadillac and Grand Rapids. The trail is about 100 miles long (160km), but with the extra walking to lodging and food, it may be over 120 miles (190km) before I’m done.
Today, I walked the first of six stages. I covered 20.5 miles (33km) and took over 45,000 steps. The walk was very flat, but even so, my feet are pretty tired.
Bill, I signed up to this blog to hear about great hikes in exotic locales. Are you really going to make me read about walking to Grand Rapids?
Yep. Looks that way.
When will you be going back to France and Spain, so I can read about something a little more interesting?
My sisters and I arrive in Paris on September 5. We’ll spend a few days site-seeing, then we’ll start our pilgrimage in southern France on September 8. Until then, you get to read about beautiful rural Michigan. Deal with it.
Have you and your sisters been training for the Camino?
Yep. I’m really proud of them. I put together a training program that started in January. They initially walked just a few miles a week. They’re now regularly walking over 30 miles a week and have each completed a couple of long walks of 14 miles. They’re getting really excited since we leave in 4 weeks.
I’ll be walking southward along the trail marked in red. I live in Ann Arbor which is about a 200 mile (320km) drive from the start of the trail. Thanks to Mark Haskins for driving me to Cadillac. That was a big help.
The trail started on a park next to Lake Cadillac (photo above). Lake Cadillac is one of the hundreds of beautiful inland lakes in northern Michigan.Mark clicked this photo as I got started. I’m carrying all the gear I’ll be taking to Europe, plus a few extra things like my laptop. (I brought my laptop since most evenings, I’ll be in some out of the way places with little to do.)Most of the trail is paved and goes through forests, though periodically it goes near farmlands. It crosses country roads every few miles, and it crossed under a highway once.This area of Michigan gets about 70 inches of snow each winter. Camino by snowmobile sounds fun. Not an option in Northern Spain, unfortunately.Rather than walking through quaint European villages, this walk will take me to some very small midwestern towns. Here is the town of Tustin, Michigan. Population 253.I’m staying at a little farm B&B outside of Le Roy. They only have one guest room, but it’s very comfortable. Unfortunately, it’s about 3 miles off trail, so it took some work to get here. There was no other lodging available in the area.
Bill on the Camino 