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Lake to lake complete! On a cold, windy afternoon in South Haven, I finally caught a glimpse of Lake Michigan and I couldn’t stop smiling
It’s been almost 275 miles versus the 250 I planned but, after completing the traverse, it seems like I only just started.
It was a much more challenging day than I expected. I left Paw Paw, Michigan, with its stately statehouse around 10:30, another colder than usual morning – but at least it was windy!
Half the day was supposed to be on something called the Van Buren Trail. But when I got to it, here’s what it looked like.
Not asphalt, not crushed rock, not even dirt. It was basically just ground, essentially a hiking trail. After 20 minutes struggling across it, going maybe 2 miles, I jettisoned the trail. It is a straight northwest diagonal shot to South Haven, so instead I had to stair step along alternate northward and westward heading county roads. It definitely added a couple miles but the smoothness of asphalt was like heaven after hobbling along the trail.
I really didn’t stop to check out wildlife or other interesting sites in the last 5 miles or so, anxious for the lake I knew was almost in sight. When I got down to it, the wind was whipping up whitecaps and I had no desire to linger. Before long, I was at my hotel celebrating with a nice cold one.
Tomorrow I wrap up with a relatively light sojourn back to Paw Paw and this biking journey will be over. I’m both sad and excited to wrap it up.
In honor of reaching the lake, I wanted to highlight “Trout, Trout, Trout! A Fish Chant,” April’s first species specific chanting book. Another mainstay in our kids’ reading repertoire, this book has some bold colorful fish drawings that are a great compliment to April’s fun fishy prose.
Sent from my iPhone
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