I crossed over White Lake into Montague, and immediately picked up the Montague Trail State Park, which is described as being a “linear park” that is 225 acres and 22 miles long.
(I had to look it up to learn that 1 square mile is 640 acres, so 225 acres is .35 square miles. Thus with a length of 22 miles, this park has an average width of .016 miles, or 84′. In summary, this park is about 84′ wide and 22 miles long.)
Not surprisingly, this “linear park” was built on an old railroad right-of-way that was eventually abandoned by the C&O railroad in 1982. Local resident William Field had the idea of turning this right-of-way into a park. He purchased much of it and donated it to be developed as Michigan’s first linear state park in 1989.
The trail is flat, paved, and an easy ride among the trees and several small towns.
Here’s a view as the morning fog dissipates
I now know that I-96 runs northwest from Detroit and ends in Muskegon, where it merges into US 31. This explains the interstate-like 70 MPH speed limit I saw up-close Monday on US 31 north of Muskegon.
I also know that north of Muskegon, several county roads share the title of emergency route for US 31. What I still don’t know is what emergency are they expecting?
More apple orchards. The empty crates stacked by the road are tagged “Honeycrisp”.
Unpaved roads in this area seem to be mostly sand. It is hard to get traction on these roads, and it is easy to lose balance.
Google Maps routed me here, but after 100 yards I stopped to reconsider my options. The map showed this was the shortest route, and it looked like there might be a paved road just a short distance ahead. I thought about it for a long time, and then decided to trust Google maps.
Fortunately, there was a paved road coming up, and Google Maps routed me on it.
Shortly after I returned to pavement I was caught from behind by a Greg, a tent camper, who is on a five day bike trip around his Grand Rapids area.
He said he was also following Google maps, and he also had doubts about riding on a sandy road, but he saw my tire tracks and followed me.
I came upon a crew rehabbing an old diary barn. The original stonework is impressive, but that upper window must be new.
I asked a worker what the plan is for the structure, and he pointed toward to the boss who I assumed spoke English. Unfortunately, the only English word he apparently knew was “Si”.
If you’ve ever wondered where to get elk meat, here’s a possibility. Also, I found out later that “Free Soil” is actually the name of a town northeast of Ludington.
Don’t schools typically have the same daily hours every day, five days per week? I wonder what are the “Flexibles Hours” the Ludington school board is offering prospective bus drivers?
