Strange Sightings Along the Hike

Robin VW breast

Action figure arm

This robin sculpture stood outside a gallery in Harbor Springs.  The red breast is the hood from an old VW vehicle.  





































 I hiked a long stretch of US23 along Saginaw Bay and saw many of these pieces of action figures along the edge of the road.  

Action figure legs

Maybe they were a Happy Meal toy in the area?  Maybe some kid liked to tie them onto a string and drag them behind the car until they fell apart?  

Action figure arm

This seagull slide fit in nicely with the view along Tawas Bay.

Seagull Slide

This Jesus statue presided over Dinosaur Gardens Prehistoric Zoo in Ossineke, Michigan. 

Jesus clearly has the whole world in his hand. 

Jesus holding world

 I've passed many banana peels while hiking on the roadside.  This one seemed to beckon to me, longing for a pratfall.  

Pratfall anyone?

 This old motel not only had color tv, but color tv by RCA!

Revisiting the Lake Trek: Segment 6

This segment spanned the 147 miles between Suttons Bay and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It included both the Grand Traverse and Little Traverse Bays, and Fisherman's Island State Park and Wilderness State Park.

I reached the half way point of the trek on this segment, reaching 500 miles within sight of the Mighty Mac Bridge.

Some of the most interesting geology was on this segment in Antrim County where there is an enormous deposit of shale. I was joined along part of this county by Gerry and her two fun dogs, Miss Sadie and the Cowboy.

Then, my college friend, Rick, joined me for a few hours along Little Traverse Bay.

Near Cross Village, I saw the biggest collection of zebra mussel shells tossed up on the beach and bleached almost completely white by the sun.

Note: You may want to press the 'play' button, then pause it and let it completely load before resuming play. This will allow it to play smoothly.

You can find all videos from the Lake Trek on YouTube at: www.YouTube.com/lniewenhuis

Walk with me:

Segment 6, Day 7 Harbor Springs->Cross Village 20 miles

High of 76 degrees.

I picked up the trek on M119 and walked along the road until I found an access point to the shoreline. The beach was intermittently rocky, then sandy, then marshy all the way to Cross Village. I had thought that when the shoreline was no longer on Little Traverse Bay, that it would revert to mostly sand, but this was not the case. There were stretches of huge boulders and very shallow water reaching out into the lake.

I came across a berm of zebra mussel shells deposited on the shoreline by the waves that stretched for probably 50 feet and was two feet high by four feet deep. I had never seen so many shells in one place. There were also some areas with small, black snail shells scattered on the beach.

It was a long stretch of beach to walk, especially with the rocks and marshy areas. On such a gorgeous day, though, it was wonderful to be out on the mostly deserted beach with the ducks and deer.

Phil met me in Cross Village, and we had a wonderful Polish dinner at Legs Inn (photos below).

Segment 6, Day 6 Bay Shores->Harbor Springs 18 miles

High of 75 degrees

I had some company this day. Rick Land (in photo to left), a friend from way back in my college days, was up in Charlevoix while I was passing through. He joined me for 6 miles of this day's trek.

It was a perfect day, and we walked together on the pathway from Bay Shores, through Petoskey, and into Bay View. Much of the shoreline here is rocky and marshy, and a large stretch is restricted because it is owned by Consumers Power, so the pathway was a great way to move through this beautiful area. It was fun to catch up with Rick as we walked.

I continued on alone onto the beach at Petoskey State Park. This park is at the far end of Little Traverse Bay and is all sandy. It was great to take off my boots and wade in the water on this warm day.

On the north side of the bay, it got marshy once again, so I walked Beach Road which hugged the water most of the way into lovely Harbor Springs. I strolled through the town, then out just a bit on M119.