Spring 1997 - Cincinnati to Yukon
Journals - 30 April 1997
Day 30 - Lowell State Game Area, MI
30 April 1997 (sunny mixed with overcast; warm; had several raindrops;
winds from south; mileage = 62.3) -- X - No more unusual events at this
site. In the morning, we got packed in 45 minutes. We slept late, so we
wound up leaving at about 6:30. Then we rode westward with a strong south
wind. I tried not to go north much since I didn't want to back track south
and we were aiming due west. We had to go north to avoid Lansing. We did
see some of its rush hour commuters, but they were mostly going into town
and we were leaving. Then to avoid gravel roads, we had to go north. So,
very early on, we had used up our tail wind north mileage and we had to go
west. We got on a long, paved road that did the job going through West
Phalia and cooked some chili in a cup. The winds had maybe a 15-degree
headwind component and they were very strong. We really had a tough time
slugging it out. Eventually, we made it to the Ionia campground. After
looping us in for 1.5 miles in the park, they told us it was $8 and the
shower didn't work. No thanks. So we rode on to their horse campground and
got some good H2O. We tracked to some horse weights and rested. Then to
escape the place, we had to ride south into the raging wind on a closed
road that had a (*Picture-no bike) sign on it. We made that OK. I had
noticed in the horse area that the wind had shifted about 30 degrees, so
that it was now a slight tail wind. We cranked into Saranac and onto a
major road north of their river. From there we headed to Lowell. Just
before, we turned off into another animal killing zone. There was an
immediate hill and by the time we got to the top, we knew what was
different about this gravel road. It was primarily sand. Very hard to ride
in and very dusty, especially when cars drove by. Two cars had H.S. kids in
them. That always makes me nervous. We turned onto a (hopefully)
inconspicuous trail and dove into the forest. There are pine trees here and
we found a spot that seems OK. There is a sand dune farther down on this
trail. Very interesting. We washed off with our bountiful water and got in
the tent. We organized the maps and marked kill zones on our big one. We
didn't feel like a big meal, so we ate bread and snack stuff.
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