We woke up a bit late, and did not sleep much overall. We left our aweful motel, had breakfast at McDonald's, and set off for our bike ride from Beulah to Mesick along a dedicated rail-to-trail pathway that runs between Frankfort and Mesick.
I primi 16 Km della pista ciclabile da Beulah fin quasi a Copemish, immersi nel verde. Profumo di pini e poche buche, bellissimi uccellini azzurri e rumorosissime cicale.
The first 10 miles were great! An amazing trail, not paved but very well kept. We saw 3 more bikers in total, and stopped a few times to take pictures and to see birds. In particular, we passed through a couple of areas with bluebird nest-boxes. We also saw the eastern bluebirds themselves, and an indigo bunting.
Una delle casette-nido per gli uccellini blu (sialia sialis, uccello blu orientale). Siamo riusciti a vederne un paio!
Three miles before Copemish the trail died on us. Too bad we did not take a picture of the tree that made us decide to finally turn back and change our route... it was very cool, as if somebody had placed it there on purpose to prevent bikers from passing.
La strada bianca che abbiamo percorso una volta realizzato che il percorso pedonale non sarebbe mai migliorato. Anche le strade bianche, come le altre, sono molto larghe, e seguono un sistema "squadrato" piuttosto che la topografia e i rilievi. Talvolta questo sistema porta ad avere ripide salite e discese che forse si sarebbero potute evitare, ma permette di orientarsi molto facilmente.
From then on, we had to take dirt roads to avoid the highway, and it went pretty slow! We still got to see some very nice rural areas, forests, and cultivated land. We had ice cream for lunch at the Bear Claw cafe, delicous!! We also bought some more water and sat for a little while before setting off again.
Un enorme fienile fa la guardia ad un acero sopravvissuto a chissà quante battaglie.
We reached our destination, the Mashroom Cap Hotel, at 17h30. The place was clean and nice! We were so happy we actually had dinner right in the room, watched a movie, and went to bed quite tired... and quite early.
Biking:
Beulah-Mesick
28 miles that became 32 due to backtrack...
Birding: bluebird!