After a later start than planned, I left Traverse City on day two and headed over towards the coast of Lake Michigan. I hit my first bigger hill and was given a look at how much my leg muscles have to look forward to;) The weather was gorgeous and the day was fairly uneventful until I found myself on US 31 near Beulah, MI... going 4mph uphill on US 31 with NO shoulder. Yikes. I pulled over in Beulah and asked for the easiest way to AVOID US 31. The man in the Bait and Tackle Fishing Store pointed me to the Betsie Valley Trail. A beautiful stretch of bike path curving around Crystal Lake and next to the Betsie River. After finally making it out to M-22 and towards Arcadia I fought my way up the huge hill taking me into the rewarding scenic turn-off:) Breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. (or breath-giving, after a crazy haul uphill!) Soared 35mph down into Arcadia and pushed onward to Manistee. 10 miles from Manistee the world just began to slope up. and up. and up. Gradual but not nice when you are starving... I succumbed to the pull of the energy gel packs my mother laughingly bought me. Gel food tastes like heaven when you are out of water and energy.
Once in day two's destination city Manistee I ate dinner and asked a family near the train tracks if I could camp out in their yard. I took barely enough time to set up tent and write in my journal before passing out...
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