09-01-04 @ 9:07 am EDT

All right. I'm not exactly sure how to start this, but it's not like a ton of people are hanging on my every word, so I guess it doesn't matter.

As I said, we (Ma and I) went to Mackinac Island on Sunday. We decided that she would stay in town, down in Marquette Park, while I walked around doing my thing. I kept an eye on the weather all week. It kept changing, as always. >:/ It always seemed like it was going to be lousy, and if so, I had no clue what I was going to do. We haven't really had a summer this summer; it's never been HOT hot for more than like two or three days in a row, and I think only one or two of those days were in August itself. This has probably been one of the lousiest summers we've ever had. The weather has regularly been in the fifties or sixties and rainy. Not even thunderstorm-rainy, either, just plain out rainy.

Well, at the VERY last moment the weather report changed to call for "rain ending in the morning, with abundant sunshine in the afternoon." I guess that was as good as it was going to get. It was still overcast but we decided to go. We left EARLY this year so as to hopefully catch the 9:30 ferry at Shepler's. (There are three ferry lines: Shepler's, Arnold, and Star Line. For some reason we almost always take Shepler's. No clue why. Their prices and schedules aren't exactly competitive.) Kindly enough, Dad paid most of the ticket fee so I only had to pay the remaining $2 on mine. (Tickets for adults this year are $17. Each.)

The bathrooms at Shepler's were completely redone and nice and clean now, but they had those FREAKY automatic-flush toilets. Mine flushed right when I opened the door. O_o Then it flushed again after I got into the stall. Then, when I was done, just as I stood up it flushed a third time. Cripes already. I may be phobic but I don't mind pushing a handle, and I would really rather push a handle than have this thing flushing the entire time I'm trying to go to the bathroom!!

We hardly had to wait. Just as soon as we got our tickets the PA announced that the 9:30 ferry was going to leave in four minutes. We didn't even have to sit out near the docks like we usually do. Nice! Since it was so chilly we chose the lower deck. I've lost the thrill of riding the upper deck by now, anyway. It's just frigging windy up there. Two older people and their big old dog sat down on the seat in front of us and the dog dozed under the bench, practically at my feet. The closer we got to the island the more the boat bounced, and the poor dog did not have a good nap. The island is a nice place for dogs; you can always see people walking them around, all sorts of dogs. It's not like they have any cars to run them over, only bicycles and horse carriages.

Well, we reached the island and made our way from Main Street, up to the bathroom, and then to Market Street, where we outlined our plan, such as it was. I told Ma vaguely where *I* was going to head and she decided to follow me a little way. After perusing the online PDF map of the island which I found at a Mackinac Island State Park website, I came up with the following itinerary I wished to try to follow before the 8:30 PM ferry (the last off the island) arrived:

Main St. to Fort St. Turn L.
Market St. to Cadotte Ave. Turn R. To Grand Hotel. Turn L. on West Bluff Rd.
Pontiac's Lookout on L. Cont. onto Pontiac's Trail.
Turn L. on Lake View Blvd.
Lover's Leap on L. Turn R. on Park Ave.
Turn L. on Annex Rd. Pass Hedgecliff Rd.
Turn L. on Stonecliffe Rd. Pass Tranquil Lane & private rds. Come to Cudahy Circle.
Turn L. & go around; turn L. on unnamed to Eckel Dr.
Turn L. & go around; pass unnamed trail on R.
Turn L. on abandoned trail; pass trail on R.
Turn R. at Chimney Rock.
Turn L.; head back. Take L. on Forest Ridge Rd.
Turn L. on Hert's Trail/Stonecliffe Shore Rd. (STEEP)
Turn R. on Lake Shore Rd.
Come to Brown's Brook.
     Possible detour: Turn R. on Brown's Brook Trail. Darion Spring on R. Cont.; turn L. to Pine Cove Lane. Turn L. on unnamed path. Turn R. on Lake Shore Rd.
British Landing. Take British Landing Rd.
Turn R. on State Rd. Pass Nicki Trail & Lydia Trail.
Turn R. on unnamed Trail. Pass Partridge Trail.
Turn L. on Crack-in-the-Island Trail.
Cave of the Woods & Crack-in-the-Island.
Cont. in CITI Trail or abandoned path to State Rd.
     Possible detour: Turn R. on State Rd. to British Landing Rd. Turn L. Battlefield of 1814 on R. Croghan Water Area on L. Pass Swamp Trail. Turn R. on British Landing Nature Trail.
Turn L. on State Rd.; head back to British Landing.
Turn R. on British Landing Rd.
Turn L. on Croghan Water Trail(?).
Turn L. on British Landing Nature Trail.
Friendship Altar/Viewing Platform. Cont. on British Landing Nature Trail.
Turn R. on Scott's Rd. Pass Scott's Shore Rd.
Eagle Pt. Cave on R.?
     Possible detour: If not--backtrack past Scott's Shore Rd. Turn L. on unnamed trail. Turn L. on Tranquil Bluff Trail. Eagle Pt. Cave on L.? Cont. on Tranquil Bluff Trail. Pass Swamp Trail. Turn R. on Scott's Rd.
Turn slightly L. Ahead--Scott's Trail.
Turn R. on Crooked Tree Rd. Four Corners.
Turn L. on Garrison Rd. Mack. Isl. Cemetery/Post Cemetery on L., St. Anne's Cemetery on R.
Skull Cave.
Turn L. on Rifle Range Rd.
Arch Rock.
Turn R. onto Spring Trail. Go down to lakeshore. Dwightwood Spring.
     Possible detour: Check shore a bit for Fairy Arch.
Backtrack up Spring Trail.
Turn L. on Manitou Trail.
Robinson's Folly on L. Cont. on Manitou Trail.
Turn L. on Huron Rd.
Turn L. on Anne's Tablet Trail. Pass Crow's Nest Trail. At fork, turn L.
Anne's Tablet. Backtrack.
Turn L. on Huron Rd.
Cass Memorial on L. Keep going. Sinclair Grove on L.? Pass behind Fort.
Turn L. on Fort St. Head to Marquette Pk.

Yep...that all was what I planned to do. o_o I felt I had VERY little chance of getting it all done. Yet considering what I DID end up doing, I think I did pretty well.

Well...Ma and I headed up Market Street and started snapping pictures. I was leery because the old Polaroid has a habit of deleting older pictures on the memory card when you take newer ones a few days later. I had even tested it to see if this was so and yes, it was. I do not know the exact criteria for it to start doing this, but I REALLY, REALLY hoped it would behave itself today! Ma kept insinuating that I should take her Canon, but it's too complex to use, especially considering the lighting conditions we were in, and I wanted the simplicity of the Polaroid. So I took my chances. She snapped pics with the Canon while I used the Polaroid. We took pictures of some of the pretty inns and houses along Market Street. We made it to Cadotte Avenue, which was long and wide and went uphill into the distance. The houses here were so pretty with their little fenced-in yards. The Little Stone Church was located on the right; it's the first time I've ever even seen it. People were coming out of it, maybe because it was Sunday. Ma asked if I wanted to go in and called me a pagan when I said NO. To which I replied, "I'm not a pagan, I'm a panentheist!" Well, at least she didn't freak out when I said that, though more likely than not she wasn't listening.

On the left we found an unlisted location called Woodfill Park. Interesting. There was a little marble bench area with a memorial to the man the park was named after--some guy instrumental in getting the Mackinac Bridge built, and stuff like that. I was much more interested in the WOODS down to the right in the park. *droolage* They were SO PRETTY! We were supposed to keep heading up Cadotte Avenue, but I was so tempted, and Ma wanted to see the flowers in the park, so we detoured right then and there. She needled at me to pose with the flowers but I said NO!! She finally convinced me to make like I was walking down some steps and she would shoot a photo of me, but I gave the camera this stupid full-toothed grin (my teeth are going bad so I don't smile much) because the shot was taking way too long! I HATE posing for photos as I always look asinine! I told her that if she wanted a shot, she would have to take a candid one and NEVER let me see it, EVER. Then I went into the woods and just as I said, they were SO PRETTY. I was already snapping pictures like crazy. o_o I really wanted to get some nice tree photos to use on the desktop. *sigh*

Well, beyond the trees, we came within sight of that horrid monstrosity, the Grand Hotel. Ugh ugh ickness. I hate that place, even more so considering what happened soon after. But still, I haven't any pictures of the thing, and I thought, while we're here, I may as well take some. Kinda wish I hadn't honored the crappy place by doing so. >:/ I have to admit it WAS a good view, though. People were playing croquet on the lawn. They had this little topiary cut to look like two horses pulling a carriage, but my shot of that was at such an angle that you can't really tell what it is. Hm.

We headed out of Woodfill Park and back up Cadotte Avenue. We turned onto West Bluff Road, intending to walk past the Grand and on to view the West Bluff cottages, which are privately owned but practically on public display; they, plus the Grand, are the first things you see when pulling up toward the island on the ferry. We got out front of the hotel only to find this weird sign saying some junk about how only people in dress clothes were allowed in the hotel or on the hotel-owned street after six PM or something; men must wear a jacket and tie, and women could absolutely NOT wear slacks. *horrors* I was wearing a T-shirt and shorts, of course... We stood here in puzzlement for a moment or two, but I figured that since the street was public, they must mean you could pass straight through, just not wander onto the hotel porch and such. I mean, it's a public street--there was no way on to the West Bluff otherwise! I really did not believe they would have such a stupid rule as to name part of a PUBLIC STREET private and hotel owned, with its own fancy dress code, but that's right, they do. Remarkably moronic as it is. The map does not mention this, and there is not even a little dinky trail to work your way around lest you befoul the Grand's pristine upper-class air with your...*gasp*...CASUAL CLOTHING. Like I said in an earlier entry, I have SEEN the inside of this building on TV, and it is nothing to write home about--and certainly nothing that requires a formal dress code. The outside is pretty, but the inside is...yechh. God knows why they think having the people dress nice will help the interior any.

Well...we saw some other people dressed rather normally make their way up the street, so we followed. There were two black women chatting on the porch, and they saw us. One of them approached and said something to Ma while I hung back, starting to feel absolutely humiliated already. Ma came back, waved at the sign, and we had to turn away from the hotel. Kind of ironic, considering that maybe a hundred years ago, those two women probably would have been turned back, dress clothes or no dress clothes! As we walked away, they both laughed very loudly. I felt like such a total idiot. SORRY for besmirching the wonderful Grand! But in my own defense, honestly, is it so stupid to think that a road which is public on ONE end and public on the OTHER end will thus be public ALL THE WAY THROUGH? Who builds a road and makes the middle section private, and doesn't even provide a trail around it?? Oh my God, that woman is trying to pass the Grand Hotel in shorts!! Somebody STOP HER now!! A tourist MIGHT SHOOT A PHOTO OF HER!! *steaming* I understand us not wandering onto the porch, but charging people $10 just to walk by the place is stupider even than *I* imagined the Grand to be. All my earlier jokes about them charging money just for you to breathe their air? Now I'm wondering if I should really consider those jokes after all.

Well...my carefully plotted-out plans were already falling apart. We had to find a way to West Bluff Road, WITHOUT using West Bluff Road! Which meant we would have to detour and make our way around the BACK of the Grand Hotel. (I wonder if those women would have laughed if they knew I was starting to feel like some sort of indentured servant myself! "Oh, your sort? You can go around the back.") We headed back to Cadotte Avenue and started looking. I had to pull out my map. The only alternative I saw was taking Algonquin Road to Grand Avenue, then taking that to Pontiac's Lookout and doubling back onto West Bluff Road to see the cottages. A WONDERFUL waste of time when otherwise we could have just walked straight through. (Thanks for nothing, Grand! Can't say I'll miss you.) Ma started to complain right about here since it was all uphill. She wanted to take another path, but Algonquin would be the closest, and I wanted to save time! We had to look hard to find it because it was not labeled--there was just a sign saying "Steep road--walk bikes" or some such. We headed to the end of Cadotte Avenue, then went back. Since Algonquin Road was marked as steep and dangerous on the map, I figured that must be it. It was so DINKY. That's when I began to realize how useless even the BEST map can be, if the island itself DOESN'T LABEL ITS STREETS!

Algonquin Road was so tiny and passed so many little silent houses that I was CERTAIN we must be trespassing on private property again! I felt so awful. Ma kept talking and I kept refusing to answer because I just wanted to get OUT of there! I wanted to sneak through as quiet as a mouse and then bail out. This Algonquin Road just seemed to go on and on! We at last came to Grand Avenue--HERE we found the belated sign reading Algonquin Road, yet Grand Avenue was again unmarked--and headed toward West Bluff Road. Pontiac's Lookout was right ahead. It was basically just a high area overlooking the west side of the island; nothing too impressive. But it did have a nice view of the Round Island Lighthouse that I'd never seen before. The West Bluff cottages stretched off to the left, but none of them were photo worthy, IMO.

There were a few people here with bikes, looking around. We took some pictures and I mentioned Pontiac's Trail being next. A woman nearby caught my attention and pointed to the side. "Pontiac's Trail? That's it right over there."

I craned my neck. There was a big fancy house perched on a precarious slope, a little turnstile-type fence right beside it, shielded on the bluff side by trees. "Where...?" I asked. She pointed again, having to lean inward.

"Behind that fence. We started taking it but there's safety tape up across it. Just so you wouldn't go crazy trying to find the thing."

Well...POO! I had really intended on taking Pontiac's Trail to get to Lake View Boulevard! :( The others left and I went to peer at the trail, sighing miserably. Past the fence and turnstile, it was true, there was a rickety fence along the left side and a long strand of orange tape spanning from one side of the narrow trail to the next. It LOOKED navigable, but I assumed it was just deemed too dangerous for tourists. And I've always been afraid of heights. I would have chanced it anyway, but I hate breaking rules and that tape must be there for a reason.

So...it looked like I'd have to detour, yet AGAIN. And we had only just gotten started! -_- We decided to go peek at the West Bluff cottages before parting ways, and I think I took pictures of only one or two since these ones weren't as pretty as the ones along the shore. Only after I said I was looking for a better house to photograph did I notice there was an old woman seated on the porch. Ack!! >_< Hope she didn't hear me. Ma started heading back up West Bluff Road while I headed back toward Grand Avenue. Only at the last minute did we both remember to turn back to each other so I could give her her sandwich!! Wouldn't want her having to pay an arm and a leg just to eat for the day.

Alone now, I made it onto Lake View Boulevard and started poking around, hoping for a view of the elusive Lover's Leap. I have never even seen a photograph of this, only a lithograph-type thing on an old antique postcard at eBay. I felt more and more anxious the more I walked around since there were only these little quiet houses surrounded by trees and winding streets and occasionally I came across people doing everyday things, but never any tourists. Once in a while bicyclists or carriages would pass by, but for all I knew the bicyclists lived there, and the carriages might go onto roads that tourists don't have access to. I began to feel very ill at ease. Most of the West Bluff is private, and I really felt I was trespassing by now.

I came to the spot where Lover's Leap would be located, and it was not visible. :/ Poo. Trees and property must have shielded it from view. Why hasn't the Park Commission made these public features...well...public? Lover's Leap and the following Chimney Rock are BOTH state owned and listed as being on park land, so why they do not have trails leading to them, I do not understand. It makes no sense to me. They USED to be available.

Well, disappointed in that, I tried to find my way to Annex Road. At first I thought I was taking a wrong turn on Park Avenue since ahead of me I saw a guy trimming trees with a dog in tow and I felt so awful about heading down there lest it be private!! Hubbard's Annex, the area I was in, IS private property, and I felt like such a speck!

Annex Road was marked clearly, though, and I at last made my way onto it, determined to make my way to Cudahy Circle and from there on to Chimney Rock. Chimney Rock! Just re-added to the state park last year. Surely it would be accessible. It was even included on the new tourist map (we didn't get a new tourguide on the ferry as they were out, as the Shepler's worker informed Ma when she mentioned it after disembarking). There were no clearly marked trails leading to it, but there were lots of little trails on the PDF map, so I hoped to make use of them.

Annex Road was public state property so I did not feel quite so bad. I passed little pairs and groups of tourists, or rather they usually passed me. I checked my map often and must have looked like the world's biggest fudgie. -_- But I did not want to get lost. I still felt stupid about Lover's Leap and the Grand Hotel when I spotted a little opening in the trees to my right and just had to stop and look. There were two trail signs here, marked Coffee Trail and Indian Pipe Trail.

High Point Number One of the trip! Who'd have thought that these two DINKY little trails would make me feel so much better so quickly? They were not on my personal tour, but they were so inviting I had to look. I can't be certain which one, exactly, it was that I checked out; I thought it was Coffee, but according to the map it might have been Indian Pipe. In any case, I stepped into the woods, off Annex Road and it just got so DARK and mysterious around me! It was thickly wooded with some sort of evergreens--cedar?--I know the island is crowded with cedar--and these shielded out most of the light. And the trail was so tiny and earthy and there was green moss all around like a little wooded tunnel! :D HAPPINESS! I grinned so hugely as I walked along. I stopped several yards in and peered back to Annex Road just as a tourist went by. He did not even see me! It was like being invisible! I silently cheered and glanced around me at the beautiful beautiful trees. Not deciduous ones, true, but it was so much like being in my own private little place that I loved it! I snapped pictures, felt the moss, and touched the trees. Ooooo wonderful wonderful wonderful! I so badly wanted to walk the little trail to its end...but I had my tour to follow. :*( So I turned and reluctantly headed back, waving goodbye to the pretty woods. I made up my mind that whenever I should return I would DEFINITELY walk Coffee or Indian Pipe Trail!

Well...back onto boring old Annex Road. -_- I got to Stonecliffe Road and tried to find Cudahy Circle. Here I began getting very confused again. I intended to head straight through to Chimney Rock, albeit in a very convoluted manner since those were the only trails available, but again I started getting the agoraphobic "Am-I-trespassing?" feeling. It was SO damn confusing back in here! I never once saw a sign reading Cudahy or Eckel or Hert's. I did come to an area where the road wound in a circle, and figured that must be it. It looked like a private housing community. A few bicyclists stopped to say hello to each other like tourists, but I thought they might live there. They paid no attention to me but I was feeling worse and worse and like more and more of an idiot. I tried following my map to the best of my ability, but then just got too panicked. Screw Chimney Rock!! I'd have to take these little unnamed, unofficial trails to reach it, and I just KNEW they'd end up being privately owned, like everything else over here was. I made up my mind to just find the nearest trail to the lakeshore, take it, and get OUT of there. According to the map, that would be...Hert's Trail, also known as Stonecliffe Shore Road. It was marked as steep and dangerous but I did not give a damn. Hert's Trail here I come!

I began to grow so very discouraged, especially when I came to some men talking with each other along the side of the road; I just knew they'd bust me!! Then I noticed they were standing near a legion of golfcarts and my hopes rose just a bit. According to the map, Hert's Trail went right past the Jewel Golf Course! I might be on private land, but at least I was headed the right way! I meekly passed them, making sure to look confused so they'd think I was a lost tourist, which I practically WAS! I began walking down toward the shore, and the trail turned into this weird sandy rocky bumpy thing, and then began to plunge downward, so I thought, good call. I'd be to the shore in no time.

Along the way I passed some interesting rock formations cropping out of the side of the bluff fronting the trail. Snap. Then I got confused again! For Hert's Trail seemed to end in somebody's YARD with a sign saying "Private land. Keep off"! I could not even access the END OF THE TRAIL?? *cries* It was West Bluff Road all over again! Deflated, I turned back. Well...I could take Heriot Lane, then. That headed down to the shore. I located the nearest turnoff and took it, but again, the path seemed to end with private property. I looked at my map in such great confusion nearing hysteria. WHERE WAS THE DAMN WAY TO THE LAKESHORE?! You'd think that on an island, you could find the SHORE! Apparently not, on the West Bluff! Where the very time/space continuum is distorted and private property knows no limitations!

Well...(I thought in desperation)...Heriot Lane turned in on Cedar Point Lane, and THAT led to the shore! If I could not take that, I would have to go ALL the way back to town *sobs* or else try to navigate my way through yet MORE private roads on private land, just to reach the shore or somewhere PUBLIC! I was so close to tears by now. I hated the thought of heading back into town so early and begging to be taken home. I hadn't even seen anything yet! But I was so miserable, I hardly wanted to go any further. -_-

Fortunately...Cedar Point Lane brought me down to Lake Shore Road. *bows and kisses and hugs Cedar Point Lane* I didn't recognize Lake Shore Road at first, no matter how many times I've walked the thing, because I happened to come out of a gate onto a wooded part of the road, and I had forgotten just how FAR from the shore that Lake Shore Road actually is! But when I saw groups of tourists pedaling and walking by, my spirits lifted again. Thank GOD thank God thank God, NO MORE West Bluff. It was all Easy Street from here on. Brown's Brook and then British Landing! ANY moron can find those! But the nice cobbled street and gate I had passed out of puzzled me. I turned to look back at where exactly I'd come from.

:O ! There was a nice big sign reading "Stone Brook--South Gate"! GAW!! I'd been wandering around through some private community or something!! o_o;;; Ohmygawd...I turned and got out of there as fast as I could. NO more West Bluff! Never never never again--not until they build some proper labeled PUBLIC trails for morons like me!! >_<

Well...things picked up from there. I easily found Brown's Brook and true to what I had read online, they had completely redone the place since my last visit in 2002. Back then, Brown's Brook was just this dinky little trickle leading down to the road, and that was it. Brown's Brook. Ta-da, move on. But now, there was a little picnic area, and nature trail signs, and even a boardwalked trail itself leading up into the woods. Looking at my map I realized this might lead past Darion Spring! The source of the brook, at least from the looks of it. It was listed on private land but the trail was public, so I set foot on the boardwalk and went up into the woods.

It was very nice back here, if rather dull. But Brown's Brook at least was a lot prettier than I'd gotten from earlier impressions. For one thing it was BIGGER! This thing even had a teeny little rapid in it! Signs along the trail identified various things, and I came to a spot paved with sand and overhung with thistles and such. I had to carefully nudge my way through, hoping to locate Darion Spring without getting stung by the bees drifting around. The air smelled so nice and fragrant here. Unfortunately...even though I must have passed where it was, at least on the map, I never saw any spring. :/ Perhaps it's underground...feh. The trail took me right back where I'd started so I sighed and looked at the last remaining nature sign before continuing on my way.

Brown's Brook

Brown's Brook is fed by one of Mackinac Island's many underground springs. [Oh...duh! I never even noticed that until now. *LMAO!* ^_^; ] Rain and melt water seep through the loose, soluble limestone rock into underground channels and caverns. Brown's Brook flows year-round despite dry periods and winter's freezing temperatures. (Caution: Water is Not Safe for Drinking.)

Hm. There was a pond shown on the sign, but none that I recall in real life. Well, I turned away from Brown's Brook and continued on my way to good old British Landing, what I consider my "halfway point" around the island (even though it isn't, not really--but it sure FEELS like it, getting there!).

The trees alongside this part of Lake Shore Road were so twisty and interesting! I think this must be where Ma and I took each other's pictures back in the 1992 set of my Mackinac photos. I tried locating the exact tree Ma had sat in but they all looked so similar. And I came across a sign reading..."Stone Brook--North Gate." >_< Hurry hurry hurry along...

Along the way I of course pulled out my map to look at it, to make sure where I was headed after I hit British Landing. As I looked at this an island worker bicycled by and called out in a bored, singsong, I've-had-to-say-this-a-million-times voice, "You're almost to British Laaan-diiiing." >:/ Moron. ANY idiot can find their way to British Landing, and I knew exactly where I was. He COULD have shown up to point out the way when I was lost on the frigging West Bluff!

Well, along came British Landing...or more like RESTROOM STOP! for all you weak-bladdered people like me. Here they have a bigger-than-average picnic area with a sign and a cannon and a little concession stand blaring music, and a nature area building, and of course, bathrooms. Seagulls and chattering tourists are always in abundance here. Despite the lack of solitude I felt great relief at being in a familiar place, and headed straight for the bathroom to take care of myself. I got to take my pack off...uuggghhh! My poor left shoulder! >_< I straightened my hair--it was holding up pretty well, considering--and washed my hands and went back outside.

A lazy seagull walked out of my way. I went down to Lake Huron. I had made up my mind to stick my feet in it at least once somewhere along the way. No matter how cold it was. The other tourists must have thought I was nuts when I made a beeline down to the water--no one else was anywhere near it--and then stood there with the waves washing over my toes. Then I gingerly stepped in. AGH! That stuff was COLD! o_o;; I let it thoroughly wet my feet anyway. I saw how the waves would suck the pebbles out into the water right before washing them back ashore--interesting. And I picked up a couple of polished stones of my own. Pretty. I washed the pebbles and sand from my sandals the best I could (which wasn't very well), then headed back toward the Landing. I took a drink at the picnic table (Ma had gotten me this FRIGGING HUGE bottle of water before leaving Cheboygan), decided to save my sandwich till later, and then headed on up British Landing Road. Next stop, State Road! And onward to Cave of the Woods (AKA "High Point Number Two") and Crack in the Island!

Well, I've typed up quite enough for one sitting, and it's about time for me to get off the computer for now. Rather than posting this all in one totally gargantua entry, perhaps I should break it into two or three...shorter gargantua entries. o_o I typed this up offline and it has not been checked for typos...*sigh* I hate this as I saw a really stupid typo in a recent entry; I said "big" when I meant to say "bit," or vice-versa. Damned spellchecks which don't check for anything else! So if you see something totally moronic, rest assured it's just a typo and I'm not really THAT stupid, it's just that my FINGERS are.

More Mackinac Island fun to come in a future entry! Tar for now...