This video is Day 4 of a hike across Michigan from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The trail is called the Michigan Shore-to-Shore Trail. It begins in Oscoda, MI and ends in Empire, MI. It is somewhere between 215 and 235 miles depending on what trails are followed. A map showing a complete breakdown of the trail along with resources along the way can be accessed here.
Day 4 of our hike began on a Consumer Energy power line road near McKinley Township, MI and ended west of Bull Gap. We started walking at around 11:30am and ended at 6:30pm. This day would see the most elevation changes and the highest points of the STS across its entire span. Couple the elevation changes with the cold weather and it made for one of our toughest days.
We briefly lost the trail at the McKinley Horse Campground, but located it again at the end of the road entrance. From there, we were to experience a large clear cut area and then the elevation changes would begin. A few short distant climbs and descents and then a long several mile ever so slight incline. This dragged on and on and required several breaks. Then we had abrupt sharp elevation changes, several in a row. The higher we climbed, the windier and colder it got. Finally, after a few false summits, we reached the 1,330 foot mark and the thought of knowing the worst was behind us energized us even in the cold and windy weather. Before we knew it, we were at the destination vehicle!
After retrieving our vehicles, we drove to Mio, MI and stayed at the Mio Motel. We grabbed some dinner at the Mio Saloon. It was particularly cold this night, but we slept comfortable in a nice heated room.
Trip Summary: Total Time = 6 hours 58 minutes. Moving Time = 4 hours 35 minutes. Distance = 9.22 miles.
The video of Day 4 is below.
