No stress setting up camp. No stress makinhg a bakcpacking meal for dinner or breakfast. Relax. I may not have slept the blissful sleep I desired but it was pretty good. Breakfast at the Hampton Inn did not appeal to me so I found my way to JW Filmore Diner (think that’s right) and had a very fine omelet with hash browns and slightly-larger-than silver dollar sized pancakes. I arranged for transportation to Traverse City and then back to Detroit and Ann Arbor. I tried to answer the question: what will happen to my packages at the post offices? And then I had the afternoon to do with as I pleased. I had learned by this time that the hotel was about 0.5 miles west of the NCT at about mile marker 607.5 so decided I would hike to the State Park then get a meal at Petoskey Brewing Company. After some confusion near the start of my NCT section I found myself walking through the Bear River Valley Recreation Area.
Gazing out upon the river in Petoskey, Michigan (Bear River I suppose). The NCT follows bike paths and sidewalks through the heart of Petoskey. It is particularly nice in the Bear River Valley Recreation Area.
--August 19 2019 at 14:19:26. Petoskey, MI, United States
here is why those signs for river access are probably neccessary. Downstream from here the waters flow quickly into Little Traverse Bay past a bunch of rocks.
--August 19 2019 at 15:02:15. Petoskey, MI, United States
This is a lovely area in the heart of town. You walk along bike filled bike paths along the river. The miles you walk as you near the marina and Lake Michigan are quite enjoyable. I was passed by cyclists, a couple walkers, and saw at least one fisherman standing in the river trying his luck. The sounds of city life fade away and you can forget where you are. Very nice. It doesn’t last.
In the heart of what I thought of as the “iffy zone” because it just was a loud annoying section of sidewalk walking. I am standing on a pedestrian bridge taking this photo of Little Traverse Bay. The trail has more sidewalk to follow before entering a neighborhood on its way to Tannery Creek trailhead and then Petowskey State Park.
--August 19 2019 at 15:53:25. Petoskey, MI, United States
Walking along the shoreline is enjoyable enough because you can, to a degree, ignore the busy traffic passing by on your right. But eventually you move away from the bay and the city intrudes more and you feel more like you are just going from point A to B. That stretch was probably about 1.25 miles lng and ends with you entering a neighborhood that drops you off on a path that is closer to the bay (close enough you can hear waves though the bay is hidden from view)once more. You are entering Petoskey State Park at this point: doesn’t look like much. Distant sounds of a campground b the water drift into your awareness fighting with traffic noise. I did not check the State Park out.
A bit north of mile marker 603.5 and not far from my end around marker 600. This might actually be a private path to the beach here at Little Traverse Bay but that seems like it should not be so.
--August 19 2019 at 16:34:11. Petoskey, MI, United States
When I got to mile marker 603 I knew I had to be near Petoskey Brewing Company. There is no good place to cross the fast-moving heavily trafficked road. This is where you take your life into your own hands. People get concerned about what might happen in the forests away from towns and the like but really I bet I ran greater risks crossing roads than I did anywhere in Wilderness State Park. Petoskey Brewing Company is in a big red brick building that looks like it should be part of a castle or maybe some old manufacturing site. Today they manufacture beer. It was nice to sit down in the dimly lit place and have a burger and two beers. It was a fine way to end the afternoon and, essentially, the trip.
The silo-like structure at the back right of this building is what really clued me in to the fact that this had to be Petoskey Brewing Company. I probably had the most dangerous bit of hiking right here crossing the road.
--August 19 2019 at 18:20:09. Petoskey, MI, United States
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