Week 4 Thursday - Day 24

Step Totals

The team made a strong push Thursday and covered 17.1 miles along the Petoskey to Mackinaw Trail.  They stopped at the shore of Carp Lake, and are well positioned to reach their destination in time for the holiday weekend.  A strong showing by Wyatt could put him in the lead for this final leg.

Week 4 Wednesday - Day 23

Step Totals

Back in form, the team completed 22.0 miles on Wednesday, heading north to Bay View at the tip of Little Traverse Bay. There they joined the Petoskey to Mackinaw Trail and stopped on the north shore of Crooked Lake. They are so close now they can almost smell the fudge.

Week 4 Tuesday - Day 22

Step Totals

The team covered 7.1 miles on Tuesday, following US 131 and stopping in Boyne City. Boyne City is near the Boyne Mountain Resort, known for winter skiing and year round fun.

Boyne Mountain Ski Resort

Boyne City is also known for its annual Pirate Festival with fun activities for the whole family.

Week 3 Wrap Up Monday - Day 21

Step Totals

The Mackinac Walkers picked up the pace again on Monday and chalked up 24.2 miles, almost 3 times the previous day's distance, and wrapping up the week with a new record for one day mileage. Jan claimed victory for the most steps in a week with a whopping 80,433 steps.

Monday's route passed through the towns of Mancelona and Alba, and at 18.1 miles into the journey they crossed the 45th Parallel. This latitude marker represents the point halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.

Sunday - Day 20

Step Totals

Although Sunday's distance was lighter than normal, the team still managed to cover 8.4 miles. They continued along U.S. 131 North through Kalkaska. They are now less than 100 miles from their goal.

Saturday - Day 19

Step Totals

Early on during Saturday's walk the Mackinac Walkers joined US 131, which looks to be their route for the next 67 miles. They rounded Fife Lake, and passed through South Boardman before finishing up the 20.1 mile day a bit south of Kalkaska. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Jan is on track to be the step leader this week after being narrowly defeated 2 weeks in a row.

Thursday - Friday Days 17 & 18

Step Totals

On leaving Reed City Thursday, the team joined the Mackinaw Trail and followed it north for 19.7 miles through Ashton and Le Roy until they stopped in Sherman Township. Friday was another good walking day and the team accomplished 21.7 miles,  going through Cadillac where they switched to Bus. 131 and finished north of Manton.

Week 3 - Days 1 & 2

Step Totals

The team stepped back their pace a little for the start of week 3, but still managed to cover more than 10 miles a day.  Tuesday started in Stanwood and kept them east of the Muskegon river all the way to their stop in Big Rapids, the tubing capital of Michigan.


Wednesday they followed the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail, crossing over the Muskegon about 2 miles into the walk and continuing another 10+ miles to Reed City.

Walk To Mackinac - Week 2 Wrap Up

Step Totals

The Mackinac Walkers had another strong day and covered 20.7 miles, passing through several inner Michigan small towns adjacent to US 131 including Sand Lake, Pierson, Howard City, and Morley. One mile after Sand Lake they reached the landmark Halfway Point. 200 miles from home and 200 miles to go. There was a friendly competition between the team members to see who could walk the most this week and Colleen eked out a victory with 3142 steps more than the closest competitor.

Sunday - Day 13

Step Totals

After a string of long walking days, the team eased up on Sunday and marched off an even 8.0 miles. They followed Northland Dr. through Cedar Springs, past the Cedar Spring Brewery and finished at Gordon Park, a popular stopover for travelers.

Cedar Springs Brewery

Saturday - Day 12

Step Totals

Following the Grand River bank

With some super stepping by Colleen, Saturday's walk took over the second place distance record at 22.2 miles. The team followed the bank of the Grand River into Grand Rapids where they walked right in front of The B.O.B. restaurant and music venue, and recent site of cousin Paige's wedding reception. Leaving Grand Rapids, they continued mostly north and slightly east, crossing the Grand River at Plainfield and finishing up for the day a little south of Cedar Springs.

The B.O.B.

Crossing the Grand River

Friday Day 11

Step Totals

Friday was another record breaking day for the team. A new distance record of 22.3 miles was set! The route however was a mostly uninspiring trek along M-121. Of some interest was the charming town of Zeeland, settled in 1847 by Dutch immigrants from the Netherlands and named for their home province.

Zeeland, MI

The day's journey finished just west of Wyoming, MI. which incidentally was the location of one of the earliest tests of McDonald's self ordering kiosks.

Walk to Mackinac - Day 10

Step Totals

Kalamazoo River

Thursday was another strong walking day and clocked in as the 2nd longest walk at 20.8 miles. Blue Star Highway continued to keep them close to the lakeshore until they crossed the Kalamazoo River in Douglas. Here they began to turn inland and finished up the day in Holland, just in time for the Tulip Festival.

No Tulip Time 😢

Walk to Mackinac - Day 9

Step Totals

Michigan Maritime Museum

The team was up for some whopping walking Wednesday.  They completed 21.4 miles, the most in one day so far. Their journey kept them on the Blue Star Highway and took them through the city of South Haven. South Haven boasts popular beaches and the fascinating Michigan Maritime Museum.

Walk To Mackinac - Day 8

Step Totals

The team continued to hug Lake Michigan's eastern shoreline Tuesday. They continued 7.6 miles north along M63 to the town of  Lake Michigan Beach (also known as Hagar Shores) where they switched to the Blue Star Highway.  As an interesting side note, the team began their journey on 95th street in Oak Lawn which is also a Blue Star Memorial Highway.

Walk To Mackinac First Week Wrap Up (Day 7)

Note: I copied the wrong totals when I originally posted this. They are now updated correctly.

Step Totals

Grand Mere State Park

Monday the Mackinac Walkers continued following the Red Arrow Highway past Grand Mere State Park to Shorham where the route changes to Lakeshore Drive.  Lakeshore drive runs right along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and offers spectacular views of the lake as well as cooling breezes for overheated walkers. It took them to St Joseph, MI. known as the "Riviera of the Midwest". Continuing north they rounded out the day north of Benton Harbor with 19.0 miles. This completed the first week of walking with 95.9 miles and 210,936 steps! Dan was the step leader for Week 1.

Lake Shore Drive Scenic View

Riviera of the Midwest

Walk to Mackinac Weekend Update (Days 5 & 6)

Step Totals

Welcome To Michigan

The team's steps varied over the weekend but combined they still managed to get in 20.6 miles for a 2 day total.  Shortly after starting out Saturday the team crossed over from Indiana to Michigan.  Their route took them through the center of the charming summer resort town of New Buffalo with its friendly shops and restaurants.  Outside of New Buffalo they changed from US 12 to follow the Red Arrow Highway, named to honor soldiers of the Red Arrow Division made up of Michigan National Guard members in World War I.  The weekend walking finished up east of Warren Dunes State Park.

Red Arrow Highway runs from New Buffalo to Kalamazoo

Warren Dunes State Park

Walk to Mackinac - Day 4

Step Totals

Indiana Dunes

Three team members put in an extraordinary effort on Friday, while one member took advantage of their turn to mostly ride in the support van. The team followed US 20 alongside Indiana Dunes State Park but switched to US 12 near Town of Pines where US 20 bends east. US 12 took them along the east shore of Lake Michigan. They arrived at the Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets and rested while some members shopped.  A little further along route 12 they arrived at the Blue Chip Casino and agreed to another hour break to appease the members that had been whining ever since passing the Majestic Star Wednesday without stopping.  After a successful gaming session (based on their smiling faces) the team continued on and stopped for the day just beyond Michigan City, about 2½ miles from the Michigan state line.

Lighthouse Place Outlets

Blue Chip Casino

Walk To Mackinac - Day 3

Step Totals

The Mackinac Walkers covered 12.5 miles on Thursday. One team member had to deal with walking restrictions, but another 'stepped' up to fill the gap. The route continued to follow US 20 along the bottom of Lake Michigan, passing through Portage IN., and stopping near Indian Springs Park in Porter IN.

Walk to Mackinac - Day 2

Team Steps

Wednesday rained all day and proved to be a bad day for walking. Nevertheless, a few walkers didn't mind getting their feet wet, and the team was able to accomplish 10.4 miles. They stayed close to the lake, and passed the AmeriStar and Majestic Star Casinos in Indiana.  The day's journey finished up close to I65 in the hometown of Michael Jackson, and eponymous location of the popular song from "The Music Man", Gary Indiana.

Walk to Mackinac - Day 1

The Mackinac Walkers started their journey on Tuesday, April 28th.  It was a good day for walking and they covered 16.9 miles. They started out east on 95th street passing through Evergreen Park and Beverly and continuing past Chicago State University. After a slight detour off 95th, they continued east on 100th street to Calumet Beach Park for a nice view of Lake Michigan. Continuing southeast along the lakeshore they rejoined route 12/20 in Hammond Indiana and finished up the day near the BP Whiting Oil Refinery.