Vasa Trail (G.reat N.orthern M.ichigan B.iking A.dventure--Part 1)

A couple of weekends ago we were kayaking on the river with a friend and our friend mentioned that he was heading to Northern Michigan for the holiday weekend. Needless to say, he planted a seed in our heads that sprouted into a full-blown plan to also head north for the holiday. It was all very last minute and we were lucky to find some available places to sleep. So, early Friday morning (like 4 a.m.) we strapped our bikes to the back of the car and headed out.

We ended up having lots of fun experiences over the weekend. Too many for just one post. I'm probably going to post little by little about it as the week progresses.

The first place we arrived at was the Vasa Trail, just outside of Traverse City. It's a trail for hiking, mountain biking and cross-country skiing. We, of course, were there for the biking. We had never been to the trail before, but Jonathan had heard of it when he worked summers in Elk Rapids. It has trails that range from a 3k to a 25k. Naively, I wanted to head straight to the 25k, but my husband cautioned against it. "Let's go slow and see what were up against," he said. I grumbled a bit, but agreed.

Alright, so at this point in the post I have to admit something. He was right. Yep. He was right to keep us from plowing ahead like biking fools. I didn't get very far before the trail started to kick me in the butt. I ended up walking up a lot of the steeper hills and Jonathan called it the Bike-Hike. A Bike-Hike, in case you were wondering, is when you take your bike with you, but you don't actually ride it. Instead you take it for a walk like you would a beloved pet.

So, for the entire morning we walked and rode and had lots of fun! The park is beautiful (check out the pics below). Plus, we feel challenged and motivated to get stronger and return to tackle the trail again.


Near the trail head.....
























One of many oddly shaped trees...
























Jonathan ascending one of the smaller, unofficial trails...
























Dirty bikes are the happiest bikes...