42 miles

I was able to stay at High Cliff last night. There was an enormous extra hill to climb on the way up to the campground, but it was totally worth the climb. The sites have nice deep shade, tall hardwood trees and are spaced out well, offering plenty of privacy and quiet. 

I have a warmshowers host booked for tomorrow night, only 40 miles away, so I took my time in the morning. I slept in until 8:00 am, read some of my book, and thoroughly enjoyed how comfortable my hammock is with a half-inflated sleeping pad.

I did find four more holes in the pad. All of the weld points across the top are compromised, which seems like it has to be a manufacturing defect. I contacted Sea-to-Summit repairs and left a message.

The ride was windy. Before I reached my warmshowers host, I stopped at a grocery store called Piggly Wiggly (which is an insane name for a store), and bought two beers and half a pie. It felt necessary to celebrate reaching Lake Michigan. I sat down at a park to tuck in, but it started raining, so I moved along more quickly than I otherwise would have.

My hosts were Cath and Brian. Cath reminded me strongly of Aunt Celia, with an incredibly warm, peaceful energy that felt familiar immediately. I was not surprised at all when she told me she works with the recovery community here. She showed me to where I would stay, a little 100 sq’ house in her backyard that she and Brian built out of reclaimed and salvaged stuff, which she referred to as “the hermitage”. They had planted a path of clover between the hermitage and the house, and the yard had beautiful gardens—flowers and vegetables and fruit trees. It was a little utopia. She told me she built the structure after her brother passed away about a year ago, and explained how she went on Facebook and talked about what her idea was, and how her community just poured out to support her. It was so touching to hear her tell the story of how it all came together. 

She keeps the hermitage and her house open to anyone who needs it, including the people she works with in the recovery community, but she said it has been nice to have a separate structure for the cyclists they host, too. It was cozy and peaceful inside, and it felt very special to be welcomed into a space that was created with so much obvious love. I found myself reflecting on what this space might feel like for someone struggling through pain and addiction. I can’t know what it could feel like for them, but being here touched me with poignant gratitude for the quiet efforts of people like Cath and Brian.