I made it to Petoskey, reasonably dry. I abandoned my originally planned route, which was pretty much stuck under a raincloud, and took a chance by going inland. I rode about an hour east, to the village of Fredric, which lies on good old Old 27. Thats the road I took two years ago to get to Mackinac, so I knew it’d be suitable for riding. And it was – so far – experiencing only sprinkles. My hope was to at least get around the active rain and get to Petoskey to make camp before it was deluged.

It worked. The rain system was still drifting eastward, but even at 30mph I could outrun the worst of it. It rose above a sprinkle here and there, but with full raingear on, I stayed pretty dry. My Frogg Toggs – which are designed for hiking – weren’t fully effective where my legs lie on the seat, but that’s just a little damp.

I took Old 27 to a little spot on the map called Wolverine, then took the only paved road winding from there to Petoskey. The whole ride was low on traffic, except around towns, which made an otherwise blah ride more enjoyable. I did pretty much no stopping “to smell the roses”, in part because of my mission to reach Petoskey, and in part because it’s just no fun in the rain.

In the meantime, the north end of the rain system appears to be breaking up. It isn’t over, but it isn’t raining here at the moment, and what’s left should be isolated.

I like Petoskey State Park. I checked out the day-use area when I came through here three years ago, but this is the first I’ve seen the campground. It’s woodsy. Lots of trees and each site is somewhat isolated from the others. And mine has a path up to the sand dunes.

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