Just a little walk...

Whew, yesterday was a hard day. Chuck had a route planned for us to park, ride our bikes on a carriage road to a Cadillac Mountain trailhead, hike to the summit, and then back down to our bikes. Apparently we missed the original trailhead, but we didn't know that until later. We found one that said Cadillac Mountain Summit - 2.3 mi, so we parked the bikes next to a tree and locked them. The trail started out not too bad but then turned wicked steep and rocky. Luckily it was marked with blue blazes, because it was hard to follow in spots and we had to backtrack at least once. It makes you wonder who decided, "oh, the trail should go this way" in some of those places.

That's the trail!

We came to a little marsh/meadow which was pretty. And to a spot where other trails came in. Did some map consulting where it was a tad less windy. Enjoyed some spectacular views.

We got to the top and then saw a sign that said the summit was still .5 mi. The boys decided they didn't need to go all the way to the top since we drove there on Monday. Of course Chuck & I had to keep going, so we told the boys to stay put. Chuck & I had decided we should take the other way back down because it was shorter. Then we would have to walk back up to the carriage road to our bikes. The boys wanted to go back the way we came, but we overruled. So anyway, we left them at the fork to the other trail.

We met another couple who pointed out these two geologic markers in rocks and said they thought that was the summit, so we had them take our picture and we went on to the little store we knew was there (from Monday's trip). We bought a refreshing, cold Coke to share and sent the boys a pic to rub it in. Of course there was no cell service so they didn't get the pic until hours later.

We met back up with the boys and headed down. This trail was just as steep and rocky, if not more so.  My quads and knees really started hurting from the constant use. Who knew going down could be harder than going up?

That's the trail.

Also the trail.

Really? Yes, that's the trail, and the pics don't even show how steep it really is.

We made it back down to the carriage road and then had a good walk back to the bikes.

Ben waiting for the bikes to be unlocked. 

Then we rode the almost 4 miles back to the car. I got a blister on my pinky from my walking stick and one on my pinky toe from my shoes, and Ben cut his leg on a rock, but otherwise we made it down fine. 

According to my tracking devices, we rode almost 8 miles on the bikes and walked for 5.69 miles.  I think we went up on Canon Brook Trail to Cadillac South Ridge Trail, then we went down the Cadillac West Ridge Trail.  We were worn out (some of us more than others) but it was a good day.