Adventures in the Mitten | Part 3, The WFC: Williamson Fudgie Cyclists

It Takes Two to Tandem!

Mackinac Island is known broadly for two things and the fort described in the previous post, while very interesting, is not necessarily one of them. The first thing is fudge. Fudge shops line Mackinac's Lake Shore Drive and are always thronged with tourists. Because of this, locals refer to island visitors as "fudgies". I do not believe that it is intended as a term of endearment.

The island is also known for bicycles. A popular tourist activity is cycling the full 8.2 mile circumference of the island on Lake Shore Drive, also known as State Highway M-185. Incidentally -- and by necessity -- M-185 is the only motorless highway in the state of Michigan.

We stopped at Mackinac Cycle and rented three bicycles. Only three were necessary because Tom and Alicia braved the dreaded tandem bike. I have to say, they managed it well. In this way, our little band of WFC members temporarily became the Williamson Fudgie Cyclists.

Our greatest cycling challenge came while riding out of town when we encountered a guy astride a bicycle who got his head stuck in his shirt and careened blindly into a curb. Alicia and I nearly dumped our bikes while trying (and failing) not to laugh. From that moment on, just mentioning that guy would invoke a fit of giggles from everyone. Time to revive those early 2000s  "Real Men of Genius" commercials. Here's to you Mr. Head in My Shirt Bike Rider!

We stopped on the east face of the island to climb the 207 steps to Arch Rock. We knew that it was 207 steps because there were multiple signs specifically providing this number in warning. Who knew that it was leg day? Despite spending over five hours in the plane that day, I also logged over 15,000 steps. Don't call me a "fudgie".

Arch Rock is a striking natural sight. 

We traded group photos with a visiting family. It is very difficult to take a group photo with Arch Rock without blocking Arch Rock.

From there, we descended the 207 steps and saddled up for continued circumnavigation of the island with Tom and Alicia setting the pace in front.

Despite not being a celestial mechanics expert, I was unsurprised that the early evening light was better on the west side of the island. A faint outline of the Mackinac Bridge was apparent in the distance.

Mackinac Bridge.

This is why we have zoom lenses. It was a shame about the haze, though.

Photo by Alicia.

The beach we visited was near British Landing where King George III's troops and Native American allies arrived on a July night in 1812. They made their way to the rear of Fort Mackinac, pointed a bunch of guns at the back door, and demanded its surrender. Americans garrisoned at the fort were completely unaware that the United State was at war with Great Britain again and I imagine that this was a terrible way to find out.

Overall, the ride around the island was pleasant with lots of beautiful views to enjoy. After flying for several hours, then touring the fort, the ride made for easy exercise to wrap up our time on the island.

We paused on the way back in to town for Alicia to brag a little bit about her bike seat, which was called "The Executive". (Zoom in, that's what it says.)

Next came a debate about dinner. No one was actually hungry after the large, late lunch we had at the Chuckwagon. We made the decision to return our bikes, take a horse drawn taxi back to the airport, and launch for Traverse City, our next destination.

There was one problem: taxi services closed up shop at 5:00 pm and we had missed our window of opportunity. This was one place where I dropped the ball in my planning. Looking around Lake Shore Drive, we realized that most of the fudgies were already gone for the day, headed back to the mainland on the many ferries that serve the island. With the crowds gone, a peaceful vibe settled over the whole place. I suspect that it represented something closer to the true feel of the island.

Photo by Alyssa.

Without a taxi option, we "hoofed" it back to the airport.

After surrendering our rented bicycles, we walked from Fort Mackinac...

...past the Main Street Inn and Suites where Kristy and I stayed during our first flight to Mackinac in 2009...

...alongside the iconic Grand Hotel...

...and finally reached the Mackinac Island Airport. Golden hour had truly begun by the time we arrived.

Warrior 481 and Two Six Romeo were the only remaining day tripper airplanes parked on the grass. It was still hot and we watched a heavily loaded Cirrus SR-22 lumber down runway 26, only breaking ground and struggling into the air after most of the runway was behind it. Both Cherokees acquitted themselves far better than that.

Mackinac Aerial Survey

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
03 Aug 2024	N21481	MCD (Mackinac Island, MI) - TVC (Traverse City, MI)	1.1	2876.8

After departing runway 26 and reaching pattern altitude of 1900 feet, we began a counterclockwise orbit of Mackinac Island to get one last look at it in the dwindling light.

Still climbing, we passed the Grand Hotel, already enveloped by lengthening gray shadows.

At altitude, the wildfire smoke was still evident as atmospheric haze.

Even from a couple of thousand feet up, the steep ramp leading to Fort Mackinac is still pretty impressive, especially for Michigan where the word "elevation" is rarely used as a distinguishing characteristic of the terrain.

We circled east of Mackinac Island as the sun sank deeper into the clouds and haze.

From north of the island, the haze layer developed a gauzy, ochre glow. Our entire flight to Traverse City was characterized by this golden hour lighting.

This was our last view of Mackinac Island and its airport before turning south to cross the Straits to the mainland.

Golden Hour Cruise

We observed a little JJ Abrams style lens flare from the sunlight reflecting off Lake Michigan near the Upper Peninsula shore.

We crossed over the Mackinac Bridge at a location that gave significant perspective about its length. Even from our modest altitude, the mighty structure was a delicate filament connecting the landmasses.

Mackinac Bridge! Photo by Alicia.

Tom and Alicia led the way to Traverse City. Despite all my earlier talk with Alyssa about using flight following on cross country flights, I chose not to do so on the way to Cherry Capital Airport. Air traffic was virtually nonexistent and looming darkness was heralded by golden hour's warmer hues in a gauzy atmosphere. It just seemed more peaceful to proceed southwest without constant chatter from Minneapolis Center in our ears.

We passed over Fort Michilimackinac on the south side of the straits. This was the stockade fort that Sinclair abandoned in favor of building Fort Mackinac. The first and last time I saw this fort, I was just a little kid. Because I had watched F-Troop on one of the Detroit-area UHF channels, Fort Michilimackinac's stockade construction better matched my expectations of how a "real" fort should look than did Fort Mackinac.

We arrived over the Lower Peninsula mainland and proceeded past Harbor Springs, Petosky, Charlevoix, and Boyne City en route to Traverse City where we would spend the next two nights.

Cockpit selfies always come out better at golden hour.

Torch Lake.

While flying over Torch Lake, it was difficult not to reminisce about that first fly-in breakfast I attended in Warrior 481 at the all-turf Torchport Airport (59M). Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City was quiet that evening and the wind had ebbed to nothing. Because we approached from the northeast, Tower gave us instructions to enter on a right downwind for runway 36. Without the challenges posed by Mackinac's persistent squirrely winds, my touchdown at Traverse City was textbook.

ForeFlight ground track from Mackinac Island (KMCD) to Traverse City Cherry Capital Airport (KTVC).

In 2023, I spent a week in Traverse City and the return to AvFlight felt somewhat like a homecoming. The line crew quickly parked us and had our rental RAV4 waiting planeside. In fact, the only negative at AvFlight was that they were out of Moomers ice cream! Very disappointing, especially because I had talked it up to everyone.

Packing the car and putting Warrior 481 into her pajamas. Photo by Alyssa.

We were parked next to this Cirrus Vision Jet.

We stopped at The Rare Bird Brewpub for drinks and a light, late dinner because everyone was still well sated from lunch. From there it was on to the Day's Inn and Suites, located just east of the hotel where I spent the better part of a week in May of 2023.

Thinking back on what we did that first day, I am impressed by all that we accomplished. We managed to have a very full day without it ever being a slog. The flight to reach Mackinac, despite the diversion, went flawlessly; we sampled a meaningful portion of what the island had to offer; and the golden hour flight from Mackinac Island to Traverse City was beautiful. We were off to an excellent start!