The first two hours of hiking were spent with our heads down trudging through the streams that poured down the trails searching for the path of least resistance downhill. Midway into our hike, the rain let up and eventually stopped. Today's hike passed through some surprisingly hilly terrain. We spent most of the day climbing in and out of ravines, passing over some beautiful cascading streams. The trail would cross a tributary of the Jordan River on a footbridge and then switchback several hundred feet to provide a bird's eye view of the valley before dropping into the next ravine and starting the process over again.
Just as soon as we had pulled off the hoods on our rain jackets a second, stronger thunderstorm rolled into the valley. Time seems to move more slowly when hiking in the rain. The forest tends to look the same everywhere when the rain is pouring down and it's hard to carry on a conversation over the noise. Eventually, you realize you have no choice but to stare at your feet and keep putting one foot in front of the other. This was our mode of operation for the last hour of today's hike. By the time we climbed back up Deadman's Hill we could wring water out of our socks (and would shortly!).
Upon reaching the Jeep we peeled off our wet clothes and changed into dry ones, taking advantage of the abandoned parking lot. As we drove away in the rain in pursuit of a hot cup of coffee it was hard to imagine the sun would ever shine again. 45 minutes later we were in Traverse City and there was not a cloud to be seen! The car thermometer reads 80 degrees as we drive South. Only in Michigan! All told we logged 19 miles of hiking in two days and saw some pretty cool country for the first time. Here are some pictures:
