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TR: Trekchicks Trek on the Mighty Mac!

Trekchick

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To begin this story, let me say, it was my baby sister Brandi who first said, "lets walk the Mackinaw Bridge on Labor day". It seemed impossible because Labor Day Weekend (Known to our family as Harvest Festival Weekend) has traditionally been a huge family time for us. My dad always has a trophy winning parade entry, for which he relies on us girls to inject some character. ( I have the pics of me in a burlap dress to prove it)

This year was THE year to ditch the traditions and walk the Mighty Mack.
When we began the trip we had to decide..........who's turn is it to be the evil one?
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They decided that I'm the evil one!

The Mackinaw Bridge holds a lot of good vibe for me as I recall family vacations from my childhood. More than anything, the Bridge is a treasure.

For those of you who don't know:
The Mackinaw Bridge connects the Upper Peninsula to the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
Construction began May 1954.
It was opened to traffic Nov 1, 1957.
Cost $99,880,000.00
There are two main cables which are 24.5 inches in diameter.:
I have many other facts in my shabby little brain that I'd love to share, but I'll spare you unless you really want to know.

There are many things that make me feel very small, one is the East Wall at Abasin, another is the Mackinaw Bridge.
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When we arrived to make the walk(5 miles on the bridge, then another 3 to the busses that bring you back to your car) the vibe was sort of amazing. The southbound lanes of the bridge were turned into north and south bound for the duration of the walk time.
The Northbound lanes were filled with walkers!


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Part 2 following.............
 

Trekchick

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Part 2

This is the point where you can see both towers in the view!
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I was surprised to see so many small children on the walk, thinking that the trek may be a bit much, but they were doing it and having fun.
This little girl was fascinated with the expansion joint.
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The Bridge has metal grating for the center lanes, as well as the shoulders, which was put in place to save weight and allow for drainage. You can see this in one of the pictures above.
If you're afraid of heights, it is a good idea to NOT look into the grate
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Something that stands out about walking the Mac is that I had an opportunity to see stuff that you can't see when you are in a car, and I was able to embrace its majesty, and show it, its due respect.

Majestic, eh?
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It was truly an experience I embraced and am happy to share.
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It took us 1 1/2 hrs to finish the 5 mile walk, much of which was spent taking pics
But as always, all good things must come to an end..........
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Thanks for readin!

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severine

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Very cool! I'm terrified of heights and bridges make me nervous, so I give you a TON of credit for doing that! I don't think I ever could. :oops: But it sounds like an awesome experience! Thanks for sharing it with us!
 

Beetlenut

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Congrats on a great walk! And unlike golf, it wasn't spoiled. I saw a show on the History channel a while back, that showed the entire construction of that bridge, and all the things they ran into along the way.
 

Trekchick

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Beetlnut, I saw that History channel program too. Its an amazing bridge, that I'm sure the engineers of today would screw up, eh?

It is beautiful.
Michael, I've driven the bridge many times during many seasons. The only time they shut it down is when the winds are too high.
They only allow walking on the Bridge on Labor Day, and they have a bike tour day early in the summer where bicycles have a similar event.

Here is a comment from this web site about high winds and safe travel.

Severine, please don't read this comment!!!!!
Don't worry about safety. If you stay within the speed limit 45 mph in good weather) and obey special weather-related instructions on the lighted display board, you'll be fine. In the few cases of cars going over the guard rail and plunging into the lake, drivers were speeding. One was ruled a suicide; the other involved a tiny Yugo automobile going too fast in very bad weather.
 

o3jeff

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If you haven't seen it, there's an excellent episode of Dirty Jobs where Mike Rowe paints the *inside* of the towers, all the way down at the bottom, then replaces a light bulb up at the very top.

Dirty Jobs on the Mackinac Bridge

Mackinac? Mackinaw? I'm just a copy-and-paste'r. 8)

I just saw the rerun of that episode Monday. I would never walk the cable like they were
 

Trekchick

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The French Indian spelling is Mackinac, while the sloppy English spelling is Mackinaw.
The Bridge is most always spelled with the w, while the city is ALWAYS spelled with a c.

Anything else class?
I'm here for you.

Unless or until you stand at the base of a tower, its tough to get a grasp of the awesome thing it is.

One more pic for perspective.
If you look at this pic, you can see the size of people walking. Now look at the top of the tower. Those dots on the top of the tower are camera crew filming the walk.
Those suspension cables are 24.5 inches in diameter!!!
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billski

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:lol:
It was so much fun, I'm doing it again this year........
Get your popcorn ready, pictures will be forthcoming!

Will it be a little more adventurous this time please? Like rapelling from the top down? Hell yeah, you're a skier, go big!

Can I be one of those little dots at the top of the bridge? Oh, wait, my doc says my brain is as big as a little dot. Never mind....
 

Trekchick

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Sorry but this TR isn't even close to being popcorn worthy! :(

We arrived at our destination on Sunday and went golfing at The Natural, which is a little bit south of the Straights of Mackinac.
The only thing I can say about that "spoiled" walk is ........
Golf is a Stupid Game!

I have a few balls in here...
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On Monday we arrived at the parking for the bridge walk to find a 1+ hr wait for a bus to take us across to the other side. Soooooo, our plans to start walking early were shot, but at the same time, it was very foggy so we weren't feeling like we were missing anything, yet ;)
Here is one of the few(very few) shots we took
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Billski, you'll be disappointed to know that the national guard was on duty, prohibiting me from repelling :(

FWIW, Dehydration is a concern on this walk, more so than hydration. Trust me, with a 7 ish mile walk with no portajons anywhere except the beginning and the end.......you drink sparingly.
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severine

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I still give you a lot of credit for doing it! Sorry it wasn't as photo-worthy this year but that's still a phenomenal feat. Congrats on completing it again!! :beer:
 

Trekchick

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On Monday we arrived at the parking for the bridge walk to find a 1+ hr wait for a bus to take us across to the other side. Soooooo, our plans to start walking early were shot, but at the same time, it was very foggy so we weren't feeling like we were missing anything, yet ;)
Here is one of the few(very few) shots we took
10720_269016380017_830505017_8519186_8071997_n.jpg

Billski, you'll be disappointed to know that the national guard was on duty, prohibiting me from repelling :(
To give a perspective on visibility, here is a pic from last year before we got on the bridge approach. The picture posted above is on the bridge.
n830505017_4008381_467.jpg
 
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