Day two on the Iron Belle. I drove to Gibraltar and parked on the street near the Gibraltar Grill, where I finished walking last time. Then hit the trail/bike path that heads roughly west toward Flat Rock.

I guess part of what I find appealing about walking on paths that aren’t primarily walking paths is the unexpected nice bits that you stumble upon. Like this lion statue that someone installed on a bridge.

Or this scene.

After hiking a few miles, check it out!! My first (and thus far only) Iron Belle sign!! The Iron Belle has two different paths, one designated as biking and the other as hiking. Though I’m walking the hiking one, thus far I’ve been walking on paths that are primarily used by (and signed for) bikers. I’ve seen a handful of joggers, and zero other walkers. Honestly the bikers don’t seem to be all that pleased by my presence.

A couple more photos of pretty scenery. Once again I didn’t get an early enough start, not until around 7:45. It was a beautiful day, but would have been even better if I had gotten on the trail by 6:30.

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The path crosses the highway, then turns north. Honestly, this section until Flat Rock was pretty lousy. The roar of the highway was annoying. After that, the path followed a busy commercial street, where I couldn’t find much to admire. Maybe if I had had an earlier start, and there was less traffic, this section would have been more enjoyable.

This sign was nice, though. The paths runs parallel to the Ford Flat Rock Assembly plant, and I was hoping to get to see some of the factory. But I couldn’t see much of anything from the road.

This playground looked pretty fun, too, and was apparently built by the community in 1997 in an “Old Fashioned Barn Raising.”

Made it to Flat Rock!

I stopped by Kate’s Kitchen for a snack (cash only!). I thought about eating in, but there was a long line for a table. So I got this creme puff to go and walked to the nearby park to enjoy it.

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At this point I’d gone about nine miles, and after the break, really wasn’t that tired. I started to continue on, but then realized that the path veered from the road for awhile. Since I was dependent on an car share to get back to my car, I decided to call it a day. Walked back to Flat Rock, called an Uber, and got a lift back to where I started.