“Hiking-I don’t like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains-not hike! Do you know the origin of that word, “saunter?” It’s a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, “A la saints terre,” ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as “Sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not “hike” through them.” (John Muir)
This afternoon we finally completed Phase One of the hiking goal we set this past winter. With “The Trails of M22” as guidebook, 
we made our way (in no particular order) through all 15 of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore trails and all 11 of the Leelanau Conservancy trails identified in the book. All of these trails are located within 30 miles of where we live and each is unique in regard to distance, level of difficulty and terrain. The shortest trail on this list was less than a mile and the longest, 27 miles. We encountered few if any other people on most of these trails. We were led through forests of red pine, white pine, hemlock, cedar, tamarack, oak, birch, beech, aspen and more, through fruit tree orchards and wetlands, over sand dunes, past kettles, kettle bogs, raspberry, blueberry and thimbleberry patches, glacial erratics and a wide variety of ferns and wildflowers. Many of the trails took us to stunning Lake Michigan overlooks. All them evoked indescribable awe and wonder.
Phase Two is next: to complete the 11 Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy trails and the 3 miscellaneous trails also identified in the “Trails of M22” guidebook.
This map provides an easy overview of where all 40 of the M22 trails are located. Our home, within three miles of #26 Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, is centrally located for easy driving access to all of them.
The 15 Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore trails we completed are:
The 11 Leelanau Conservancy trails we completed are:
We’ve also hiked Palmer Woods numerous times, a recently developed Leelanau Conservancy trail not listed in our edition of “Trails of M22”. Palmer Woods is located approximately 1 mile from our home, so we walk or run through it often. It makes for a scenic 6 mile loop right from our front door!
We appreciate John Muir’s words about sauntering reverently rather than hiking through. While the mountains of California were his Holy Land, the Leelanau Peninsula, often referred to as the little finger of the mitten-shaped lower Peninsula of Michigan, is ours. This is where we are right now. This is where we saunter whenever we can. This is where we experience the Holy, the mystery of God’s Presence everywhere, in everything.
We’re motivated to complete Phase Two of our M22 goal, but most of all to keep sauntering this beautiful place!
I resonate with the “ sauntering through” comment- can picture you seeing around you, reflecting, listening, communing with God – looks like many wonderful trails to saunter through!
Jane, glad you resonate with “sauntering”……I can easily see you doing the same! Love your poems, by the way. Thanks for sharing them on fb!