The stories and adventures of a legally blind traveller with a passion for lightweight and ultralight-weight backcountry travel. Tips and ideas for getting the most out of all types of trips near and far.
It has been 9 years since I did a solo backpacking trip. That trip was my second Great Outdoors Challenge crossing of Socttland from Mallaig to Stonehaven. While that was a solo trip I probably met people every day and hiked with them at least some of the time. This hike on the North Country Trail would not only be solo but I expected it would be solitary except at major campgrounds. In this two-part series I travel from Mackinaw City, Michigan to Petowskey, Michigan. In some ways it proves to be a great trip; in other ways not so much. In part 2 I travel from Richard’s property near Levering Road to Petoskey. I also spend some time in Petoskey proper, though I do leave a modest gap, adding a bit more to my totaly milage. All in all I probably hike another 28.5 trail miles along with a modest bit of going to and fro in Petoskey itself. In some ways this segment was less eventful than the first portion but it does have highs and lows and some just plain dull stretches. It is, in other words, prety much what one should expect from a trip: not what you expect. I hope you enjoy the conclusion to this backpacking trip through the Harbor Springs chapter’s section of trail (and a tiny bit of Grand Traverse chapter). I think I am actually a bit off the NCT at this point. I went left and think the trail went right. My two-track sure looked like the proper option. I passed this small field of wildflowers as I neared Robinson Road where I popped out a bit west of the trail interesction. --August 17 2019 at 13:05:52. Harbor Springs, MI, United States Gazing out upon the river in Petowskey, Michigan (Bear River I suppose). The NCT follows bike paths and sidewalks through the heart of Petowskey. It is particularly nice in the Bear River Valley REcreation Area. --August 19 2019 at 14:19:26. Petoskey, MI, United States A bit north of mile marker 603.5 and not far from my end around marker 600. This might actually be a private path to the beach here at Little Traverse Bay but that seems like it should not be so. --August 19 2019 at 16:34:11. Petoskey, MI, United States The silo-like structure at the back right of this building is what really clued me in to the fact that this had to be Petowskey Brewing Company. I probably had the most dangerous bit of hiking right here crossing the road. --August 19 2019 at 18:20:09. Petoskey, MI, United States
It has been 9 years since I did a solo backpacking trip. That trip was my second Great Outdoors Challenge crossing of Socttland from Mallaig to Stonehaven. While that was a solo trip I probably met people every day and hiked with them at least some of the time. This hike on the North Country Trail would not only be solo but I expected it would be solitary except at major campgrounds. In this two-part series I travel from Mackinaw City, Michigan to Petowskey, Michigan. In some ways it proves to be a great trip; in other ways not so much. In part 1 join me for the first 3 days of the hike from Mackinaw City to Levering Road. That is a distance of about 28 trail miles though I actually walked more than that. The actual North Country Trail (NCT) is running across the Mackinac Bridge behind me. I just dipped my toes in the waters of Lake Huron here at Gary R. Witt Memorial park: close enough to the trail. I’ll eventually walk towards the bridge and thus closer to the trail as I head back towards the trailhead at Mackinaw Crossings. For what it is worth I believe my pack tips the scales at about 31 pounds (though it feels heavier). I am crying. 1 liter of water and , unfortunately, 1 quart denatured alcohol for stove fuel. --August 14 2019 at 11:53:42. Mackinaw City, MI, United States Good morning. It is a bit sad that my first campsite had the prettiest morning. --August 15 2019 at 06:55:56. Mackinaw City, MI, United States Sunrise at French Farm Lake. --August 15 2019 at 06:58:29. Mackinaw City, MI, United States A panoramic view of Ssturgeon Bay at the Lakeview Trailhead beach. I spent a bit more time than neccessary to get and treat water. This was a nice place to pause after the first few miles hiking from the Pines campground in Wilderness State Park. --August 16 2019 at 13:30:51. Levering, MI, United States
I hope you enjoy this audio journal. You can find a video that provides a slightly different glimpse of the trip here. Lower Tahquamenon Falls. Even though it is cloudy you will always be impressed when you come here. --May 23 2019 at 15:25. Paradise, MI, United States Tahquamenon Falls. The Upper Falls are shown pouring themselves over the drop. While bugs can sometimes drive you nuts at this state park (not today) it is definitely a place worth visiting. --May 23 2019 at 17:11. Newberry, MI, United States This is Clark’s first backpacking trip. We are a couple hours in to our first day having our first lunch on the trail at a spot we like. --May 24 2019 at 14:09. Munising, MI, United States Our first day on the Lakeshore Trail. Joni looks happy and ready to tackle the world. --May 24 2019 at 15:27. Munising, MI, United States I wish I could recall what this car looked like when I first saw it some 20 years ago. It’s been sitting here far longer than that. The place is an odd spot for an abandoned car as it isn’t really by any roads but maybe that is why it’s here. Photo by Andy --May 25 2019 at 18:00. Munising, MI, United States Pine Bluffs is about a half mile from Trappers Lake. We had to hustle to get here for the sunset but it was worth it. The photo doesn’t really capture the quality of the sunset colors though it does a better job with Lake Suerior which has grown rougher since the afternoon. --May 25 2019 at 21:37. Munising, MI, United States Lake Superior waves lap at the shore of this cove which is one of several. Andy is shown here and you can tell it must be a lovely day - he is down to his base layer. --May 26 2019 at 11:50. Munising, MI, United States It takes a bit of work to gett down (more to climb back up) to this cove but it sure is a pretty spot I am standing in. Phto by Clark --May 26 2019 at 11:56. Munising, MI, United States Grand Portal Arch. This year we walked through frequent mud spots that threatened to soak your feet. A prelude to what we would find the next day. --May 26 2019 at 17:07. Munising, MI, United States Not much of a castle anymore but still worth looking at even, or perhaps especially, on an overcast day such as this day. --May 27 2019 at 13:07. Munising, MI, United States
During the weekend before the 1999 firearms deer season would commence a group of people, all members of the old yahoo Groups GreatLakesHikes group, would arrive at the Birch Grove Schoolhouse for the first annual GLH Gathering. It is now 2018 and last weekend we held the 20th annual GLH/North Country Trail Gathering. While some people have gone (including sadly one death of fondly remembered Dick Bolton) others have joined the gathering. Just three people, myself, Paul, and Julie, have been able to attend all 20. This year’s event was just as enjoyable as previous ones have been. Good food and drink, enjoyable hiking, interesting weather, and always good company helped make this gathering just as good as the previous ones have been. Below you will find a handful of photos that give a sense of the event. You will also find the audio podcast I pulled together to document the event. Having two people working a bow saw makes the job of cutting go much more quickly. When you have two bow saws to use on trees, of which we had several, where two cuts were necessary was quite helpful too. --November 9, 2018 at 11:59 AM. Bitely, MI, United States I believe the creek Andy, Nancy, John, and Steve are corssing is Cole Creek. We are not too far from the start of the hike at M-20. Some people will do a shorter hike of somewhat over 3 miles stopping at 3 Mile Road. The rest of us (including me) will go a bit more than 8 miles to 6 Mile Road. --November 10, 2018 at 11:07 AM. White Cloud, MI, United States We found this horse and it improved Elwira’s and my moods. By this time we had learned that Steve was fine and waiting for us at 5 Mile Road with Jim, Linus and Eugene. Earlier Steve had bushwhacked around El and me and we did not know it. We were worried and spent time trying to track him down. --November 10, 2018 at 1:54 PM. White Cloud, MI, United States Just beyond 5 Mile Road. Steve took this photo of me. --November 10, 2018 at 2:50 PM. White Cloud, MI, United States Happy birthday Julie and Debi. --November 10, 2018 at 7:16 PM. , , Tent city at the Schoolhouse. You can see my tent, Andy and Elwira’s tent, the Haan home, and John’s tiny shelter. --November 11, 2018 at 10:48 AM. White Cloud, MI, United States Loda Lake. Those of us left after breakfast and Schoolhouse cleanup are doing a 3 mile hike around Loda Lake. --November 11, 2018 at 12:37 PM. White Cloud, MI, United States Steve has found an emergency shelter. No emgency presented itself during our break so when we left he got up and left with us. --November 11, 2018 at 1:47 PM. White Cloud, MI, United States #travel
I do not know how many times I have backpacked the Lakeshore Trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore over the past couple of decades. I have gone in both directions many times. This year, with 13 other people many with little to no backpacking experience, I would travel the trail once again from Sand Point to Sable Falls. This is something of an annual trip over Memorial Day Weekend though I do not always get to attend. The trip would turn out to be a very fine one even with some trials and tribulations thrown in. We lucked out with the weather and everyone had a good time. The audio you are listening too will give you a sense of what we experienced. You can find more photos in these photo albums which have the same photos but display differently (Google, Apple). There is also a video you can enjoy here on YouTube.
I don't know how many Wheatland Music Festivals I have attended. I know many who have been going for decades. It is a a festival full of music, workshops, dance, and good times. You might not enjoy all the music that you can find but chances are good you will find something you will like. In this episode you will hear music from Bruce Moksly and the Mountain Drifters, Don Julen's Mr. Natural Project, Ruthie Foster, Session Americana, Lunasa, and Jayme Stone'sLomax Project. There was considerably more than just this.
The Waimangu Volcanic Valley features numerous geothermal features. Mount Terawera erupted June 1886 destroying everything in the area and totally reshapedpp q the land. Lake Rotomahana grew 20 times in size and became North Island's deepest lake. The famed pink and white terraces vanished beneath the water or were destroyed. The world's largest hot pool, Fryingpan Lake, was born. Today a fantastic mixture of re-emergent flora and fauna combine with the landscape to create a stunning special place. More re photos and video coming
The Coast to Coast Trail runs between Waitemata Harbor and Manukau Harbor in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is 10 miles long and does have some modest climbing , mostly up and then down Mt. Eden, the local high point. This is an urban walk but don't let that fool you. We saw a lot and were very pleased with this hike through neighborhoods and parks. Enjoy the audio diary. You can learn more about the trail in many places. Here is just one that includes a map. Coast to Coast Trail Infow.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/en/parksfacilities/walkingtracks/pages/coasttocoast.aspx
We have now been in Auckland for two days. Our first day we spent wandering around town: visiting the harbor, walking through some parks including part of what might be the largest park in Auckland - Auckland Domains -and getting a sense of the city. Once you get off of the main streets things get quieter and there certainly are neighborhoods to be found. One thing that struck us is that the vast majority of the people we are seeing seem to be fairly young. I'm not sure how many of them are locals and how many of them are tourists, students from abroad, or workers from abroad but the general trend seems to be towards younger people. We have also noticed a large number of people especially from Pacific Rim countries which I suppose make sense if those people are coming here to work, travel, or study. Our second day we explored a little bit more of the city and also took the harbor tour; featured in the bonus material you'll find at the end of the podcast. Both days the weather has been A bit cloudy and warm. When the sun does break through the clouds it feels quite a bit warmer. So far, we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here. We have even managed to find some rather nice places to eat which sometimes is a challenge for us.
It is a partly sunny afternoon. The temperature is warm enough with just a hint of coolness in the modestly blowing breeze. It's the last day Argo Canoe Livery will be open this year and I am taking advantage of the fine afternoon for one last paddle to Barton Dam and back. This is an easy paddle of just under 4 miles round-trip. You don't really have anything to worry about on this stretch of the Huron River unless you somehow ignore the presence of the dams. While I am sure people can get hurt (I recall a woman did drown in this area years ago) it's hard to imagine. It's hard to imagine even getting stuck though there are shallows, naturally enough, by the banks. It is a thoroughly lovely easy paddle marred only by the roar of nearby traffic. Photos viewable in an album from Apple iCloud (not captions) or from Google (captioned).
Amsterdam Day 1 - August 5, 2016 Our first day in Amsterdam has come to a close. We spent it exploring beyond the immediate neighborhood. Our apartment is located near museums including the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Somewhat farther away we found , in due time, Central Station and even the location of the apartment Mom, Dad and I stayed in 16 years ago when last here. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours exploring the immediate surroundings; today we wandered farther afield. Amsterdam is certainly walkable but you had best pay attention to the countless cyclists and motor scooter riders. While the vast majority of them follow the same rules of the road that cars do their bike lane is right next to the sidewalk and easy to stray into. It is certainly an extra challenge for anyone with low vision , let alone blind people; walking here can be a real trial even though traffic lights have audible warnings for when you can cross or not. We walked around for several hours with notable breaks to take in the Van Gogh Museum. He certainly led a troubled life and yet during his productive career, just ten years, he would have a large impact on the world of painting. It is a remarkable museum even if it is somewhat crowded. Later in the day, a pleasantly warm partly cloudy afternoon, we took a canal boat tour. You get a bit of a sense of the city's age when doing that. You pick up a few tidbits of information along the way too. It is a nice change of pace. We wrapped our day up with a jazz concert at the Concert-Gebouw. That was a very fine way to top off the first full day here in Amsterdam.
SEKI Adventure Show Notes Part 1 Andy and I start our adventure in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI). There are many reasons a trip can be an adventure and only some of them ares strictly physical. I certainly would experience several of them during the trip. In part 1 we get things going from our flights from Michigan to California, initial meanderings through the mountains in search of a campsite and stove fuel, and then the actual backpacking portion of the trip itself. You can see the complete trip journal in the A Wandering Knight blog (awanderingknight.blogspot.com). Photos are presented in several different albums and you can find those referenced from the trip journal. Video will be coming soon. You can find complete photo albums that document the whole trip in Apple (doesn't show photo captions and EXIF data), Flicrk, and Google (same photos different presentations).
It’s time for summer trail maintenance on the North Country Trail (NCT). Andy and I maintain a section between 13 Mile road (Cleveland Drive) and 16 Mile Road in Newago County. The section also includes the side trail to Highbanks Lake Campground. All told the section is easily 6.5 miles long. This year we hoped to do a lot of re-blazing. Circumstances would rather dramatically affect our plans. Trail maintenance can be saticefying but it can be hard work too. Learn more about the North Country Trail at their website northcountrytrail.org. Andy and I are part of the Western Michigan chapter. Get a visual sense of what things can be like from this short video on youtube (https://youtu.be/7iNYXnHSGnw)
Top of the Park has wrapped up for another year. You can get more of a sense of what this year was like from the previous podcast (there are also some others in the queue if you look back far enough). In this one I feature bits of music from Shari Kane and Dave Steele, Whit Hill and the Postcards, and George Beddard and the Kingpins.
Ann Arbor Summer Festival runs for the last three weeks in June. It actually runs through the July 4 weekend. While the festival features numerous paid ticketed shows at the Power Center the real meat and potatoes of the event are, I feel, to be found at the Top of the Park. There you'll find free music of various types from singer songwriters, country, intriguing bands that defy easy categorization, and rock 'n roll. Events for kids as well as other special events happen there too. There is also a wide assortment of food available. Music heard here includes: Magdalen Fossum, Annie and Rod Capps, Annebelle Road, RFD Boys, and Hoodang.
West Park hosts a variety of events in the summer. The Penny Seats Theater (penny's eats.org) are doing two shows this year. Now, and the weekend of June 30, 2016, they're doing a version of The Cantebury Tales.
It is the second weekend of June and I am finally joining Paul Haan and Eric Doyle with Eric's Friend Jamison for a weekend of fly fishing. This would , for Jamison and me, be our first fly fishing excursion and it quickly became clear that we had a lot to learn as we tried to catch our first fish out of the Muskegon River. Fly fishing is a more involved activity than you might first think. I am confident that their are scores, if not hundreds, of species of flies that one can use that try and entice various fish to strike and impale themselves upon a hook. The flies you use change depending on the time of year, what is hatching, what is turning from nymph to fly (I think) and what the fish are doing. You may try different flies at different times of the day ; you might try using more than one fly at a time; you might move you line in different ways to make a fish think the fly is more like a real tasty morsel than not. Of course, most times you will fail to catch a fish - it's a good thing we about catch and release and not trying to put food on our tables. While I doubt I'll ever be an active fisherman, if for no other reason than logistics of getting to fishing holes, I did enjoy my attempt at fly fishing. I am sure their are other people with very limited vision who fish, taking advantage of welcomed help by those who can see and know what they're doing, and I'm quite happy I was able to join the fishing community. A trip video on YouTube is here.
Join me, Andy, Elwira, and Luna (the dog) on a camping weekend in mid-Spring on the North Country Trail. We do trail maintenance and a bunch of hiking along the NCT in the area of Baldwin, Michigan. Learn more about the NCT at the northcountrytraitl.org website.
This year I attended the 42nd annual Wheatland Musci Festival. I am not sure how many I have been too; less than 10 but certainly at least 8. That may seem like alot but compared to many I'm a piker. Paul Haan has probably attended 25 and I know people who have attended nearly every festival. People return year after year not only for the generally excellent muscial variety but to renew friendships. Wheatland Music Festival is more than just dozens of concerts it is a thriving community. I hope you enjoy this audio program and get a good sense of what a wonderful festival Wheatland is. Natually enough I have included a sampling of some of the music played at the festival. You'll hear music by Bill Kirchen, Dervish, California Feetwarmers, some open mich music, Balsam Range, Rapetipitam, and Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton. You can learn more about the Wheatland Musci Festival, held the weekend after Labor Day, on Wheatland Music Organization's property just outside of Remus, Michigan at their webiste (www.wheatlandmusic.org)
Who is happier about this hike? I think Jim probably is. Kip though would enjoy himself though scampering through the woods when Jim was sure no one else was about. The Jordan River Pathway and North Country Trail form an 18-mile loop. Located in the northwestern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula the Jordan River valley is perhaps a bit less well known than some other areas. I’ve actually not done this loop hike before. On May 31 and June 1, 2015 I joined Jim Walke and his dog Kip to backpack the loop. Like most people we decided to do the hike in the traditional counter-clockwise fashion starting at the overnight parking lot at Deadman’s Hill. But, I am getting ahead of myself - let’s start at the beginning…. There is a fair bit of information available about the Jordan River Pathway Loop. The JRP is maintained by the Jordan Valley 45° North North Country Trail Association Chapter. While some maps exist online for the area they are pretty meager affairs. You can get a rough sense of the area from this overall trail map (PDF file, page 2) and of the detour from this map. The map in Jim DuFresne’s Backpacking in Michigan book is decent and I expect the NCT map isn’t bad. We were stirring by 07:00 and it was a chilly morning. I suspect the nighttime low was closer to freezing than either Jim or I expected. In fact, I learned Jim had a chilly night. But with the sun shining down upon us we warmd up as we crossed the Jordan River expecting another fine day of hiking. Jordan River Pathway Overview Map page 1 of 2. Jordan River Pathway Overview Map page 2 of 2. The complete photo album for the hike can be found here on Flickr.
It has been a very long time since I went to a major league baseball game. Since Andy had to work on Thursday, just before we would head up north for our backpacking weekend at Pictuted Rocks National Lakeshore, I was able to go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game at Comerica Park.
Three times a year I join Andy Mytys and Joh Lawton and we drive west and north towards Lake Michigan to maintain a section of the North Country Trail (NCT). Our section runs about 6.5 miles from 13 Mile Road (north) to 16 Mile Road (south) in Newago County. You usually can find something different in any trail work session and this year was no exception. Finding the very hot remains of a campfire in an illegal campsite was the unfortunate standout this time (see video here). Learn more about the North Country Trail and Western Michigan NCTA Chapter.
On the weekend of January 24 and 25th, 2015 I joined nine other adventurous kayakers to paddle a stretch of the Manistee River between Tippy DAm and Rainbow Bend. It would be a good adventure with plenty to learn and experience for all. The trip was organized by the Fortune Bay Expedition Team. Additional photos can be found here. A more detailed written account is on my blog.
Photo by Paul HaanFor a few minutes the sun broke through the overcast. It didn't last long but was nice to see for the time it was visible. This is the 16th annual November GreatLakesHikes Gathering. The weekend before firearms deer season opens here in Michigan members of the GreatLakesHikes Yahoo email group and others gather at a former one-room schoolhouse near White Cloud, Michigan for a weekend of hiking, eating, chatting, and general good fun. This would be one of the smaller gatherings we have had but it was no less fun because of that. The Gathering is an annual event that is organzied by members of the Great Lakes Hikes Yahoo email group. While the group isn't nearly as active as it used to be we still do use it to talk about hiking and other activities mostly within Michigan. Many of the GLH members are also members of the North Country Trail Association. The trails we typically hike when at the Gathering are maintained by the Western Michigan Chapter of which I am a member. If you enjoy hiking the NCT please do consider joining a trail chapter. Here are the photos for the GLH Gathering. We decided to do a shorter-than-usual hike compared to most of the long hikes of Gatherings of previous years. We hiked the North Country Trail from Condon Lake to Leaf Lake and at that point people made decisions about what to do. My group of 7 would continue along Leaf Lake before going off-trail to cross to the other side of the lake and return off-trail back towards Condon Lake and the NCT and either the cars parked there or further on to Highbanks Lake where the last of us (including me) would end our hike. The bushwhack would include a slog across an improvised jerry-built bridge of long branches and then a pause at this large beaver dam. Durning the afternoon wind whipped through the trees and it sprinkled on and off including a bit of sleet. Photo By Paul HaanAt the end of September the Western Michigan chapter of the North Country Trail Association finished one of many trail projects. Here they built a bridge over this slow moving black as night water near the White River. It's a blustery afternoon sporting a temperature in the upper 30s. While the rain is north of us my rain jacket was nice to have to block the wind that got to us through the bare trees.
today July 11, 2014 was the 20th rolling sculpture car show here in Ann Arbor. I have not been to all of them by any means but I do try to go when I can. Even though I, naturally since I am legally blind, do not drive. There is something special about seeing a plethora of cars from a variety of decades. I think part of what makes car shows like this special is the chance to see how the styles of cars have changed over the years. It also gives us a chance to reflect back on how our society has changed over time after all the styles of the cars affect our society our society also fixed the styles of the car. Forgive any odd quirks in the text of this web post. I am using dictation to creatwe it as I broke two fingers of my left hand last weekend and typing therefore is impossible. Fortunately I didn't need to type to create this podcast audio.
There is about one week left before the Ann Arbor Summer Festival closes its doors for 2014. Top of the Park is in full swing and I've been a few times already to this basically free outdoor music festival. Their is quite a variety of music to be heard as well as the regularly scheduled movies. I do hope you can get out and enjoy what remains of this special event that takes place every year. Music heard in this podcast includes Magdalen Fossum Transe Express The Crane Wives The Ragbirds More photos can be found in this Flickr Album.
On the weekend of June 7-8, 2014 the College of Wooster hosted its annual alumni class reunion weekend. This would be the 25th year reunion for my class of 1989. It would also be the first time I have attended a class reunion. I've never been endowed with a large amount of what you might call school spirit. Nor did I actually have that many close connections with much of the class. In fact, the people I know best all live here in Michigan and not necessarily that far away (hich doesn't mean I see them that often). My expectations were not set to high as I am not a good conversationalist as far as general chit-chat goes. But I hoped to get something positive out of the weekend and I think I did. I hope you enjoy this little audio postcard. I apologize for some of the audio quality being a bit rough. The bulk of the audio was recorded using my iPhone and a new microphone, the Zoom IQ5, and I am definitely still learning its quirks. While the field recording quality isn't up to top tier standards I think you'll get a sense of what the weekend was like. And if the audio doesn't do it for you perhaps the photos will. My thanks to Paul Potts for letting me share his photos. Good morning, Wooster. Ken Knight waiting for the parade of the classes. The parade will have classes dating back to 1949. lasses come every 5th year (1949, 1954, 1959, and so on through 1989 and ending with 2009). The parade for the classes is being lead by wooster bagpipers. At least I assume they're affiliated with the College of Wooster bagpipe band as they're wearing MacLeod tartan kilts. Wooster actually, as I understand it, doesn't really have Scottish roots but somehow that cultural identity got adopted by the college and it now certainly infuses sports as well as the band. I can't recall the name of the mascot on the left but the fellow on the right is Wooster's Fight Scot. The photos can also be seen in this Flickr album.
It has been a while since I've managed to go on any winter backpacking trips. In fact, it has been several years since I've actually done more than day hiking in the winter even if some of those trips were based out of rustic cabins in places like Wilderness State Park by Mackinaw City or the cabins in the Waterloo-Pinckney Recreation Area. So this two-night weekend spent hiking a portion of the Manistee River Trail with friends was a real treat. Joined by experienced, in some cases (maybe all), winter backpackers Doug, Ewa, and Paul (and Paul's dog Capone) we planned a fairly modest couple days of hiking in and then back out on the Manistee River Trail. Their was a time when I had hiked the entire loop which includes the North Country Trail on the other side of the Manistee River covering about 21 miles over a weekend in snowshoes but this trip would be nowhere nearly that ambitious. Our plan was to drive to Red Bridge Friday night and either camp right there or somewhere nearby, hike however far on Saturday to some point along the trail, and return Sunday for the drive back to our respective homes. We would meet at Barski Bar in Baldwin and after dinner drive to Red Bridge to start our hiking weekend. I suspect that their aren't that many places to eat in Baldwin, Michigan. Barski's though has some truly wonderful food. I imagine the burger I had that was topped with an egg plus the more usual burger toppings would make a cardiologist cringee but boy was it tasty. The meals everyone else had create similar amounts of gastronomic pleasure and none of us worried much about the calories. After all, we were about to go on a winter hike. It would be well past sunset when we managed to park our two cars in the unplowed snowy parking lot at Red Bridge. We hoisted our packs, heavy with winter gear, grabbed our snowshoes and began the hike which starts with a quarter-mile tromp down North Coates Highway to where the MRT trailhead is. Once there we did a bit more gear re-arranging , stepped into our snowshoes, and began the slow process of hiking along the narrow snowy Manistee River Trail. ********** ********** ********** We were in no rush to leave camp Saturday morning. While we all started to stir not long after sunrise we did not actually leave camp until about 11:00. We were only going to hike about 3 miles so leaving so late was hardly a hardship. When we left to hike the rolling hills it was overcast but nice enough. We made our way methodically along the trail enjoying the frequent views of the river as we crunched loudly through the snow. When we reached our planned, well the site Paul figured would be good mostly because it has such fine river views, around 14:00 (perhaps a bit earlier than that) we settled in for a fine lazy afternoon. The sun was out and that made setting up camp a much nicer though perhaps not really all that much quicker of a task. Of course, it was far too early to be done with our day so after dawdling about camp for a while we decided to hike to Slagle Creek. What a wonderful hike that turned out to be. Sure hiking down in and then out of a ravine along a slick hillside was a tiny bit of a chore but only a small annoyance. The sun had conquered the clouds that had been out earlier and it was a fine day to be out enjoying the trail. Settling down later to soak up some of that sun along the southwest facing ridge by our camp was also a real treat. ********** ********** ********** The hike back to the cars was as enjoyable as the hike out. To be sure the day was actually somewhat colder but that hardly matters when you're tromping through snow that if you break through will rise well past your calf. We did break camp a bit more quickly but we still weren't in anything like a real hurry. We had ample time to hike out and some of us were lucky enough to spy various wildlife along the way including a couple bald eagles. We paused a few times for enjoyable breaks, usually in places at least a little out of the wind though still with views of the river down below. I think the biggest surprise though of our return hike came near its end. On the way out, seemingly farther along than it really was we had to squeeze by a juniper bush that was pushing well into the trail. On our left the trail vanished into a drop-off that seemed to drop easily 30 feet into blackness that likely concealed a lot of muck. Getting past that bush was something of a trial. When we came to it in the glare of a high sun it was far easier to edge past it and the drop off turned out to be at most 8 feet and nowhere near as imposing let alone dangerous. Hiking at night changes your perspective. We reached our cars a little after 14:00. Naturally we had to have a post-hike meal and so a return visit to Barski Bar was called for. I must say the rueben I had was even tastier than the burger of Friday night. Everyone else agreed their meals were equally good. After that fine meal it was time for Ewa and I to head back towards Ann Arbor while Paul and Doug returned to Grand Rapids. It had been a very good weekend indeed.
On the weekend of April 11, 2014 Andy, Elwira, John and I went out to do our spring trail maintenance. Our section of North Country Trail runs from 13 Mile Road to 16 Mile Road (Newago County, Michigan) and includes the side trail to Highbank Lake Campground. All told this is about 6.4 miles of trail that passes by several lakes rising and falling through many gentle short climbs. This weekend will be remembered for the great thunderstorm that ripped through the area Saturday night and Sunday morning. Besides the hail and very heavy flood causing rains the storm brought gale force winds that likely hit speeds around 60MPH and brought down numerous trees. Sadly I suspect the section of trail we had worked on Saturday likely has new trees down that we couldn't get back too. We certainly found downed trees that had not been there on the Highbank Lake campground side trail Sunday afternoon. Since we have a nearly four-hour drive to get to our section campsite located just south of Cedar Creek on FR 5311 not to mention the time we spend driving to places like 13 Mile Road and elsewhere we maintain a somewhat lengthier section than many to make all that travel time worthwhile - it just makes sense. Usually we have just one car so we have to do out-and-back hiking. While that does mean we can be certain our blazes are in great shape in both directions it does double the amount of hiking with our tools. Consequently we typically do our section in two pieces: 13 Mile Road to Highbank Lake campground the first day and 16 Miles to Highbank Lake the second day. Of course, before we can start working on the trail we must drive to the campsite and since we rarely seem to leave the Ann Arbor area before 6:00PM even when things are going smoothly we don't reach camp until rather late at night. This weekend would be no exception. It would, in fact, have a later start for several reasons all of which were outside our control and perhaps can be blamed for some troubles later in the weekend (well, OK that's likely a stretch). ****************************** Even though we expected it to rain Saturday afternoon we didn't rush to get up and moving. After all, no one had gone to sleep before 1:00AM. But by mid-morning we were walking along the trail looking for things that needed to be dealt with. Surprisingly it turned out that we wouldn't have too much hard work to do. Plenty of small brush and a handful of blowdowns constituted the bulk of the work. A little bit of touch-up work on trail blazes, which is how Willow acquired that lovely blue tail, was done too. All in all as we passed by occasional patches of lingering snow as well as lakes that still had some ice floes bobbing about it was pretty easy work. The weather was holding off but we knew that couldn't last so after finishing off our late lunch at Highbank Lake Campground as a sporadic drizzle came down we put on our ponchos and headed back out. We planned to take a short cut which would use the forest service roads and a little cross-country hiking. I'm not sure how much of a short-cut it really ended up being but it certainly wasn't short enough. The storms we worried about started to pound us well before we reached the car. We had some confusion about where we were and the best way to go that may have slowed us up some but even had things gone perfectly I doubt we would've rreched the car before the downpour began. We poured our wet bodies into the car and drove into town for dinner rain falling hard all the way. One local, maybe he was a bit drunk, enthused loudly to the bar that the, "sky was falling." Certainly plenty of rain was and it would stop only briefly throughout the course of the next dozen or so hours. We returned to camp around 6:00PM and scurried into our respective shelters hoping the storm wouldn't last long. The rain stopped and the hail began. That was only the beginning of the extremely lousy, and potentially quite dangerous, weather we would be treated to all night long. ****************************** You can only stay in your shelter so long. That length of time diminishes when you feel you aren't sleeping well. So while John and Andy snored on I was moving about not long after sunrise. Elwira and Willow joined me soon after. The storms had finally abated and we quickly learned that the damage left behind was extensive. Trees had been brought down all over the place; Cedar Creek had flooded; drainage ditches on the forest service road were flooded. I've no doubt that trees are down and blocking the trail we had walked Saturday. Talk about bad timing. We found extensive blowdowns on the section of trail between 16 Mile road and Highbank Lake too as well as bonus blowdowns on the campground side trail. As you can see doing trail maintenance can have its ups and downs. While you likely won't experience severe weather like we encountered during our weekend all that often it certainly can add a bit of spice to a weekend's worth of work. Even if you do not have a long distance trail like the North Country Trail near you chances are you have some trails near by that can use your help. If you do have a stretch of NCT nearby and want to learn more you can start by visiting the official webiste at northcountrytrail.org. A Note about the audio: I am experimenting with a new external microphone for the iPhone. It's a Zoom IQ5 stereo microphone and the results are proving interesting. I don't quite understand why one channel is picking up my voice so much more robustly than the other but that seems to be happening. Perhaps I just need to learn the ins and outs of the microphone. It certainly has better fidelity than the little iRig Miccast I used before. Photos can be found in the following places. The albums have the same pictures but present them differently: Flickr album, Google album
We are visual creatures but we have other senses. One of which is little talked about: smell. I think certain scents can be incredibly evocative and certain smells can be terribly annoying but we don't want to forget that least talked about sense. Sorry about the end but audioboo doesn't let you edit the audio.
Communities are an important part of life and you realize that when you are only on the edge of them.
Our weekend backpacking trip along the Manistee River Trail was quite a success. I'll have much more to say later on with photos, videos, and writing. You can get a jump on the photos by checking out the flickr album at flickr.com/wanderingkenknight (Manistee River Trail, 3-2014).
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