Loving the Green!

This was my last chance for a real conditioning hike before the Adirondacks. (I'm leading a hike on Saturday, but it's shorter).

I'll start by saying that I'm just loving the GREEN woods. Yeah, it's nice to see the topography when the leaves are down, but the greeen just makes my heart sing. Wild thing.

Four of us hiked all ten miles (Shannon, Colette, Kim, and me). Gary and Marge hiked in from the end point and back for a shorter walk. Then they took us back to our cars.

I chose this hike location because it has a fair amount of elevation change for this area. It starts at 730 feet and climbs to 1130, goes back down to 1030 up to 1100 again, and ends at 900 feet.

We started at Wingleton Rd on the NCT and hiked north to McCarthy Lake.

Just north of Wingleton is where the microburst occurred in 2018. I was totally surprised to discover that the area has been replanted. Every white tube has a baby tree in it. The tubes protect them from being eaten until they are bigger.

And what was planted? Maybe a variety of things. This has been done extremely recently. Most were still bare twigs, but this one identified itself as a red oak.

We hiked to McCarthy Lake, one of my favorite spots on the local NCT. Kim had never been there before, so she got to ooh and ahh. Actually, we all did. It was a wonderful location for an ending.

It got a little hot in the afternoon, but basically the weather was lovely. I'm not exhausted, but I confess to not doing much else today.

Miles hiked in 2025: 206.8. Hike 100 Challenge: 93 miles (and the hike Saturday has only a little NCT, so I'll get to finish my 100 in the Adirondacks!)

North Country Trail, Lake Co, MI, Wingleton Rd to McCarthy Lake. 10 miles

See 8, with Day Pack