Ellen and Joan Sneak in an Adventure

It's supposed to start raining tomorrow, and be wet all week. Ellen got home yesterday, so we decided to go out today, despite a gray and damp morning. Talk about a good decision!



Someone else had been hiking in the woods too. We didn't see them walking, but did see and hear them flying away. It was a pair of sandhill cranes- they seem to show up this time of year. The crane tracks don't have a long rear toe the way heron tracks do, and the three toes spread evenly in front.

Where were we hiking to? First we explored a really old road for about 1/2 mile- it's not even a 2-track any more, just a foot trail. That's were we found the tracks. Then we hiked to:



Cooper Creek! Yup... I'm fixated on working out a route for this Adventure Loop. Ellen and I did the first hike all the way from Lake Michigan to Forest Trail, by "my" route. I had an alpha version of the guidebook printed out, and she tested it by being the "guide," to see if it was clear. Just needs a few tweaks. I'm pretty excited! We ate lunch sitting on the bridge I showed you on Thursday.

The sky started to clear, and although it remained a bit hazy, we got some blue sky and sun!

Then we went back to get the first car, but we couldn't bear to go home yet. So we climbed up to the north overlook platform at the Lake Michigan Recreation Area. The stairs climb to the top of the highest dune. A hazy, but wonderful view of the big lake.



And if you turn to the south, you can see the end of Big Sable Point sticking out into the lake, about five miles to the south.



Yes, this is the point where the Big Sable Light is located. Can you find it?



Yup, it's tucked into the angle where the lower land seems to join the hill. Even with the haze, you can still see its distinctive black and white stripes. Of course, it looks so far from the water because of our viewpoint. It's very close to the water, actually, but on the south side of the point.

After returning to the parking lot, we couldn't bear to leave, even then. So we walked another 1.5 miles on the Porter Creek Trail. By this time it was nearly 4:00 in the afternoon! Seriously, though... if the old body would just stand for it, I think I'd start walking and never stop.

It was an AWESOME day.

See Two Lighthouses and a Trail for a good picture of Big Sable Light See Sandhill Crane Family See Cooper Creek

I Could Do This For a Living!

 
Oh, wait! I am trying to do this for a living. Too bad I can't live on 5 cents a day!


Black Lake- partly in the Manistee National Forest
Today I went to check out the eastern end of this idea of mine. Drove down a dirt "road" to try to reach Black Lake. I think I could have made it all the way, but reached a corner of a loop I wanted to check out... one of the two branches was bound to go all the way through!

So I locked the car and hopped on my bike continuing down one of the forks through really deep sand ruts. But they only lasted a little while, and I kept making choices at Forest Roads (FR) with numbers that didn't match my map, but always working my way east. Pretty soon I got to Benson Road, a real county road (so far so good). Next I wanted to find another FR that headed east again to connect with the North Country Trail. Rode up and down Benson and finally took the only road going in the right direction. It ended at a logging site about 1/2 mile into the woods. And I'd had to walk the bike over a bunch of slash piles.

Let's see... turn around and walk the bike back, then ride around via roads, OR... walk on through the woods to get to Campbell Road. Well, the woods were pretty flat and fairly open. So I bushwhack-walked the bike through to the road! Found the other end of the road that I wanted and rode it back west... it dead ends at a cabin, so I guess that option won't work. Went back to Campbell Road and rode east on a FR till it crossed the NCT. What used to be dense woods here is now a clearcut due to salvage after big winds we had here last year. It's kinda sad, but there are now a couple of nice views. When it stops looking so raw, it might be something of a nice addition to the closed-in woods of most of the trail.

Then I needed to ride back to the car. So I rode back up to County Line and went west till I found FR 8367 and took it south. There were a LOT of junctions, but most of them had carsonite posts with FR numbers, so without much trouble I found Black Lake, and then back to the car.

Just one more out and back, after driving another 1/2 mile to connect to Koenig Road. This is starting to look like a viable route.

And what could be better than exploring on a warm fall day? The old 2-tracks are covered in brown crunchy leaves. I really like riding my bike down the old tracks. Only had to walk in a few places where the sand was too loose. Approximate distance: 14 miles! I am one happy, old, 10-year-old tonight.

	See Exploring Like a 10-Year-Old
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Exploring Like a 10-Year-Old

 
Click the picture and you can work the puzzle.
The day was hard to beat in so many ways! For starters we are having what may be the last really warm days of the season. It made 70 degrees in mid afternoon. And where was I? For once, NOT stuck inside on such a glorious day.

I have this dream of an adventure loop that encircles our county. Pieces of it are already in place and it has occurred to me that if I just figured out some connections that would work for the rest of it that it could be publicized.

So aided by maps and some suggestions from Ramona, my favorite Forest Service person, I headed to the woods with my bike. I wanted to explore a workable route to ride on forest roads in various stages of abandonment. Most of them have no marking.

I parked at a known intersection and followed what looked like a "nothing" path into the woods. It came out where I expected despite being a pathway not on either of the maps I had, and I just kept wiggling my way west on pathways, and I DID connect right up with a known trail system that I was looking for. Sweet!

Then I rode back and went the other way. I wasn't sure that this road went through at all. It got pretty faint, and came to a creek. I explored on the other side, and the road did continue so I carried the bike over and rode on. The road got better the farther I went till it was a nice sand forest road that came out right where I expected.

So I rode back to the car via better roads, moved the car, and continued to ride the "route" on more civilized roads (there is a section in the middle with no National Forest land so it will have to be just a road ride). Made it to US31, turned around and went back to the car.

Total time on the bike- about 3 hours, with more "off road" riding than I usually do. It was really great. What more can I say? I'm doing it again tomorrow on the next section, but there won't be quite so much serious exploring.

I have to say that I've rarely gone in search of forest connections with so few dead ends or curious twists that don't go where I expect them to. I did check out a few dead ends, but all my hopeful connections worked on the first try. Everyone needs a day like this once in a while, eh?

(Did you do the puzzle? Note the three big oaks.)

	See Ellen and Joan Sneak in an Adventure
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