Spirit of the Woods Hike- May 2026

The group photo hasn't been posted yet for me to grab, but there were about 15 people and 5 dogs who hiked today. We traveled farther than usual, going north to where the Manistee River crosses US 131. The trail goes beneath the bridge.

The hike actually went the other direction, going north (trail west) along the high bluff beside the river.

We finally had another really nice day! We were all ready for this.

And some of the wildflowers were opening. Wood anemone.

Trout lily.

And some Carolina spring beauty.

Finally, just some cute little orange mushrooms on the green moss.

What with travel time, going out to eat, and the hike itself, this is really all I did today.

Miles hiked in 2026: 158.4
Hike 100 Challenge: 51.6

North Country Trail, Wexford County, MI. US 131 Roadside rest north 3 miles and back. 6.0 miles

See SPW Hike- April 2026

Earth Day Event in Ludington

For years, the AFFEW group (A Few Friends for the Environment of the World) has been hosting an Earth Day event in Ludington. Various groups with outdoor/environmental themes have booths, there are a few vendors, and there are environmental programs all day. I've manned a booth about the North Country Trail there quite a few times, but not recently. I see that I've never blogged about doing so, although it doesn't seem like THAT long ago since I attended.

Anyway, our Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA had a booth today which I staffed. Not too interesting without me or someone standing there, but this is proof of a presence. I talked to quite a lot of people and we had 5 that signed up to receive notices about hikes. Handed out a pile of maps.

I was delighted to discover that I was next to Jim McGrath. He's has built a well-known reptile and amphibian educational program in Michigan. In fact, our chapter had him come to a couple of National Trails Day events quite a few years ago.

His animals are always healthy, clean and alert. Look at this attentive bullfrog!

He says one reason his animals are so active and interesting is because he always feeds them at these events, and they have come to associate times when the air is full of the scent of humans with being fed, so they keep their eyes open. Literally.

And speaking of that...as well as giving the frogs worms, he fed the hognose snake at the end of the day. The kids sure paid attention as the snake ate a toad!

He also had a spotted turtle. This is cool. I've never seen one in the wild. They are a little south from me.

There were also crafts for kids, and that was busy all day.

The Petunia Parade (the group that plants and maintains all the petunias I've showed you in Ludington) had a booth, and these fun flowers to pose with.

This took all day, and then I got groceries and came home. And that's enough for one day!

See Memory of a Special Earth Day

Spirit of the Woods Hike- April 2026

The monthly hike for April had to be tweaked twice! The plan was for Silver Creek Pathway (not NCT), last week, but it's been mostly underwater for weeks. Still underwater this weekend. So we went north from Timber Creek again.

Even with all the changes, we had about 25 people and three dogs show up.

Most of the group did 6 miles or fewer (to 8th St and back). My goal was to do 8 miles again. One other hiker, Eric, wanted to go farther too, so we did! Notice the NCT emblem with black around the central star. That is a really old sticker and it still looks good. I can't even remember when that was changed to have a lighter color. Before 2005 for sure.

So, this is the section I hike ALL THE TIME, and the woods isn't turning green yet, so I struggle to get photos of anything remotely new. But Eric and I went north of 8th St, and then we decided to bushwhack over to the Ward Hills Fire Tower site. That is a favorite place of mine to visit.

Here's the foundation for the keeper's house, again.

And the view west from the top of the hill (toward Scottville and Ludington). The trees are all grown up, and the only times you get any view at all is when there are no leaves.

It warmed up nicely by mid-day, and we ended up in shirtsleeves. The sun at least made the green moss glow.

We did a total of 8.2 miles. I feel pretty good, but didn't get a lot more done this afternoon.

Miles walked in 2026: 137.2
NCT Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 39.1

North Country Trail, Lake Co. Michigan, north 3.5 miles, then bushwhack to Ward Hills Fire Tower site, back to NCT via road, back on NCT to Timber Creek. NCT 6.5 miles, other 1.7 miles. Overall elevation range 360 feet.

See Eight Miles for Spring

Spirit of the Woods Hike- February 2026

Today was the annual hike and attached chili feed. We had a big group despite the cold and snow. We think 25 people hiked. A couple of them did not get in the picture.

The snow was unbroken, but our two stalwart Dans led the way and most of the group did a total of about 3 miles.

I turned around earlier. My knee is still sore, and I want it to get better not angrier. The return woods was quiet and the trail was nicely packed after all those people had been on it!

The rest of the event is held at the warming shelter at Big M Ski Area. Loren does most of the work for this. There's a nice wood stove, and she heated the chili. She's dishing some out in this picture.

People also brought other foods to complement the chili. There was lots of food! This is just one secton. (It's hard to take good pictures in the building because the light is from those huge windows and it's hard to get a shot without a big blob of light behind it)

We think the total head count was about 35. It's a great time every year, and having a slightly warmer indoor place to visit makes it really nice. Several new people came.

Miles walked in 2026: 30.5
Hike 100 Challenge: 10.2 miles

North Country Trail, Manistee Co, MI. Madison Rd north about 1.2 miles out and back

See SPW- January 2026

Spirit of the Woods Hike- January 2026

Twenty-seven people showed up despite a 19 degree temperature to hike. The five dogs didn't care what the temperature was!

Each year, each chapter can present an "Honor Award" to the outstanding volunteer of the year. This year, that was Jack Barnhill, a relatively new member. He's showed up for almost every work opportunity and eagerly helped. Jack's on the right, and chapter president Dan Driesenga on the left.

The trail had been walked by others, so that made things much easier. Most everyone went out past Leaf Lake, just over 2 miles outward bound.

And look who came! My hiking buddy Bill drove over just to participate with us. Did I remember to take a picture of us together? No. But here is proof of the adventure.

About half of us went out to eat afterwards. I did get a picture of one of his Christmas presents. This is a knife made from a piece of metal from the Mackinac Bridge. When they replace parts they sell the pieces. Lots of people have sections of the grating (some of the roadway is grating to help with expansion). I have never seen a knife like this before. Notice the interesting pattern on the blade.

So I have the first 4.2 miles toward my Hike 100 Challenge for the 11th year!

I've decided to count treadmill miles (yesterday), but I'll keep them separate.

Total Miles hiked in 2026: 6.7
NCT miles hiked in 2026: 4.2
Treadmill miles 2026: 2.5

North Country Trail, Newaygo County, Nichols Lake north out and back 4.2 miles

See SPW December 2025

Spirit of the Woods Hike- December

Quite a change from a month ago when we were actually hiking, and in lighter jackets. Today, most everyone walked on snowshoes, and the temperature was about 28°.

But we had a good turnout with about 15 people and 4 dogs. I think a couple of people and 1 dog didn't make the picture.

We had more snow last night, so the trees were all decorated with marshmallow puffs!

Indeed, the trail was completely unwalked, but we put a strong guy out in front to break trail. I did a mile out and a mile back. Some of the younger folks went a little farther.

Somehow we've started a tradition of a campfire and snacks for December. Pete stayed at the trailhead/campground to get the fire going and heat water for drinks.

We had a nice collection of people who are younger than most of us. They had a good time visiting around a second fire.

One of the other things we do in December is collect Toys for Tots. This was part of our haul. More gifts appeared after I took the picture.

I tried to save a little energy because we had our first bell choir concert this evening. I'll share more about that tomorrow.

Right now, I'm beat!

Miles hiked in 2025: 466.1
NCT miles hiked in 2025: 251.8

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI. Timber Creek Trailhead north and back. 2 miles.

See SPW Hike- November

Spirit of the Woods Hike- November

Although the morning started out chilly, it turned into a perfect crisp day for the NCTA Chapter hike. We had 22 people, but there were 7 dogs who came along this time. (1 person and 2 dogs didn't make the picture.)

We started at Upper Branch Bridge which is where the trail crosses the Pere Marquette River.

Gary leads us off into the autumn woods with rich brown oaks and yellow beech.

Two of the hikers completed their 100 Mile Challenge today. I didn't get a picture of Peg, but here is Sue.

There are still plenty of little gems to see. Northern Maidenhair fern grows along the banks of the unnamed creek there.

We were discussing whether these are quaking aspen leaves or big-tooth aspen. I've decided they are big-tooth, even though the teeth aren't huge, because the trees are tall and straight with ridged bark. Quaking will get ridged bark if it gets old enough, but I just have a feeling these are big-tooth. Anyway, I took the picture because I like how the water beads up on wet leaves. This is because the leaves have natural plant oils. (I'm a dummy- didn't check to see if the stems were flat.)

The oaks are starting to get involved in the fall color. Even though they don't get the really bright colors, I always like how rich they look. These are white oak.

We did hike a little farther than we usually go from this trailhead. To go to the next road and back is only 3 miles. We did the half-mile roadwalk (a pleasant dirt road), and partway into Bowman Semi-Primitive Area, so that the total miles would be more. I did five.

This is the only section of the NCT that is along the Pere Marquette River. There is one place where you get an unobstructed view, and I almost always take a picture of it there. But today I decided to try to find another place for a glimpse of the water. This one through the trees isn't bad.

I managed to do some computer work before the hike. In the afternoon, I mostly worked on trying to get some computer coding to work. I've determined several things that DON'T work. I guess that is progress of a sort.

Miles hiked in 2025: 423

Miles hiked on the NCT in 2025: 241.3

North Country Trail, Lake Co, MI. Upper Branch Bridge into Bowman Semii-Primitive area and back. Total 5 miles.

See SPW Hike- October

Spirit of the Woods Hike- October- Highbanks Rollway

The Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA holds its October hike at Highbanks Rollway, which is in the Grand Traverse Chapter miles. But we try to hit peak color because it's a beautiful hike above the Manistee River.

It was scheduled for last weekend, but got re-scheduled because of the weather forecast. Today was a little past peak color up there, but it was a lovely day, and not shabby.

Things did start out a bit iffy with fog so thick you could only see gray from the overlook. But that soon lifted to become only a layer of fog in the valley

This is quite a hilly section. In the 5.5 miles there is about 800 feet of elevation change with the biggest single climb being 250 feet.

The best color was on the way back to the trailhead. By then the sun was out. It had warmed from near freezing into the high forties. This is the riverbend at the actual rollway.

Possibly the best was the sun on bright yellow aspen on the other side of the river.

And another.

We had 21 people in our group. Here we are. Bob took the pic.

The location was extremely busy! Lots of families out for walks with the kiddos which is great to see. Most of the people weren't going too far from the trailhead, but that's OK. I'm just glad to see people enjoying the outdoors.

This isn't particularly special, but Plantain-Leaved Pussytoes presented itself nicely for a picture. Antennaria plantaginifolia.

Sue S from the chapter rode with me (it's a long drive and carpooling is good). We did some more leaf-peeping on the way home. Maybe those will be tomorrow's post.

Now... since I didn't get home till after 10 pm last night and had to get back up a 6 am today- I'm going to go lie down with a book.

Miles hiked in 2025: 408.01
Miles hiked on the NCT in 2025: 236.3

North Country Trail, Wexford County, MI. Highbanks Rollway to 29 1/2 Road and back. 5.5 miles

See Same Hike- 2024 See Wet Spring hike on the same miles