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

Slightly Out of Focus?

Mentally, I was very focused today, but the foggy, misty weather made all the pictures a little bit fuzzy.

My "new" position with the Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA is Land Protection Specialist. So... I'm no specialist yet, but I'm learning a lot really fast. We didn't think there were hardly any landowners to deal with on our section of trail. So far, we've identified quite a few. The Forest Service knew about most of these, but the Chapter didn't. Some of what I did today related to a meeting with a landowner I had on October 27.

But first, the hike.

Six of us met at the north Highbridge access to the trail and hiked east along the Manistee River (which is actually trail west- because if you keep going in this direction you end up in North Dakota). They were looking for suggestions of where to hike, and I needed to get to this location before real winter sets in, so I asked if we could do this. Yup.

This is the picture everyone takes of the Manistee River in this section. Mainly because with the power line cut you can actually see the river.

I just like this because it shows how the bluff falls off pretty abruptly down to the river.

The valley was all foggy today. That's pretty too!

I'm pretty sure these are tiny yellow mushrooms and not a slime mold.

I walked part of the way with Loren and little Koa. This is on the esker, a favorite feature on this piece of trail.

So, back to my "purpose" for the hike, other than just a nice hike. We now have an agreement in writing that allows the trail to cross a small bit of private property. Because this is the end of a switchback on a steep hill, we really need this access. The owners agreed to put the agreement in writing, and we promised to get the blazing spiffed up yet this fall. We will get the correct signage up in the spring. The government shutdown meant we couldn't get the signs until just a few days ago anyway.

So, all I did was to freshly paint the non-standard arrows at the corner, touch up and add to the standard blazing near that turn. But the minimum hike in is two miles, and it's an hour from my house, so I hadn't gotten there yet. Now it's done.

This picture shows the uphill leg of the switchback. I added the "confidence marker" blaze- circled on the right- just after the turn. A confidence marker is an extra blaze soon after a turn that lets people know they have made the right choice. The circled blaze farther up on the left was already there, but I freshened it.

This shot is coming up to the turn on the lower leg. Those arrows have been there a long time. They aren't standard, and we will try to replace them in the spring. For now, I brightened them up. And the circled double blaze on the tree, I added. I also added a turn blaze coming from the other direction.

I also scouted out, by vehicle, another potential trail re-route that we just found out about. Can't say any more yet. But it was a very productive day at it relates to my new position.

Not much else happened. The morning was cold and damp, but not really raining. Hiking was a good outdoor use for a somewhat nasty day.

Miles hiked in 2025: 450.6
NCT miles hiked in 2025: 249.8

North Country Trail, Highbridge north parking to the esker and back. Total- 5 miles

A lot of these same locations in better weather are at the link below.

See A Test Along the Manistee

Day Two- Much Better!

 Day Two- yesterday- was much more pleasant. Although the sun never shone except for about 5 minutes, it was warmer (upper 40s maybe into the 50s), and the sky did not leak on us.

We enjoyed breakfast sitting outside in our little chairs. I have almost all cold-soak meals because it eliminates the need to carry a stove. But David had a stove, so I got to enjoy a hot cup of coffee. I wasn't about to turn that down!

We were on the trail at 9:10. The first part of the day was not hilly at all. The trail follows the Manistee River Bluffs, passing by many more oxbows. No sun to make the water blue, though. Most of this area is accessible by vehicles, and there are multiple campsites that are used not only by hikers but all sorts of campers. We passed through one encampment with a trailer and 3 tents with four guys standing around a campfire drinking beer for breakfast. They were friendly, but not our thing.

I've probably showed you a picture of every time I've passed it. This is the marker on the Cadillac-Traverse City Indian Trail. I've been to all the markers and wrote a newspaper column about it last year. This is where I completed my 100 miles last year. I'm not there yet this year.

One really nice trail picture with the ground covered with emerging Trout Lilies.

The final miles of the day were hilly again, and very muddy. But we got 'em done, although not very quickly. David's walking stick is a hollow tube, and he's a horn player. He celebrated our completion with a couple of good bugles!

We hiked 8 miles to the car, then grabbed some late lunch at a little restaurant. I was tired, but the whole trip was not as physically difficult as I thought it might be. My back is a little sore, so I have to work on carrying the weight, but the miles were no problem at all. We did a total of 15.5 for the two days. I know this is about what I was hiking in one day a couple of years ago, but I'm still working my way up again.

When he sends me the pictures he took, there may be one of me I'll share.

Also, the chapter had a hike today, which I'll probably tell you about tomorrow.

Miles hiked in 2025 (at the end of yesterday):160.2. Hike 100 Challenge: 68 miles

North Country Trail, campsite along the Manistee River to east end of 12 Road near Sherman, MI. 8.0 miles

I will show you one thing I had to do today... deal with a pile of wet gear. You can't ingore that or you'll have it all moldy.

See Who Wants to Be Dry?

Day One- Who Wants to Be Dry?

 Hmmm. Well, we sort of wanted to be dry, or even warm, but that didn't happen. It rained hard at first, then off and on the rest of the day and all night.

We started at Baxter Bridge and hiked west (NCT trail east). This is the section high above the Manistee River.

I was hiking with David Snoek who hiked quite a few miles with me on the NCT hike a couple of years ago.

The rain made all the views dull and gray and brown. But here is one of the many oxbows on that section of the river.

There wasn't a lot of joy in that hike. We were wet. The trail was wet, the sky was wet. We made it 7.5 miles and camped at one of the many sites that is accessible by vehicle along there. We huddled under a tarp to eat dinner. But we were cold and wet and just crawled in out tents and sleeping bags after that.

My tent:

Daves tent:

Not too exciting, right? We've had to move the dates of this little jaunt many times for various reasons, always hoping that we could catch some good weather. The joke is that we managed to pick one of the very worst weather days in the past couple of weeks to hike! But we got the miles in.

Stay tuned for day 2 tomorrow.

Miles hiked in 2025: 152.2. Hike 100 Challenge: 60.0

Baxter Bridge to campsite along Manistee River bluffs. 7.5 miles

See October at Highbanks

Leitch Bayou

 Cathy and I took a hike today. I'm trying to get in shape for the summer. We did 6.5 miles and I carried 18 pounds. I'm tired but not totally wiped out, so I think this is good.

We started at Sawdust Hole. Of course, it's the gray and brown season, so it's not super spectacular.

We dropped down into Leitch Bayou. This is the spot where I ate my first ever meal on the NCT in (I think) 1991.

This is just a little backwater that the beavers play in from time to time. But I always think it makes a somewhat attractive picture with the Manistee River showing.

We saw three different boats of anglers, but I have no idea what they were fishing for.

We crossed the bayou and climbed back up the bluff on the other side, about 200 feet. Of course, we descended about 100 feet at the beginning, so about 300 total feet of elevation change in each direction. When you get to the top of the climb at the west end of the bayou, you can see the river from the high vantage point. Actually, the low area is where we just climbed up from.

We continued past and over the esker.

Our goal was to hike 3 NCT miles out (plus the spur from the parking) before we turned around. We accomplished that. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to carry the 18 pounds the whole distance, but it all went fine.

Miles hiked in 2025: 90. Hike 100 Challenge: 28.5

North Country Trail, Sawdust Hole, Manistee Co, MI. 3 miles plus spur west and back

See Loren Gets Her 100 Miles

A Nice Hike at WSCC

 I left early for bell choir practice so I could take a walk at West Shore Community College. They have a nice trail, although it's short. But then I walked part of the Cross Country course and some service roads. I took some beautiful pictures. Unfortuneately, the SD card wasn't in the camera. Haha!

So you get some more pictures from Manistee that I took yesterday. I tried to get a little artsy. This is my favorite. It would be a good companion for the one below it that I took in 2014 if they were cropped the same.

This panel is part of an art installation. I tried to make the boat go sailing on the water.

And this is probably the lamest one. I do like repeating patterns, but there's nothing too special about this.

I worked on various necessary projects and editing. Walked, bell choir practice, got groceries. Maybe I'll go back to the college if the sun shines tomorrow. The colors were starting to look good.

Miles walked in 2024: 477.1

See Manistee Riverwalk Reopens

Manistee Riverwalk Reopens

 The Manistee Riverwalk is one of the nicest urban, water-side pathways anywhere. It's almost like a gamescape with varying surfaces, levels, views, etc. A part of it has been closed for repairs, but for once, my luck was fantastic. I had to go to Manistee today, and they just re-opened that section.

A lot of it is in sun, with pavement and flower beds. Lots of flower beds. You may see more of that tomorrow. Even this late, there were still nice things to see

Other parts are like shaded secret entrances to other worlds.

The primary business street, River Street, is a level above the walk. Many of the buildings are old. I love this section near the Cypress St Bridge. With the shadow of a railing from the upper level and the old stone and brick, it looks like a castle.

When you get out at the west end, the Manistee River empties into Lake Michigan. This is the Manistee Lighthouse.

On the walk back, there is this really nice view of the river. This is also a shipping channel as boats come in to Manistee Lake, so it has to be kept open and clear. In fact, it was a dredging operation that caused part of the walk to be closed for most of the summer. But this shows how there is a great variety of landscapes along the route.

Almost back to the beginning. This is the Cypress Street Bridge. It's a drawbridge and has been closed for repairs most of the last two years. I know everyone is happy to see it open again. You can just barely see the railroad swing bridge beyond in its open position. I know I did a post on that, but I can't find it to link. Another time.

Finally for today, another artsy shot. This is nothing but the reflection of a post. But I like it a lot.

Most of the day was spent finishing up the necessary stuff I've been working on and then getting it delivered. This walk was my reward.

Miles hiked in 2024: 473.9 Manistee Riverwalk, both directions. 3.5 miles

See Manistee Riverwalk

To Blacksmith Bayou and Beyond

 I took a little NCT hike today with a side walk down into Blacksmith Bayou. The bayou itself is a backwater of the Manistee River. Someone was actually fishing there today.

But you can see the actual river from a bit deeper into the campground.

The piece of NCT I hiked is mostly along the bank on the south side of the river. Today, these tall pines looked nice in the late afternoon light.

This blue-stemmed goldenrod, Solidago caesia, grows along the trail. Most of the time, the stems are darker purpleish, thus the name. Gray goldenrod also has flowers along the stem like this, but the leaves are different.

This is fun. It's the fruit of a mapleleaf viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium. Supposedly you can eat these, but they are better (like many fall berries) after the first frost. I guess I need to find some then and try them. But since they are popular with wildlife, I may have a hard time finding any!

Here's another nice picture of the Manistee River. You can tell that fall is on the way.

The reason I was up that way was to meet with a fellow Michigan Outdoor Writer Association member, Dave Foley and his wife Cyndy. He's doing a feature on me for the Cadillac paper before I speak at the Cadillac Area Land Conservancy in October.

In other news: I managed a little editing in the morning before leaving for this adventure.

Miles hiked in 2024: 436.5. NCT miles in 2024: 130.8

North Country Trail, Manistee Co, MI, from Highbridge to Chicago Rd and back with a side trip to Blacksmith Bayou. 3.6 miles NCT, + 1.2 side trip miles

See Old Trail Section, New Season