French Farm Lake - Day 413

We started underneath the approach to the Mackinac Bridge this morning. Apparently, I can't manage to get a smile on my face. I thought I was smiling. Sigh.

The first few miles were on a rail trail, the North Western State Trail. This is a former Pennsylvania RR track. I don't have my RR atlas with me, so I'm not sure what it was before that.

The defining feature of the day was French Farm Lake. The trail follows its shore for more than 3 miles. At the upper end, it's marshy and dotted with small islands of vegetation.

But, there is a large portion that is open water. Overall, the lake is shallow. There is a State Forest Campground strung out along the access road. When I last hiked it, the trail followed the road. Now, most of the trail undulates along the low hills between the road and the shore with lots of nice views.

The name may be derived from an early homestead on the shores of the lake.

After we left the lake, another interesting feature is the Carp River Bridge (not the same Carp River as in the UP). Of course, people have stolen the emblems on the "arches," but this large wooden bridge has been an interesting river crossing for about 30 years. I remember when this was featured in the North Star magazine as a huge trail accomplishment.

There are often register boxes to sign.

We were smokin' today. There never seems to be much reason as to why we hike faster some days than others unless the trail is really hilly. Today was less hilly and the temperature was about perfect. Anyway, we hiked fast. Not that it matters- no one is racing- but it was interesting to note.

Miles today: 8.6. Total miles so far: 4579.1.

See Muddy Buddy

Muddy Buddy - Day 412

We decided to try to get in 5 miles this morning early before the all-day rain was supposed to hit. We were hiking at 7:37.

These views are of the wide plain where the North Branch of Spring Brook emerges.

If you think it looks gray and subdued, that's because it was. This is the same valley you see from the Cherry Valley Overlook (so is it called Cherry Valley? not on the maps). But you are higher up from the overlook. We did not take that side trail, because our mission was to finish the miles before we got wet. Here's a slightly different view though.

We didn't quite make it without getting wet, but the hardest rain held off until we were at the cars. The trail was all in nice woods. Quite hilly, but most of the grades were gradual, and we completed the 5.1 miles in 1 hour and 55 minutes.

But the rain is not what made us muddy buddies. Bill decided to take a shorter route between the two points on a two-track!

And the weather? The forecast, as late as this morning, said 100% chance of rain all day, starting about 10 am. We might as well have used a weather rock. You know... if it's hot it's sunny, if it's moving it's windy, if it's wet it's raining, etc. There was some hard rain just after we finished hiking, but the rest of the day had only intermittent rain. We should have hiked. But I had some things to do, and it is supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow which will be nice. The weather is looking pretty good for the rest of my hiking days in this stretch.

Miles today: 5.1. Total miles so far: 4570.5.

See Goodbye Hiawatha

Goodbye Hiawatha - Day 411

We finished the Hiawatha National Forest trail miles today! This is a beautiful section, and very much like my home trail because the hills are stabilized sand dunes.

The trail climbs to the top of a ridge and undulates along the ridge for several miles. We made it to the Eric Cox bench just at the right time for our snack break.

There are some decent views over the forest from there, but the neatest thing is that you can see the Mackinac Bridge, 8 straight-line miles away.

We hiked little farther, and I stopped dead in my tracks and said, "This is a really nice piece of benched trail." Guess what? Bill said this is the exact place where Bill Menke (you may recall all the times previously that I've invoked his name where perfect trail has appeared) led a training session on how to build good trail.

This is the Hiawatha Shore-to-Shore Chapter section of trail. I want to tell you how much great work they have done since I last hiked this in 2009. There are a whole lot of places where they have moved eroded trail to more sustainable locations and have benched trail around the sides of hills instead of going straight up to the top and down (not fun for hikers, not good for preventing erosion). Yes, it was hilly, but it wasn't a grueling slog.

Finally, we got to the easy part. The last few miles were on a former Soo Line rail trail. Our pace picked up to 3 mph.

And then we reached the I-75 overpass and the car!

This was the longest day I've done for a while. But the temperature was perfect at around 40 degrees. We are going to try to sneak in a few miles early tomorrow before some serious rain hits.

Miles today: 12.0. Total miles so far: 4565.4.

See Br-r-r-r-r-evoort

Br-r-r-r-r-evoort - Day 410

It was back across the Mackinac Bridge for us this morning. Not counting the western UP, I have a bit left to do in the eastern UP after those nearly disastrous first days back on the trail.

This picture is not in focus, but that's OK, because what I really wanted to catch was the color of the water. There were really high winds on the bridge, and snow haze in the air.

We are back to wearing 45 awkward layers of clothing, but it should be short-lived. The snow on the trail was not a problem, and I actually prefer hiking when it's chilly to hot. That said, I'll be happy enough to stop dealing with pants, overpants, two layers of gloves/mittens, and 4 layers on top. Plus, of course, the belt pack, backpack, and camera on top of everything.

The hike was defined by the Brevoort Lake and River. This is a short river (under 10 miles long) that flows out of the lake. Brevoort Lake is pretty big- over 4000 acres. And there is a National Forest Campground right along the trail.

All the pictures look hazy today because a light snow kept falling all day. The Brevoort River flows southeast from the side of the lake.

But just after this trail bridge crosses the river, it does a complete about-face and turns southwest and runs down to Lake Michigan.

Everything we hiked today was in the Hiawatha National Forest, and it was very hilly- constant up and down.

Miles today: 9.3. Total miles so far: 4553.4.

See Dune and Swale

Sidebar: Dune and Swale - Day 409

This was a moving day, which we did in the morning. As it turned out, the weather wasn't nearly as horrid as predicted. Maybe I should have hiked. But the break felt good, and I did some real world tasks and wrote a newspaper article.

I want to tell you about something I haven't actually seen, but I sure hope to sometime. For years, I've been looking at these odd symmetric curved pools of water on maps and wondering what they were. They are named Pointe aux Chenes Marshes.

Other than the fact that I like to know everything about nature, why do I care what these lines are? Because the North Country Trail is less than half a mile from them, that's why!

Also, because they are a special kind of wetland called dune and swale. These are globally rare and the only freshwater ones are found on the Great Lakes. They are caused by fluctuating water levels that create linear wetlands divided by ridges of sand. They are usually home to rare plants. I haven't ever seen quite a few of the rare ones that show up there, but one that I have seen (this picture is from several years ago) is the Federally Endangered Pitcher's Thistle.



Seeing this will require more than a short side hike from the trail. I need at least a whole day to visit and hunt for plants. Of course, not everything would be in bloom at the same times. Just so you know, Pointe Aux Chenes means Oak Point.

Tomorrow we'll be back with our feet on the trail.

See Dale, Hill, Bob, Bill