NCT > Manistee River Trail

So I did as I planned and did an overnighter through the Manistee National Forest. I started on the epic North Country Trail and zigzagged north for a ways (the NCT actually runs all the way from New York to North Dakota). I eventually split off and connected to the north end of the Manistee River Trail, and hiked back south until it ended conveniently exactly where I started. I've done this exact loop a couple times now, it's good for a random weekend. Minor elevation changes, maybe 20-25 miles in all.


This portion of the NCT is well-maintained and is a basic hike through a hilly forest. Pictured Rocks, where I hiked with Nick last month (1, 2), is actually part of the NCT too. Anyway, it had rained the prior night and the day was cool and overcast, so conditions were...damp and grayish, I guess. It made for a peaceful hike.


A massive collective of shelf fungus on the NCT. The NCT segment was relatively uneventful, as expected. It's "close" to the Manistee River, but it's not riverside, making it not as popular as the MRT segment which hugs the river closely. So even though I didn't run into anyone yet, I knew that would change. Thankfully, I wasn't in any particular rush, so I scoped out a nice isolated campsite immediately after finding the river and relaxed for the rest of the day.


The forecast predicted a big cold front would be pushing through all weekend, so I was prepared for a chilly night. It ended up dropping down to around 35 degrees overnight, accompanied by a steady breeze. It was fine though, since generally I'd rather be a bit cold than a bit hot.


Woke up early the next morning to major fog, which I figured would be the case. You can see the footpath which connected my campsite to the river, which was totally obscured. I was glad I didn't have to wade around in the river that morning, having filtered extra water the day before. Also, I just noticed this photo was taken in the same spot as the above photo, except looking towards the ground a bit more.


All this talk about the river, and not one photo of it yet. So here you go. After an hour or so of hiking, the fog started to lift and the sun was trying to break through.


I think the MRT is a great Lower Peninsula trail and offers some really pleasant scenery. Views of the river and surrounding forest, while standing high on a cut bank, are common. It has gotten a bit more popular, which is understandable, but overall it's still chock full of good times. I'll be back for sure.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Part 2

Ok, let's finish up Pictured Rocks.


A significant amount of Pictured Rocks is composed purely of sandstone. It's the whole reason Pictured Rocks is what it is. The workability (I don't know the correct term) of the rock lends itself to: (1) the creation of some interesting geologic features; and (2) vandalism. For example, here are some holes that have been created by the waves of Lake Superior, and to the left are the initials of some people who, well, don't seem to get it...


Nickbot examining the underside of Chapel Rock, another of the many weathered sandstone features in the park.


This was a first for me. Nick had been growing some peppers back home and brought along a bag of fresh jalapeños. We generally added some into whatever flash-frozen dehydrated bag of stuff we were eating at the time. Besides the obvious amusement factor of dicing a fresh jalapeño on the beach while backpacking in the Upper Peninsula, it added a surprising amount of flavor and some nice heat to the food. Good stuff.


Not much to say here...just soaking in a real nice view of some of the very cliffs that give Pictured Rocks its name.


Kayaker, waiting for the sunset. I've never kayaked my way around the park, but it looks like a lot of fun...might add it to my long list of things to do.

Anyway, that's just a handful of the many highlights of the trip but I think you get the idea. It was great fun. I hope to get back out there soon.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Part 1

So like I said, I got back last week from backpacking Pictured Rocks with Nick. I've been there a couple times, and it's not the best if you're looking for pure solitude or challenging trails, but there aren't many places that offer lakeside cliff-top hiking where you can relax on a beach every night. We hiked about 36 miles in four days, skipping the Great Sable Dunes portion. It was great fun. Here are a couple of the many photos I took:


Packed up, ready to go. We spent the prior night trying to sleep at an unexpectedly busy rest stop (I was curled up under a picnic table), so needless to say I couldn't wait to get started. Anyway, one of the practical benefits of hiking with someone is sharing the weight, since a lot of gear works for more than one person, like fuel, stoves, water filters, etc. This time around, Nick carried the kitchen, I carried the house.


Nick strolling down Twelvemile Beach (it is indeed 12 miles long) near our first campsite. A dip in a somewhat chilly Lake Superior is a perfect way to end (and start) a hot day's hike. You can see the cloud cover moving in here, which was later followed by a good overnight rain - all of which was expected after scrutinizing weather forecasts during the entire preceding week. It wasn't bad at all, except that we later discovered that the rain fly on my two-man tent (roughly 10 years old) was quite leaky. Chinese water torture all night long.


Much of the trail is cliff-side but most of it still involves winding your way along a typical forest trail. Pictured Rocks is heavily visited and lacks a real trail network, so the main trail is well-worn, well-maintained, and pretty easy on the feet. All good or bad things depending on who you ask.


Like most responsible hikers, I generally abide by the Leave No Trace ethic, like purposefully minimizing the evidence/damage that a fire or shelter creates, packing out your trash, and leaving the natural things I do find. Besides Leave No Trace though, I also have a general policy of picking up any garbage I encounter, which Nick also has a natural affinity for. Besides the piles of cigarette butts, wrappers, and duct tape we scooped up throughout our hike, we also found a stray beach ball floating around a cove. Nick killed it and packed it out.


Nickbot in Lake Superior.

More to come.

Some of Me

There really aren't many pictures of me here, so I decided to try to dig a couple up but realized I don't have many of myself taken with my own camera (for obvious reasons). These are ones that Mike took of me from a couple hiking trips from way back in the day. Check them out.


From South Manitou Island, went with Mike and Mark. On one of our days here, we dropped our packs and took a day hike across the island, through a forest of gigantic cedar trees, up and over some vast dunes, and culminating in a lengthy and hurried hike along the beach back to our campsite. Shortly after this photo was taken, I realized I misplaced my favorite headlamp. Since I'm an idiot, I decided to backtrack solo with only a little Maglite. After an hour or so of randomly shining the Maglite around in the dark (the sun had set long ago by now), I somehow found it, completely soaked from the ebbing waves. I started hauling ass back. Our camp was hidden in the forest right off the beach, and since I was exhausted, hungry, and shivering, everything looked pretty much the same. But with some more luck, I somehow figured out where the camp was, made myself dinner, and happily passed out in my tent clutching my headlamp.


This is from one of the hikes I already talked about in a previous post. Great vistas, lots of solitude, and interesting terrain. Despite being one of my less extreme hikes, it was one of my favorites.


Interesting terrain. Half the hike was elevated above the lake by about 50-100 feet, providing lots of opportunities to really soak in the view. The weather took a turn for the worse towards the end of the hike, and you can see the moisture really starting to roll in here, totally washing out the sky. On this hike, Mike and I got lost trying to find our next campsite. Basically, someone (that wasn't me) took way too long do anything, eventually forcing us to hike in the dark and miss a trailhead. Usually I'd just say fuck it and find a place to setup and wait until morning, but this park had designated campsites - no open backcountry camping. Ended up going in circles, but slowly did the math and made it safely to our spot.

Crapping in the Woods is a Survival Skill

Cathy is now the proud owner of a brand spankin new mountain bike. It's a badass matte black Trek, but tactfully and appropriately accented with a bright pink bottle cage. Hot stuff. A photo is likely forthcoming. I think after a few test laps down by the river walk, we'll go log in a couple miles on the Illinois Prairie Path...

Along the same line and more relevant to the post title, with the better weather finally kicking in, I've been thinking a lot about where to go hiking. I've got a short jaunt in Lassen booked at the end of the summer with my brother which should be great fun. In the meantime, I'm throwing around ideas for hitting the AT again, or maybe spending a week in the Porkies (which I've been meaning to go to for years now) up in Michigan. Either way, it is shaping up to be another solo outing and I can't wait.

Well, so far I'm leaning towards Michigan since I've done most of the AT... so here are some old pictures from my various times in the Michigan woods. They were all taken with my trusty p&s Pentax, which I think I dropped in a river on one of these trips.


Standard sunset. When hiking, it's ritualistic to watch the sunset. It's also ritualistic to take a picture of the sunset. But really, when is it not?


Fresh wild blueberries, picked right off the shrub. A nice little bonus while out on the trail, since I'm usually restricted to eating freeze-dried Chili Mac and chalky protein bars. We sorted our harvest by quality, with the best ones towards the top.


Mike, enjoying a view of Lake Superior. We had matching shoes on this hike. We went to a local store literally hours before the hike and bought the last two pairs of what seemed like acceptable hiking shoes. Same shoe, same size, different colors. As a general rule, it's a bad idea to wear brand new shoes on a hike, and this was no exception. They were terrible shoes, and promptly disintegrated after 50 miles of moderate hiking. I'm still not sure why I didn't just wear the ones I brought with me.


Grass. Is that another sunset going on in the background? Is it?


Yep, it is. Check out how the color changed once it hit the horizon. Watched it. Took a picture of it. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. I have more pictures of sunsets than I know what to do with, and although the pictures get boring, watching it never does.