Truth be told, I had basically been killing time in Lower Michigan enroute to the Upper Peninsula. My buddy Alex and I had planned a section hike of the North Country Trail there, but he has a job, so I still needed to find activities for five more days, and free or cheap lodgings for five nights. I do love the spontaneity of all this, and it's always exciting to see how it all shakes out.
I reached the trail head parking lot around noon and bid farewell to Nordhouse Dunes, where I had camped the past three nights. I decided to take the longer but more scenic drive up to the U.P., along the coast of Lake Michigan and the Grand Traverse Bay, through the town of Manistee to Traverse City, and on through Charlevoix and Petoskey.
The drive took longer than I had anticipated, and while I'd hoped to camp somewhere in the U.P., the onset of dusk and threatening clouds to the north forced me to alter my plan. I exited I-75 just before the Mackinac Bridge and drove through "hotel row" along the main drag just outside Mackinaw City, pulling over to check rates on various discount hotel websites. I ponied up $98 for a room, but it was nice to get a shower after several days in the dunes.
Amazing image of Mackinac Bridge by Alex "Money Shot" Maier.
Check out www.fiveacesmedia.net for more like this!
On Saturday morning, I enjoyed a free breakfast and hit the road. Only light showers fell overnight, but after crossing the bridge and heading further north and west, it was apparent there had been much heavier rain in those parts.
I wasn't really sure where to camp, but I wanted to get as close as possible to a 10-mile loop hike along Lake Superior in the Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore, which I would undertake early Sunday. I researched a spot called North Gemini Lake Campground, a state forest site, and set my phone's mapping app to get me there. The app identified the most direct route, the last hour of which had me driving through giant mud puddles on isolated logging roads, a bit unsettling. But I got there without getting stuck. I wrote a check for the fee and slipped it into the station at the kiosk, $13 for the camp site plus another $9 for a Michigan passport for using state parks and forests.
Car camping: a pussified version of backpacking
Pre-dawn moon beams
Hints of autumn over Gemini Lake
On Sunday morning, it took less than 30 minutes to reach to trail head parking lot at the end of Chapel Road. I hit the trail a bit past 9:00 a.m., and there were just a couple other vehicles, but with near perfect weather in the forecast, I expected it to fill up. The trail down to and along Lake Superior would feature Chapel Falls, Chapel Rock, Grand Portal Point, and Mosquito Beach. There are some very nice campgrounds at Chapel Beach and Mosquito Beach. Since I did not get back country camping permits in advance, it would be just a long day-hike this time.
A perfect 10-mile day hike
Chapel Falls
Chapel Rock
Rugged shoreline
Grand Portal Point
Impressive sandstone cliffs
On the NCT along Lake Superior
Mosquito Beach, a popular spot
Later in the afternoon, I arrived at the parking area, now filled beyond capacity. It was about an hour drive to the town of Munising, where there is a ranger station. I didn't know how late they would be open on Sunday, but luck was on my side. Shortly before 5:00, I met with a ranger and asked about dispersed camping in the Hiawatha National Forest. He gave me a pamphlet with maps to several beautiful and FREE dispersed camping areas maintained by the forest service. I decided that I would utilize a couple of these areas for Sunday night and Monday night, and then explore the Munising area during the day on Monday.
The dispersed sites are offered up on a first come basis as there is no reservation system. I followed the directions to get to a place called Hovey Lake. Unfortunately, the directions were not completely clear, and I was lost driving around gravel and/or dirt forest service roads for a couple hours. After retracing my route and basically starting over, I found Hovey Lake just before sunset. Only one of the four sites was available, so I nabbed it.
On Monday, I did a small hike around Sand Point and explored Munising Falls. Then I got a few groceries and carefully followed the directions to Council Lake, another dispersed site. This one was even nicer than Hovey Lake! I built a fire and enjoyed a delightful night under the stars. I was awakened in the middle of the night by dozens of honking geese that landed in the pond nearby, but they did not stay long.
Munising Falls
From my camp at Hovey Lake
Council Lake, beautiful and isolated campsite
During my time in Munising, I met a few people who were doing a thru-hike of the Pictured Rocks section of the North Country Trail. A shuttle can be hired to drive hikers from Munising east to the town of Grand Marais. From there, hikers trek 42 miles west along the shore, experiencing spectacular sandstone cliffs, dunes, bluffs, and lighthouses along the way. I did not have time to complete this since I was meeting with Alex in Grand Marais on Wednesday to hike a different section of the NCT. But I decided to drive over to Grand Marais a day early and hike a section, out and back.
I arrived at the Grand Sable Visitor Station just outside of Grand Marais late Tuesday morning. The ranger went over some options with me, and I got a back country permit for just one night at the Au Sable East campground. There is a $5 per night fee for the back country permit. There would be plenty of daylight to make the 7.5 mile trek to Au Sable.
It was a pleasant hike, and I stopped at the Log Slide area to take in the giant dunes extending all the way to Grand Marais to the east. The log slide is so named from the logging days, when giant logs were rolled down the bluff and then shipped to distant ports.
When I arrived at my camp, I was surprised to discover no other campers. I set up camp and hiked half a mile further up to the point to check out the lighthouse, which was closed on this particular day (bad timing).
Impressive dunes and a cool lighthouse
on this out-and-back hike
History!
Amazing dunes!
Just me...
...and this guy. Gnome sayin'?
Au Sable Light Station
On Wednesday morning, I got a very early start to get back to town to meet Alex and was treated to one of the most incredible sunrises I'd ever seen (full disclosure: I almost never wake up in time for any sunrise). I got a message from Alex that he would be a few hours late, so once in town, I went to get some groceries and just chill at the town park overlooking the bay.
Alex arrived from his home in Marquette, Michigan around 1:00, and we met for lunch at The Dunes Saloon. We had hiked together for the better part of three months on the Pacific Northwest Trail last year, so it was great to reconnect with him, if only for a few days. I'm proud to say I dubbed him "Money Shot" on our first day of hiking through Glacier National Park last year, a trail name that stuck. He is working on another nature documentary, a follow-up to the amazing film he produced of our PNT hike, this time covering all of the North Country Trail that goes through the U.P., more than 400 miles. I felt honored to be able to help out for a 60-mile section, mainly with nonsensical suggestions and shenanigans that would most certainly be edited out.
Dawn's early light
A great start to any day!
Money Shot and Fitty Shrimp, back on the trail!
We needed to work out some logistics for our section hike and hatched a plan for the strategic placement of our vehicles. We would leave my car at the south end of our section, a place called Trout Brook Pond. Then we would drive his car north to Tahquamenon Falls State Park, where we would begin our hike. More on this in the next blog entry.
Lodging costs for this segment:
Hotel: One night $98
State Forest: One night $23
Hiawatha National Forest (Dispersed Camping): Two nights $0
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Back Country): One night $5
Here is a video from my Youtube channel of the Chapel-Mosquito loop hike...
My Great Lakes trip continued on with a six-hour drive out of Northwest Ohio and through Michigan. At the place where Michigan's "thumb" meets the rest of the "mitten," I cut westward across the state and arrived at Lake Michigan on a chilly and cloudy evening. The Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area in Manistee National Forest would be my home for the next few days.
Having read that this is a very popular spot among Michiganders, I was happy that I would be visiting after Labor Day in the middle of the week. As it turned out, I did not see many other people and at times felt that I had the place to myself. It's a relatively small wilderness area with a limited trail system. But it butts up against Ludington State Park to the south, adding a bit more territory to explore.
With just a couple hours of daylight left, I decided to hike the trails on the park's interior, away from the shoreline. After a couple miles, I arrived at my destination, Nordhouse Lake, where I would set up camp.
Entering the wilderness area from the trail head
Sweet spot next to Nordhouse Lake
It was a pleasant and quiet evening. I had a nice dinner and was accompanied by a tiny field mouse. In the morning, a large flock of honking Canada geese took over the lake for a break from their southward journey.
I decided to spend the day hiking to the shore and then following the coast to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse.
First view of Lake Michigan beyond the dunes
Hiking south in the sand
These dunes look like a potential campsite for later on.
Spotted the lighthouse after a few hours of beach walk.
Big Sable Point
History!
Never release foil helium balloons because
they all end up in Lake Michigan.
On the way back, I spent some time exploring the massive dunes that extend as far as the eye can see.
I set up camp pretty early to make sure I was settled and fed before the sunset.
Just relaxing
Not bad, right?
This sunset? Wow!
Beautiful evening sky!
Rather than hiking back to the car, I decided to spend another day in the dunes and another night of incredible stargazing. No hurry here, just killing some time and taking it all in.
Another glorious sunset!
Moonrise over the dunes
The start of another amazing day!
Picture perfect!
From here, my adventure would take me to the Upper Peninsula. I'd made arrangements to hike a few days with my friend Alex "Money Shot" Maier, one of my mates from the Pacific Northwest Trail. But I have a few days to waste along the shores of Lake Superior.
Nordhouse Dunes, paired with Ludington State Park, was a great place to explore and camp. Hiking opportunities are limited, but the views are amazing! There is a fee to camp in Nordhouse Dunes, $5 per night or $15 for up to seven nights. The designated campsites fill up quickly, so it's best to plan ahead.
I needed to spend a few months in Baltimore to tend to my rental property there. I didn't do much hiking, other than an out and back trip on the Appalachian Trail, the northern part of Maryland from the I-70 foot bridge to Pen-Mar Park, not quite a 40-mile round trip, three days and two nights. It was late May, and the thru-hiker bubble was just coming through. It was fun to get to know a few of them and trade some stories, and just to relive that great summer of 2014, if only for a couple days.
Summer dragged along, and I followed blogs of adventurers I'd met over the past few years who were out doing more cool things. Maybe I should have gone out to California to give the Pacific Crest Trail a go. Perhaps next year.
Marathon, who I'd met on the Appalachian Trail and hiked with quite a lot in the Pacific Northwest in 2015, was now riding a bicycle from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. Not any bike, but one that he had built himself at a workshop in Oregon. I had told Marathon that if he could get to Baltimore, I would drive him home to Cleveland. He arrived on a bus from Maine, stopping at a couple cities along the way to visit friends.
On September 7th, we were on our way to Ohio. For me, the trip would continue on to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with no structured plan. My trip would be anywhere from one to four weeks. It would involve hiking, visiting with family and old friends, and attending sporting events.
For old times' sake, Marathon and I opted to pay a quick visit to our old friend, the Appalachian Trail, where she crosses through Maryland. We drove up to Washington Monument State Park, and then hiked a very short ways up to the monument for a few minutes.
That's me at the original Washington Monument (photo by Marathon)
That's Marathon, back on the A.T. (kind of).
I spent a couple nights in Cleveland, and even went to the Indians vs. Astros baseball game with a childhood friend I hadn't seen in over 30 years. Then it was off to visit some family in the Columbus area. On the way, I stopped to hike for a couple hours in Mohican State Forest. I parked near the dam and had time for a three-mile hike out on the Lyons Falls Trail and back on the Clear Fork Gorge Trail. That evening, I arrived at my brother's house and got to spend some quality family time. My nephew and his wife popped in, and I finally got to meet their twins!
Hanging with my old pal at the Indians game. Thanks, Mike!
good trail maintenance and a new foot bridge at Mohican
not even a trickle at the falls
impressive boardwalks
a sweet covered bridge
and head on up the dam
Pizza night with the twins!
Thanks to my big brother and sister-in-law!
Then it was off to the Toledo area. I went to my friend's tailgate party at Bowling Green State University, then visited with my uncle and aunt nearby. Bonus: all three of their kids (my cousins) stopped by for a visit, with several of their offspring!
Thanks to my Aunt and Uncle!
I made a side trip to Detroit because the Orioles were playing the Tigers there in a Sunday afternoon game... Go O's!!! That night, I camped at the Oak Openings Preserve west of Toledo ($20 fee paid online) and then did a day hike, a 15 mile loop all around the park on the Scout Trail.
9/11 ceremonies at Comerica Park in Detroit
Chris Tillman warming up for the Orioles
Oak Openings... can remember coming here once or twice as a kid
pretty wildflowers
nifty handy work
It's the Scout Trail. Get it?
A taste of the 4000 mile NCT (more of this next week, in Michigan!)
Am I not a fun guy?
Serenity,
and reflections.
I spent a second night with my uncle and aunt on their farm, enjoyed an amazing country breakfast, and planned the next leg of my road trip... Michigan!
Since I'm traveling on a budget, here's a breakdown of the lodging expenses for the first week:
Hosted by family/friends: five nights
Camping at fee sites: one night ($20)
Other expenses: two major league baseball games with parking
