I’ve been hoping to cover some “orphan sections” on the NCT in Michigan, and this weekend provided the profound satisfaction of watching my recorded hiking tracks meet up into a continuous line on my Gaia app, uniting a section that now spans from a bit south of the Soldier Lake campground in the Eastern UP to Rockford in the lower peninsula.
Friday, a new hiking buddy met me at Brevoort Lake campground and we got in a 9.75 mile hike up to H-40, filling in one of my gaps, and that evening we met up with the rest of our weekend hiking crew, camping on some national forest land near the Trout Brook Pond off of H-40. While our Friday hike had some monumentally large water holes in many places, we managed to keep our feet dry, out hike the mosquito swarms, and enjoy the scenery, which included trillium, streams, and lush green forests.
As the rest of the group arrived at the campground, introductions were made amongst both people and dogs, and we tucked in for dinner and a good night’s sleep before Saturday’s hike of 11ish miles. It was a clear, beautiful evening full of birdsong. We heard both a barred owl and a great horned owl, as well as many song birds during our time in camp, and from my hammock, I could look up at the stars amongst the silhouettes of the red pine. It was just gorgeous–my first night outdoors of the year!
Come morning, our last members of the group arrived, and we drove to the trailhead at Jersey Rd. Our first bit of trail was a hardwood forest full of dappled morning light and trillium–a beautiful beginning to the day! We also spotted numerous Jack-in-the-pulpits as we hiked along.
As we neared the escarpment, mossy boulders began to increase in both frequency and size. Many of the boulders hosted wildflowers, small shrubs, and even trees in their cracks and basins.
The escarpment eventually emerged–a cliff of layered rock rising up out of the forest floor, with forest growing along both its top and bottom. Dark caves held promise of bats and creepy crawlies. We stopped here for a lunch break so we could soak up the view.
Eventually, the trail peeled away from the escarpment, and the topography changed, from the bouldered forest to cedar swamps, then to hardwood, with small streams and ponds along the way. It was relatively easy hiking, with good company, and the day went by quickly. Before long, we were crossing H-40, taking time to view the trout pond, which is really more of a stream now that the dam has been removed. In any case, it was a pretty sight, and an indicator we were nearly back at camp.
While a few drivers delivered hikers back to their cars, the rest of us took time to stretch a little, eat some snacks and rehydrate, and eventually, my yawns became powerful and I settled into my hammock for a nap. I could hear my friends laugh in their conversation every once in a while, and everything just felt right with the world. I don’t think I was the only one who eventually succumbed to the lure of a nap, but we regrouped around dinner time. Even though we had the luxury of car camping, most of us behaved like backpackers when it came to meal prep. Both nights I enjoyed a delicious meal of instant mashed potatoes mixed with a packet of chicken. “Hunger is the best seasoning,” one of my wise teenage campers told me a couple summers ago on a backpacking trip I was guiding. He wasn’t wrong about that!
I made it past hiker midnight (9:00 p.m.) just barely and headed to my hammock, where I read a bit and enjoyed watching the sky darken and the stars emerge. I awoke a few times in the night and marveled at how bright the forest floor looked once the full moon had risen. Then, around 4:00 a.m., I woke to a haunting call: low, sorrowful, and a little eerie. It was answered in kind–a bit different tone, but still mournful. “Wolves?” I wondered, and as if to answer, a deep, lonely howl sounded in the distance. This continued for maybe a half an hour. As I lay there, contemplating how far away they sounded, listening to see if it seemed like they were getting closer, I contemplated my life choices for a moment (much like I had the time a moose decided to graze next to my hammock on Isle Royale). But it was also an amazing moment. The wolf’s calls did not come closer, and I dozed peacefully for the next hour or two.
In the morning, we discussed our experience of listening to the wolves while we drank our coffee and ate breakfast, and pretty much everyone who had been awake to hear them agreed that the awe outweighed any fear in the experience. We packed up our daypacks with a fresh supply of snacks and water, and headed for the Pine River trailhead to begin our 7ish mile hike back to our camping spot. The trail ran through a red pine plantation that had been selectively harvested long ago. The trail was sandy and dry, flanked by crunchy white lichen and graying stumps that hosted all manner of new growth. There’s just something about seeing a flower, shrub, or tree growing out of an old tree stump that makes me happy. Circle of life, I guess.
The forest eventually became a more traditional environment–cedar swamps and mixed hardwoods. We encountered some wet areas that had fabulous boardwalks. (Thank you NCT volunteers!) We crossed one stream, skirted the edge of a couple ponds, and crossed a railroad before we ended up back at camp.
After quick goodbyes, we returned the two drivers to their cars, a couple of us met for a meal in Rudyard, and then the return to reality began! It was an easy weekend full of perfect weather, beautiful scenery, and good company, and I felt lucky in many facets of life.
Exploring Michigan and other cool places 