NCT MI-05 Old 131 Bridge Canoe camp to Townline Rd.

It is the first Wednesday after Labor day. That means a couple of things, the kids are back in school ,my wife is back driving school bus, and I am hitting the trail. With the season starting to turn to fall, I had to do some trail cleanup and blue-blaze painting. My section is along the Manistee River, near the newly closed US131 bridge. I start at the Old 131 Campground and walk a short 1 mile spur trail to get to the NCT. Today I will walk west towards Townline Rd. The spur trail follows the river closely until the train track crossing, and then works away from it for a few minutes. There is a train bridge that crosses the river here and it is quite a nice visual feature on the trail. The day is quite nice. The trail moves very well once on the NCT. There are deer here. I like hiking where there are deer because you can really almost walk within 25 to 50 feet of them, before they turn to go. I don't like intruding or feeling like I am intruding so I give ample space. Anyone who has been grunted at and stared down by a deer knows what I am saying.

The trail is mostly flat and the rivers comes in and out of sight often. There is a nice campsite overlooking the train bridge. There are a few nice streams on this stretch of the trail. Cedars surround the gulleys and valleys in which the streams run through. I stop frequently to apply fresh blazes to the trees. The NCT and the NCTA are incredible as are all the volunteers who put in countless hours to keep in so nice. Our trails here are as good as anywhere as far as up keep and pleseantness. I enjoy the trail so much, I can't say that it is working. What a way to enjoy a Wednesday.

As I walk back towards my start point, I hear faint noises like chainsaws

and heavy equipment. I soon realized it was the work crews starting to take

out the bridge on US131 and over the Manistee River. And since it was still early and I was not really feeling like I was done hiking, I walked further east on the spur trail through the campground, to an area known as the spur overlook. The spur trail ends at the spur overlook, but a short walk to the east produces views of the Manistee River Bridge and the Hiwghway US131. Today was different on US131, I was able to walk right down the middle of the road because it was closed. I was able to walk up toi the work sight and look on to all the goings on. There is a roadside park with picnic tables and bathrooms here, and I was able to enjoy them all to myself. It felt odd to have crossed US 131 on foot. I was geeked though. What a day.

Old Indian Trail

A few weeks back while hiking the North Country Trail a few miles south and west of Kingsley, along the Manistee River, I came across a concrete marker that read"old Indian trail, Cadillac to Traverse City" with a number 16 on it. Seeing these thing along a trail is pure excitement. This marker is the last thing I would have thought I would have come across out here. But now it does make sense to me. After that hike I returned home and one night that week, I was talking with my neighbor and mentioned that stone and she knew all about it and a fair amount about the trail. My neighbors are the Bowdens. They are incredible. Phil is 92ish and Betty is 88ish. They have lived here all their lives and Phil worked the rivers in this area way back when. We are so lucky and blessed to have them as neighbors, they truly are the best. So with the story from Betty and making mention of it to a co-worker the next day, a plan was put in motion. I will call my co-worker Dan.

It took a few weeks to arrange a day and Saturday August 22nd was to be the day. The forecast was for rain, but it had been rainy and cloudy and cold for days anyway, so that surely was not going to stop us. I run at the chance. And you know what happens when it rains on the trail, you simply just get wet. We met at my place mid-day. Upon arriving at the trailhead we noticed the sky starting to clear slightly, things are already going our way. We had just shoulder our packs and I was making sure the van was secure, I heard Dan shout out, "Hey man look at this", It was a $10 dollar bill. It was right in the middle of the NCT. We had to hike west on the NCT for a few minutes to get to the marker. It appears that the the indian trail headed north and south, whereas the NCT heads east and west. The plan was to go south and towards the Manistee River and try to find a place called Indian Crossings. We started on a faint path and eventually that faint path disappeared and with our compass we tried to stay mostly south and west a litlle. The trail dropped quickly from the highbanks and within five minutes we were in low lying lush hardwoods not disturbed by anything. Just green and the perfect shade all around us. It was evident the deer liked this area. Mushrooms were everywhere. Nothing was dry like with summers past. Everything was just enjoying the wet somewhat cool summer. I felt invited as I am sure Dan did too. It felt like we were supposed to be here. We didn't really have to bushwhack our way through the woods everything was very open and very comfortable walking. At least for now it was. Not long after we got comfortable walking throught the open part of the woods we came to a transition from hardwoods to Redpines and then eventually to Cedars. Monster Cedars all around us. We knew our direction and we knew the Manistee River was close. We did not really have anything else to go on other than a guess of where the indians may have crossed. I did research it a little and the most I could find was an article saying that it took 800 pounds of dynamite to unplug a log jam created somewhere near the point of crossing. We walked west and could see that the river was just ahead a few minutes and walked upon a county marker. It was a corner marker marking the four corners of public land. Marker was intact and legible. At this point we stopped for a break and I pulled out my Wexford county map and we were able to pinpoint our location. This was helpful because the Manistee River is incredible by the way in which it flows.

It is a river in which it flows every direction and should not be relied on as point in a certain direction. We saw some canoeists and it appeared they were camping. We had reached the river and we decided to follow it upstream or to the east and north a bit. We came across some locust trees and thornapple trees and along with the briars and Bull thistle this made for a picky walk. We seen some amazing Bull thistle plants. We came upon some more canoeist that actually had already put up camp along the banks of the river. They looked to be Indo Chinese. They welcomed us into their camp and allowed us to walk through. The nodding of the head always works well when there is a language barrier. They certainly had some nice equipment and they seemed very cheery and happy. It is nice to see happy people. We continued on and up ahead in the distance,

there it was, our first sign of the idian trail. It was a tree that had been elbowed. I don't think it could have been more than 50 years old, so that is kind of puzzling but it was definetly an elbow.

Today was not going to be the day we found Indian Crossings. We did though get out and scout and search a little bit. We did though get out and enjoy the richness of our resources right here. We had laughter and we had fun. This was a most enjoyable hike. We actually made money this trip out. Cannot ever really say that last line. The trip back to the van was quick and to the point. We had an uphill pull and came out exactly where we needed to. We will continue this search another day and maybe try to find more of the trail. Wouldn't it be neat to follow an "old indian trail".

NCT MI-05 19 mile Rd. to Highbanks Rollaways

The forecast was for rain this day. It was a Wednesday, which
meant at least two things, it was my day off and I was hiking
somewhere. Waking up this morning to my wife and coffee waiting for me was grand. I am truly spoiled and blessed when it comes to my wife and children.
I probably don't always deserve the kindness, but maybe. What I do know is, it is a great place to be in.
Today had all the makings of a fine trail day. I had a few things to do with the family and then off to the trail it was. My wife dropped me off and was going to pick me up at my final destination, which would be determined while on the trail. Today I would be hiking from 19 mile Rd. to Highbanks rollaways or Baxter Bridge Rd. Because of timing I chose the Highbanks. It ended up being between 8 and 9 miles and followed closely along the banks of the Manistee River.
The hike starts off on a high bank and starts to descend to the river in the first ten minutes of the hike to the east. Many mixed trees and lots of pines. The ferns are very showy as they have reached waist heighth and perfect green. About 30 minutes into the hike the trail descends into a creek valley, it is in that valley that the trail crosses Anderson Creek. It just a few yards to the right the creek empties into the Mnaistee River. It has been dry and the creek still flows pretty well here. It looks like it could handle quite a bit of water. Walking east still there are some bonfire campsites within a few minutes of Anderson Creek. The trail follows along the low banks for a good 45 minutes and then the trail turns to the north and feels like practically straight up. You are rewarded with beautiful views if you make the climb. Incredible are the sights to the south. You can see Mesick and Cadillac and beyond , all from this viewpoint. This view in the winter time is worth the snowshoe walk in. Most don't see this view. It is here for a fortunate few. The trail follows along the ridge for just about five minutes and the turns left and north into a stand of red pine. The trail is soft as it is carpeted by pine needles. Seems that the feet work better on certain trail surfaces. I pay attention to these things. That statement is always true. The trail turns east or left and drop in and out of a valley and continues along the highbanks of the river. There is a beautiful orange flower out in the woods here. I can't say
that I remember them last year. Very bright are they. On this hike was a large sandy bank high above the sharpest hairpin turn I have seen on the Manistee River. That sight alone is worth the hike in. It was cloudy this day and I can imagine what a sight it would be on a sunny winter day. At about two hours and twenty minutes into the hike I come across a bench on the right side of the trail overlooking the river. I know this bench and know that it is not far now to the High Rollaways trailhead. The trail here also follows along the highbank but the woods are mostly older, large hard woods. Lots of massive oaks. Big and strong and powerful is what they feel like here. The largest of the trees almost stand as if they are sticking out there chests. Big and proud. It is healthy here. My wife and I watched the sunrise here one year. I remember that walk. We were without children that morning. The remainder of the hike only takes eight minutes and total time for today's hike is two and a half hours. Wildlife today were many birds a doe and her fawn up close. Two canoes passed by and zero hikers were met on the trail. It was a no passing zone all the way today.

Not just another day

About the end of the month of March this year, I learned of a thru hiker starting out in North Dakota on the NCT and heading east to New York. I learned of his web page journals and started to follow them daily. I knew that he would be coming through Kingsley mid June. I had an idea.Wouldn't it be nice if I could hike a few miles with him, or better yet hike a few miles with him and have dinner with him and put him up for the night? It took no more than a quick e-mail to an address that I wasn't really sure he was keeping track of. I left him all the neccessary info and hoped that when he got close he would call. The thought of him coming to this area went in and out of my head so many times I couldn't even begin to count. It was four weeks since I had e-mailed him, that he called. It was a Wednesday eve., 6:05 pm. I must have turned white. He said this is the Nomad and explained if the offer was still on he would be coming through our area in about two weeks. I was now a basket case. I called my wife in and told her and the next two weeks were a blur. I suddenly had all these things I had to get done.

I knew that trail days was coming up and wanted to be there. Our local celebration was at Guernsey Lake Campground for a ribbon cutting ceremony. I had learned that the Nomad was going to be part of it. My two boys and I went out to that area and hiked before the crowd gathered and then left mid way through the celebration. Too much hoopla for me. I did'nt even get to meet the Nomad. So home we came. I was at this point besides myself not knowing when or if he would even call. I did not know the exact day he would be calling. So I just told myself if it happens it happens. Went to bed Saturday June 6th. Got up Sunday June 7th, phone rang at 8:02 a.m. Never guess who it was. The rest of this story will have to be written in another post, because it is quite a story. Let me give you a hint... There is Life before Nomad, and Life after Nomad.....