Who knew I had this trail in my own backyard? (Lots of people around here probably). This trail is about 2.5 miles in length total (5 miles out and back) running between the north end of Finn Road and the north end of Jones Road. Lots of birds to hear and see along with many turtles and the sound of frogs.
Good hiking trail especially with the great weather today. Only about 30 minutes from Bay City just west of Sanford Lake. The Salt River is one boundary and the Mud Creek runs through the area also, which gives it some elevation changes. Lots of standing water in some areas with mosquito’s out in deadly force already.
I saw two pileated wood peckers and a large eastern garter snake. Only ran into one other person on my approximate 4 mile hike. There were three levels of trails marked out and I took the most difficult of course. But this is Michigan and not the Appalachian mountains. Some of the trails were designed more for mountain bikes than for walking, which I think is it’s main attraction.
Here’s a few pics of the trail.
Went on my first hike of 2017 (at least on a new trail) at Green Pine Lake Pathway, about 15 miles NW of Clare on M-115. Only did a small portion of the trail and it was different with no leaves on the trees and a bit tricky with the water hazards in a few areas. Plus a portion of the trail was being clear cut for the timber. It was a beautiful day for a hike though with sun and temperatures in the upper forties.
In a one area I had to walk over what looked like a beaver dam and a few other areas I had to find my own route around the water covered areas and get back to the trail. This looked like it would be beautiful in the fall with the colors. There are also a lot of other trails that I did not go on, but I am not in quite the condition needed for that long a hike. Maybe this fall.
Here a just a few pictures:
A quick day trip up to the AuSable river to Iargo Springs. This is a trail head for a 7 mile trail along the river, which we did not do, and also a boardwalk with 300 steps to get down to the back waters of the river, with plenty of natural springs at the bottom. We were about 1 week late for the best fall color, but it was a beautiful day nonetheless for myself, Mary and Alex Chevalier.
This is a beautiful lake located on the north side of M-72 a few miles east of Grayling. The only access is by foot (no vehicles or motor boats) and all the trails and the lake are on national forest land. I was there on a Saturday and only met one other person during the whole time, which was a hike that ended up around 7 miles. You can go around the lake in about 4 miles, but if you take some of the other trails and then get a little confused, well, it gets a little longer.
This was a hike along a beautiful trail tucked away in Youngstown Ohio. It’s far enough away from the OSU campus in Columbus that I can recommend a stop here for the hike.
This was a hike up to McAfee Knob along the Appalachian trail outside of Roanoke VA. This was the most tiring hike I have taken to date. 8 miles total round trip, up and down rocky trails with an elevation gain of over 1,600 feet. Myself, Stephanie and Steven were mighty tired at the end of this hike, but it was worth it.
Made a trip, with Mary Martini, to Hartwick Pines for the first time since I was still in grade school I believe. There was a big tree that I remember being gigantic, which is now only a stump about 30 feet high, after a wind storm knocked the top half off.
We ended up walking over 7 miles by the end of the day, taking a long hike on the Ausable River trail. The highlight of the walk was a close encounter with a black bear which unfortunately ran away before we could get a picture (or maybe I should say fortunately).
This was not a trip that was for fun. I flew out Tuesday (4/12 – 36th wedding anniversary!) and David met me out there on Wednesday (4/13) We spent the week visiting Uncle Huddie in the nursing home and giving Aunt Zoe a break from being there all day every day. I figured out too late that I did not take any pictures of either of them.
But Palm Springs is beautiful. Stepping off the plane and you already knew you were not in Bay City anymore.
David and I got a chance to take a tram up to the top of Mount San Jacinto (climbed 6000 feet in 10 minutes) and took a hike at the top.
Saw a road runner and had a German pancake for breakfast at Elmers.
Today Brian and I had a great hike through some great trails in an area called “Clarence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick”. We did about 4 miles with lots of climbing, including 66 feet straight up the observation tower. The whole site is 1100 acres with over 14 miles of trails with numerous boulder climbing areas. An awesome place for a good hike and heart exercise.
We also stopped at an area near where Brian and Sammy hunt with a rock they call Dinosaur Rock. The picture I included has “Jaida” spray painted on so it seems Eric and Amy must have already been here.
Tomorrow I head to Ohio and then Saturday back home. The long journey is coming to an end.
retravelment.com 