Michigan Trail Running Vacation Article--Pt. 3

In some ways, my summer was bright. I'd survived a brutal fight with a spring trail marathon, made it through 40 miles in 8.5 hours of insanely hot running during my first loop ultra, stayed out of jail and re-discovered my swimming mojo with many hours along the buoys at Holly Recreation Area's Heron Lake. In other ways the summer was a dark one. Work was a bear (though I'm still extremely thankful to even have a job), I had/have wounds all over my feet from bashing my feet into various things & breaking bones & trying to run too far, training didn't seem to be going anywhere at all, the daily sirens from fire dept. calls to hundreds of arson fires all over the city and way, way too many murders (4 times the national average) throughout the city (still ranked in the top 3 or 4 worst cities in America to live in) bringing me down...I had to get out, get away, get far away...

So my final vacation of the summer season came at just the right time. There would be 10 days of running/hiking for me to do that would end on Labor Day, and the goal was to try to get way up into pure Michigan, take some pictures, somehow turn those day hikes & runs into a super-compensation buildup that would hopefully get me into enough shape to try and half-ass my way through a fall marathon. It was my only hope.

The vacation started on Saturday 8/28 with the Crim 10 Miler in Flint, where I was part of a record-setting sea of bodies moving through the sunny city in search of fitness and good times. Saw my dad, saw several other people I knew and yeah it was great, but I had a Very Large state to explore so I wrapped it up, packed it up and hopped on 75 north. My route took me north for an hour, then west on state road 10 over to my beloved stomping grounds of Nirvana, MI. After the Crim I needed to ice my legs in the insanely cold Pere Marquette river (now THAT's an ice bath). The rough initial plan was to start north a bit, maybe do a couple more pieces of the NCT and then head up to the promised land--the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. But the key factor in this, which is very important--just have a couple of vague ideas of where to go, but otherwise have nothing worked out in advance, completely wing it, figuring it out as I go along, and hope for the best.

Sunday 8/29 I visited the US Forest Service station in Baldwin for some maps (I would end up with probably 25 maps by the end of the vacation). Using this info, I went a few minutes north on 37 and did a tired & tiring 7 mile trail slog on dead legs...but it was sunny, warm, beautiful & I was on trails. It was a nice recovery after the Crim and just the right kind of calm intro to the vacation. I had large miles planned for the week and didn't want to overdo it at the start. Starting from the Freesoil leg of the North Country Trail I once again found a well-maintained, very hikable/runnable trail with absolutely nobody anywhere in sight. Bugs were there, but not terrible.

Monday the 30th I headed north for the Mackinaw Bridge & crossed it slowly (man is it windy up there). Once across, I stopped at the visitors center for more maps and started working my way west on 2. Amazing how much it feels like a different country once you hit the UP. Got about half an hour along at which point I started going crazy and needed to get out for a hike/run. The very first possible opportunity was at Brevort Lake campground (through which ran the UP section of the North Country Trail), where I parked & did about 10 miles of moderately difficult trails. Didn't see a soul. Aahhh. I was now, officially, completely and totally on vacation, for real. Got a couple of nice pics but they didn't really capture the awesomeness of the area. (Did see a nice Trail Donut though...)



After the hike I went for a swim in Brevort Lake (didn't see one person or boat on the lake either), then continued on towards a place to camp for the night. After a local UP Pastie for dinner I wound up at Fox River State Forest campground, just north of Seney and really out in the boondocks of Northern Michigan, which is exactly where I wanted to be (had the entire campground to myself). There were a lot of bugs, but the river was nothing short of magic, almost caught fat little trout (I'm meant to have them shake the lure 100% of the time) and slept in some of the most complete silence I've ever known.

Got up the next morning to do an excursion on what I thought would be a well-marked Fox River Trail but instead ended up doing a couple hours on dirt two-track roads that were clearly used very, very rarely. I saw bear/wolf droppings & bear/wolf tracks all over the place, but no people, no cars, no 4 wheelers, no houses or cabins, just miles & miles of nothing. Good stuff!

Back on the road and heading west on 28; I needed to cover ground & get over to the Porcupine State Forest. It took a good 3 hours to get across the UP. Frequently I looked out my window and thought God I wish I lived right there, how cool would it be to live there, man I bet this area gets a Ton of snow but so what and how awesome would that be to be able to run that road every day, etc.

About 5pm after a full afternoon's drive I reached the entrance to the Porkies, got another map and was told by the front desk gal that if yeah I wanted to do a quickie hike that had the biggest bang for the buck I should do the Escarpment Trail a couple miles up the road. First I drove past that and up to the top of the outlook for Lake Of The Clouds and oh my goodness, that was absolutely a highlight of the trip. What a stunning view, with almost criminally easy access.



Then I drove back down to the trailhead for the Escarpment Trail just like she told me and soon found myself on what would be the hardest trail I've ever been on in my life (and I've been on some doozies). It was absolutely straight up, straight down, rocks/roots everywhere and all kinds of opportunities to snap tendons, break bones or flat-out die. The cliffs I treaded along were wildly severe and wow was I glad I was sober. It's amazing how quickly I got completely exhausted. This was only day 4 of my vacation so I couldn't overdo it...but I felt for the first time like I was getting some serious workouts & training.



Followed up that absolutely brutal 7 miler with a swim in the desperately cold water of Lake Superior and wound up the day in my second totally empty campground in two days, at Lost Creek campground deep in the heart of Porkies. But this place wasn't quiet; I heard all kinds of critters scurrying through the woods, coyotes and/or others hooting and a hollering and having themselves a concert in the wilderness. Pure Michigan indeed.

Next day I set off on tired but healthy legs for a 3 hour hike to the top of Government Peak & back (lots of bear droppings & tracks, but strangely very little actual wildlife at all and only a handful of people). Strolled by Lost Lake....



Afterward I shortly napped & went over to Summit Peak for an afternoon hike & the opportunity to climb the lookout tower & see a high-up, stunning panorama of northern Michigan forest. This view in the fall with full tree colors would be just impossibly beautiful; too bad I was there 3 weeks early. I can't believe more people don't know about this place.



Next hike was almost an afterthought, a little interim stroll through the woods at Overlooked Falls and Little Carp River Trail. Quiet, peaceful, and another highlight of my trip. Cameras can't capture it accurately, but I tried with mine.





Then I made my way over to the western edge & the other showcase of the park, Presque Isle. I felt like I was exploring a different planet when skeddadling around the area, taking pics of the falls & the rocks & cliffs & formations & rivers & rapids & oh my goodness what an impossibly incredible place.





Then after an end-of-day soak....



...I soon realized I'd been on my feet hiking/climbing/jogging for nearly 7 hours and needed to come up with a game plan. I figured it was time to get a hotel room for one night, recharge my batteries (as well as those of my Garmin, my mp3 player, my cellphone, etc.) so I did a quick drive over to Bessemer, got a room for the night and regrouped. I'm not a TV guy, but it was an interesting area because the nightly news stations were from Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota; the next day I spent some time listening to a Native American radio station. I've been an American for 40 years but had only just then been listening to a Native American station for the first time that week.

Started working my way back east with a plan to camp somewhere near Munising and hike Grand Island the next morning. Problem was, when I went to the local US Forestry office in town for some more maps they told me it was very likely that if I took the ferry over to the Island, I might get stranded due to the high waves forecast for the next day which could shut down the ferry. So I employed plan B and headed for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

After setting up camp at the Beaver Lake Campground & doing a little fishing in the namesake lake I decided to do a quick little jaunt down to the lake to get a pic of the sunset...but then when I headed back it got pitch dark within minutes and I got a little lost, which I didn't think was possible (it was an out-&-back trail), and ended up in the pitch dark of the woods without a flashlight. I mean, absolute dark. Lost. It was a bad feeling. I ended up using the light of my cellphone to work my way back close enough to see headlamps in the distance (so glad there were other campers at this campground) and slept in my car while we got a major, massive rainstorm. Besides the realization that I dodged a major bullet (I was in the woods in the pitch dark alone with no raingear just prior to a major rainstorm and no family/friends had any idea of where I was), I gained a new appreciation for the fact that they sure get some intense weather around the UP...and for how dark it gets on cloudy nights in the woods.

Next day I started west on the Pictured Rocks trail, hoping I could do 4-5 hours on cliff-hugging trails after about 7 hours the day before. By now I was caught up on my unofficial, unstated goal of approximately 10 miles per day, at appx. 60 miles through 6 days and ready to add to it. Legs were fatigued but felt strong and solid under me. Headed west on the trail for about 1.5 hours, getting better & better pics along the way, looking more & more forward to what I would see around the next curve and through the next opening when bam, my camera died on me. Not out of batteries, it just broke, quit working, the automatic lens quit focusing, unfixable. It was devastating. I was literally 200 yards from the most spectacular part of one of the greatest parks in America and the highlight of my entire summer of trails...and I'd have no way to capture any of it. I couldn't believe it. This was the luck of a broke gambler and...was this my karmic payback for having found my way back to the campsite in the pitch-dark last night? Was I swearing too much while trying to find my way back? Hmmm... Anyway, after hating technology with every fiber of my being for 1/2 an hour I finally got over it, got my head back together and continued on, marveling at this absolute treasure of a park and wondering how it couldn't be ranked up there with the most popular areas in this country (probably because it's too far away from everything; we find 'Inconvenience' a challenging obstacle to overcome these days). These photos were about all I could get...





After this particular hike/run, the UP phase of my experience was done so I started to head back south for the second weekend near Baldwin. Saturday was a 16 miler of mostly running in the rain on what's called Big M (for Manistee) mountain bike trails. Since it was raining on & off I only saw a couple of bikers, and was able to react in plenty of time so I didn't get run over. These trails were hilly, beautiful and rainy; I got drenched, but I was feeling strong, able to cover many hills and long distances with little fatigue. I was getting in shape, for real. Only wished I could get some pictures of the place.

Last trail of the trip was along the Eastern ridge trail above the Manistee River. Hilly yes, but also with panoramic views that were yet another major highlight of the vacation. Just gorgeous views. Only two drawbacks: one, there were a Lot of people (which should not have surprised me because it was Labor Day weekend), and two I had no goddamn camera to capture any of those views. Afterward I soaked my legs in the river, poured my very spent body into the car, tallied the mileage at 109 for 9 days and headed back to reality.

When back in that 'reality' that first morning I distinctly saw several actually Miserable people, who will likely never bother to go up north, beyond the city, to hike any of the trails that I was lucky enough to find and spend so much time upon, even though those areas are a mere 1/2 day's drive from Detroit, from Flint, from Saginaw. Maybe they don't have the money, or the opportunity due to commitments keeping them downstate, or maybe they just don't care. They'll stay here, downstate within the cities where houses are crumbling, solace is found inside lottery tickets and the only views come from electronic screens. It is depressing when I think about it that way, but those things are out of my control and I quickly thank my lucky stars with everything I've got becuase I've seen what Paradise looks like--it's not a liquor store, not a city, and not on a screen. Paradise is a trail, and that trail is long.