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  1. #1
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    Michigan NCT Mackinaw City to Petoskey, April 7-9, 2017, 38.5 miles

    It's that time of year again to get back on my favorite long trail, the NCT aka North Country Trail. This season, I still have to work my way down to Fife Lake to complete the majority of the NCT in the Lower Peninsula. Instead of my usual solo NCT trips, this time Donk_67 joined me for this adventure, since he knew what he was getting into. He made the 45 minute journey from Petoskey and I subjected myself to a 250 mile 3 1/2 hour trip from Clarkston. We met up at the hiker lot in Mackinaw City at 8:30, then with the help of his son Thomas, we made the quick drive to our starting destination at French Farm Lake.


    Day 1: French Farm Lake to Wycamp Lake, 20 miles
    We got on the trail around 9 or so and headed west, past the lake on the well groomed trail that is typical of any northern Michigan woods. Temps were in the high 30's and 40's for most of the day and it took a bit of time to get our "legs" back after a long winter of not enough exercise.




    We entered Wilderness State Park (my first visit) and had a variety of terrain to deal with: hills, old two tracks, soggy trails, swamps and more hills. One highlight was seeing Nebo Cabin, which is available for rent and the big log lean-t0 shelter with fireplace. Too bad we couldn't camp there.






    We did run into a couple rangers on ATV's, who were out checking the trails and a day hiker or two. We took a long break at Lakeview Road and enjoyed Lake Michigan.




    Back on the trail, we really started hitting the hills and that really took it out of us. By 5:30, we passed Sturgeon Bay Road and rolled into Wycamp Lake 2 miles later. This would be our destination for the night. We followed the NCT all the way along the lake and wandered around the unofficial campground.




    Not really finding anything where we felt comfortable (Wycamp has a tendancy to become a late night hangout for locals and it can get a bit rowdy), we worked our way to end of the lake near the dam area. Unfortunately, the area was brushy and the trees questionable, we backtracked a bit and found a spot off the two-track. By now it was 6:45 and we were done for the day. 20 miles was a huge day, especially since this was our first long hike of the the year. Congrats to Don for hitting his biggest mile day to date!






    We set up our gear, had dinner, then enjoyed an evening around the luci light with 2 pints of Rochester bourbon aged red and brown ale plus a healthy dose of hot cider and whiskey. By 10:30 it was hiker midnight and sleep came fast....At least until 2:15 when a few cars decided to drive out in the middle of nowhere on a friday night to party and roast hotdogs. Maybe we were stealthy enough, so no incidents. It was a full moon, clear night and the temps hit a chilly 28 degrees.

    Day 2: Wycamp Lake to Stealth Camp south of Stutsmanville Road, 12.5 miles



    6:30 AM came pretty quick, so we got up, had breakfast, enjoyed a few more cups of coffee and packed up. By 8:30 we were on the trail for a quick 2 mile hike down to Levering Road. It was here that Don's brother was picking us up so we could avoid the 6.5 mile road walk on paved and dirt roads. Neither of us felt guilty "cheating" and why burn ourselves out with a needless walk on the road?





    Jumping back on the trail at Van Road, Don's brother and dog joined us for the next couple of miles. Don knew this was going to be a "dry" section, so he had cached some water for us down the trail to get us through the day. It was nice easy hiking through a few hills and some really nice pine forests. The temps were warming up and we were already at 60 by noon. We were really making some good time, even after our overexertion from the day before.





    It was more of the same typical Michigan woods walk with a variety of terrain, some nice views and a few reminders of winter still in the woods. There was another short road walk, but it went right by a township hall, so we took a break on the bench and watered up from the tap.



    At around 3 PM, we passed Stutsmanville Road and a mile later crossed the two track where Thomas would meet up with us for the night.






    We carved out a few hang spots off trail and got set up for the night. By 5, Thomas showed up with Jack the beagle, a 6 pack of Keewanaw Black Widowmaker and the "piece de resistance": pineapple and ham pizza right out of the oven. We also had stashed some extras in the truck, so we enjoyed our share of cookies and coke. It was a warm evening and with a low of 56 for the night, it was a good sleep.




    Day 3 Stutesmanville Road to Kipp Road, 6 miles

    At 6:45, it was time to start the day, so I got up and packed, then went down to the truck to get the coffee going and pull out a few things for breakfast: fake bacon and waffles in a bag. As we were enjoying our breakfast, Dirk (aka kg8jk on HF) hiked into our camp to join us for our last day on the trail. He had parked down and the next trailhead and we'd shuttle him back later.







    We did a little slackpacking, since Thomas was going to park at the south end then hike north to meet us. Don got to test out my Ohm2 for a couple miles and Dirk was testing out his new front pack. We had more rolling terrain, a few hills and some more pine forest. We even ran into a bunch of snow and ice on the trail from nearby Nubs Nob ski complex. At 11:23 and 6 miles later, we completed our hike. From there, we dropped Dirk off, then ran back up to Mackinaw City so I could head home.



    Here's our final stats for the trip: 38.5 miles walked, 2.6mph average speed in a total of 14 hours and 41 minutes of walking time. The local chapter really does a nice job with trail maintenance and there was plenty of signage and hiker registers. A few of the local trail angels also stash water on the dry sections.

    In keeping with my long standing tradition of a picture heavy and long report, it's a resource for anyone that might want to do the same trip. The NCT through Michigan is a great trail and there are still many miles to do. Thanks for joining me, Don (and hauling me around, getting pizza etc and putting up with me for 3 days) on this adventure!

    Link to full album:
    https://www.flickr.com/gp/152341195@N04/n7JM70

    https://northcountrytrail.org/
    http://northcountrytrail.org/hrb/
    https://northcountrytrail.org/get-in...100-challenge/
    Last edited by michigandave; 04-11-2017 at 14:55.

  2. #2
    Senior Member OneClick's Avatar
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    At least until 2:15 when a few cars decided to drive out in the middle of nowhere on a friday night to party and roast hotdogs.

    LOL!!!!! Good clean Friday night fun up north.

    Thanks Dave. I always look forward to your reports. Good idea skipping the road walking...I got dusted bigtime on several occasions. Going to check out all your pics now...

  3. #3
    Senior Member Donk_67's Avatar
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    Thanks Dave for the trip report. I'll add a few thoughts to it:

    Half of this trip (20 miles) went across the tip of the mitt, aka, Wilderness SP which is a really cool park...but has ample swamp which steadily supplies a nasty mosquito population from bug bloom in May throughout most of the summer, so the ideal time to hike this section is right after snow melt or in the fall (contending with hunters).


    I knew this trip was ambitious (20 mile start) and worked hard at keeping my pack weight down. This meant going with a sit pad in lieu of my tripod chair, something I missed at our first night's camp. I also put a lot of thought in my clothing, selecting a lighter fleece and fully utilizing my down jacket at camp.

    Test driving Dave's ULA pack further motivates me towards replacing my Osprey pack for a circuit and shedding 2 1/2 lbs off my base weight.

    An excellent start to the backpacking season.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Senior Member TZBrown's Avatar
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    Great report again. I need to do more miles in MI and cut the drive time down.

    Thanks for sharing the adventure
    Life's A Journey
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  5. #5
    Member jdeering's Avatar
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    Looks awesome! How are you liking the OHM?


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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by markr6 View Post
    At least until 2:15 when a few cars decided to drive out in the middle of nowhere on a friday night to party and roast hotdogs.
    LOL!!!!! Good clean Friday night fun up north.
    Thanks Dave. I always look forward to your reports. Good idea skipping the road walking...I got dusted bigtime on several occasions. Going to check out all your pics now...
    I give all the credit to Don for laying out the trip and setting up the shuttle. Not much point getting burned out on road walks when you have the option to skip. I've done plenty of solo road walks and there's not alot of bragging rights...

    Quote Originally Posted by TZBrown View Post
    Great report again. I need to do more miles in MI and cut the drive time down. Thanks for sharing the adventure
    Glad you enjoyed it. Still lots of trails more or less close to home. A 3 1/2 hour drive isn't too bad.

    Quote Originally Posted by jdeering View Post
    Looks awesome! How are you liking the OHM? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    I absolutely love it. Thanks for tempting me at the November Gluttony hang with yours. Being able to compare 2 Ula packs with the different straps sold me. I think I ordered it less that a week later. Hope you can make it up this year for the 2017 Gluttony. Same time, same place!

  7. #7
    Member jdeering's Avatar
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    Dave - glad you like it. I want to try taking the aluminum stays out of my circuit to see if it rides more like the OHM. I will be up in August at the latest, and possibly before hand in May...I haven't planned far enough ahead for Gluttony.


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  8. #8
    Senior Member Atlas918's Avatar
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    Another good trip report. I always look forward to your trip reports, Dave. The pictures look great. Sounds like you had a really good time on the trail. Was that the maiden voyage for the Ohm 2.0? What are your thoughts on it? Glad everyone had fun. Cheers!
    The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.

  9. #9
    Senior Member kg8jk's Avatar
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    I am going to start a thread for a French Farm Lake hang over memorial day weekend so anybody wanting to do some of this hike could start there. Thanks for letting me join you guys. It was a great day hike. Hope to join you on the next one for the full trip.
    Dirk

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Atlas918 View Post
    Another good trip report. I always look forward to your trip reports, Dave. The pictures look great. Sounds like you had a really good time on the trail. Was that the maiden voyage for the Ohm 2.0? What are your thoughts on it? Glad everyone had fun. Cheers!
    Glad you enjoyed it. This was my 3rd trip out with the Ohm and the 1st with my 20 degree quilt set. Love the pack so far and I found that the 23 oz propell bottles carry well on the straps. Next trip will be with the 40 degree set. Looking forward to getting out again. The NCT is always a great trail to lay down a few miles on.

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