April 5, 2022 -- Back to Days River, and then on to Thompson Beach

Would there be bare ground yet? With a no-precipitation day we had to find out.

And, of course, we also had to see how the Beach was doing.

April 1 and 3, 2022 -- Still Fascinated with Thompson Beach Changes

What an ever changing landscape as winter recedes and spring makes its way on to summer.

March 29, 2022 -- First Days River Hike of the Year - plus Thompson Beach

The skiiers are gone and the hikers have emerged. It's still too early for "nice" walking but that doesn't stop those who are anxious to get out on the trails, including us.

 Then a stop to walk Thompson Beach on the way home - different every time we go!

March 20, 2022 -- Around the Block - then - Thompson Beach

Sunny and above 40! Still snow so we walked around our neighborhood "block", about six miles, then headed on down to Thompson Beach to find more bare ground (or sand).  

March 18, 2022 -- Full Moon Cheers!

And what better way to celebrate than a nice walk. We've had a stretch of warm above freezing days and the snow is disappearing fast. We just had to head down to Thompson Beach to check it out.

March 4, 2022 -- It's a Hiking Day!

Sunny, upper 20's, calm -- no question, it was a day to be outside. I know, it won't be long and this will feel downright cold, but it's still winter and this was a Cat's Pajamas of a day. We were on the trail at McKeever Hills by 12:30, lunch in our packs and sun on our faces.

February 25, 2022 -- Back to Pine Marten

With a week of stormy weather we've been making do with short walks around the homestead. But the weather calmed down and we were ready to go for a longer hike. Pine Marten is about 20 miles north of us so we knew there would be more snow but didn't know how much.

February 25, 2022 -- Flat Snow Beach

As we drove south from our snowshoe at Pine Marten Pathway towards home the sky cleared and the sun shone brightly. It was still early so we decided to go on down to Thompson and go for a walk on the beach in the sun.

February 17, 2022 -- Presque Isle

Marquette trips almost always include a visit to Presque Isle and another wonderful new view of the cold Lake.
 

February 14, 2022 -- Thompson Beach

A Valentine's Day walk to see what changes had occurred along the beach and shoreline.
 

February 10 & January 29, 2022 -- Fayette State Park Trails

A phone call to the Fayette State Park headed us on down for a very nice late afternoon hour and a half walk on the trails there. Two weeks ago we had gone down for their annual Lantern Lit Bluff Trail Walk.

February 8, 2022 -- Escanaba Pathway

A bit over an hour walking the nice shorter (the more cleared part) of the snowshoe trail then on around on Loop 1, no snowshoes needed.

February 8, 2022 -- Days River Nature Trail

When we had explored the small Days River Nature Trail in November we had said we'd stop back in the winter where it would be different in the snow. So that was our first stop, and it was not only a "new" trail with snow but still a delight.

February 5, 2022 -- McKeever Hills Trails

We just had to go back to see if the trail was as nice as it was last trip. And it was! Firm base, enough snow for traction, cool but not too cold.

January 28, 2022 -- Ice Mounds on Thompson Beach

Though a bit chilly (low teens) and cloudy it was calm, and after a long stretch of cold and windy weather we wanted to get out for a walk. Since we also were wondering how the beach ice at Thompson-Rogers Park was doing we went on down and walked the beach. The recent high winds had scoured the frozen beach so there were patches of bare (very hard!) sand and only maybe 4" snow most other places.

January 17, 2022 -- Return to McKeever Hills on Snowshoe

We thought we'd snowshoe Bruno's Run today. But when checking out the few spots to park off the road we saw that a plow had gone into McKeever Hills. Could it be? Steve pulled in and we found a fully plowed parking lot! Not only that -- a wide groomed pathway with ski tracks down the middle and plenty of room on either side for snowshoeing. Wonderful!

January 12, 2022  -- Pine Marten East Trailhead

We had planned a longer walk and there was still daylight so we drove up to the East Trailhead of Pine Marten to see if there was a place to park along the road to walk in from there. I'd called the Forest Service Office earlier to find that no, they would not be plowing the PM Trailheads. Sigh...

January 12, 2022  (01122022) -- Return to Ashford Lake Pathway

We wondered if the Ashford Lake Pathway had any action yet this year so decided to check it out. We had less than a foot of snow at home but there would be more as we head north. The main roads were clear which is always nice. When we arrived we found, as last year, the generous parking area plowed. A few vehicles had been in, but still no markers or signs.

January 7, 2022 -- Escanaba Pathway on Snowshoes

We had hiked on the Escanaba Pathway with bare ground, with a little snow, with more snow, and now there was snowshoe snow. Would the Snowshoe Path be more easily traversed with more snow? Would it be easier to just walk on the Ski Paths since they are mostly wide enough for snowshoeing along the edge? We decided to find out.

January 4, 2022 -- Indian Lake Pathway and Manistique Boardwalk          

Hike day! A warm one amidst the cold, getting into the upper 20's in the afternoon, cloudy but little to no wind. After lunch we headed over to the nearby Indian Lake Pathway trail. Then on to the Manistique Boardwalk and a fascinating shoreline.

December 30, 2021 -- Groomed! -- Days River Pathway and Snowmobile Trail         

Snowshoes in the car, off we went to check out the Days River Snowshoe Trail and the adjacent snowmobile trail. Would the former be marked now? Would the latter be groomed yet? Either way we figured we'd find a place to snowshoe.

December 23, 2021 -- Snowshoe Hike at Pine Marten

We had planned to hike the Hardwood Loop at Pine Marten Run but a snow bank blocked that plan (no safe place to park). The West Trailhead, however, on a not-plowed section of road had less snow and with with the Subaru we could pull in far enough off the road. We would walk there instead.

December 20, 2021 -- Solstice Beach Walks          

When Steve drove along the Lake on US-2  between Thompson and Manistique after the big gale storm he noticed something very different along the shoreline. We went down late afternoon today to check it out, and the Boardwalk in Manistique.

December 18, 2021 -- Picking Up Sticks at Fayette

With the storms, big melt, and gales over we figured it would be nice to head out and help clear a trail and go for a walk. Mildly cold, mid to upper 20's, not much wind, cloudy, occasional flurries -- a good walking day. Maybe down at Fayette we might even find some bare ground to walk on.

December 8, 2021 -- Checking Out the Snowshoe Trails          

It was a bit chilly this morning, about zero but with clear skies and a forecast of calm and 24 degrees later. We were on our way to Trenary so we tossed in the snowshoes. The recent snowstorm had been pretty widespread across the U.P. so snow and snowshoeing was pretty much assured, starting from our front door. A good day to check out some of the trails.

Rapid River Ski Trail -- Days River Pathway -- Snowmobile Trail

December 3, 2021 -- the North Country Trail at the Forestville Trailhead

A day similar to our Seney walk Monday (mostly cloudy, mild wind, about 32 deg.) found us in Marquette and ready to stretch our legs after the 2 hr drive. We took care of our other commitments and headed out into the confusing pattern of trails and roads among which was to be found the Forestville Trailhead to walk another section of the NCT.

November 29, 2021 -- Seney National Wildlife Refuge

A few days ago I ran across a mention of Cross Country Ski Trails at Seney Wildlife Refuge. Seney? Sure enough, they have made trails around and through the small area of upland ridges on the Refuge -- the Northern Hardwoods Hiking/Cross Country Ski trails. This was something that required looking into.

November 24, 2021 -- the Days River Nature Trail          

Since it was only mid afternoon when we left the Escanaba Pathway we decided this might be the day to check out the small Days River Nature Trail on the way home. We'd passed it by many times because of wet ground but we expected it might be dry enough now.

November 24, 2021 -- Checking for Trail Markers on the Escanaba Pathway           

An appointment in Gladstone today meant a good excuse to head on over to the Escanaba Pathway to see if they had put up any more trail markers. It was 45 degrees, hazily sunny, a bit windy but no precipitation -- we just had to go for a walk somewhere.

November 19, 2021 -- Days River Loop 5 Beckons

It was cool, not yet above freezing, but the forecast was for low 30's, with light wind, and dry -- a day made for hiking. Since it was still firearm deer hunting season we figured Days River Pathway would be one of the safer places to walk in the woods.

November 10, 2021 -- McKeever Hills

No casual sauntering here! Surrounded by lakes and woods and hills and valleys, and the popular Bruno's Run Trail, resides this amazing "for advanced skiiers only" trail. Whahoo!!! Be prepared. We'll for sure go back again.

November 7, 2021 -- AuTrain Beach / Valley Spur

Too cold for bare feet beach walking in the water but it was a pleasing hike on the sand at AuTrain Beach. Then we headed on over to Valley Spur to walk some trail in this beautiful woods as the trees continued their change over to bare branches. It was our 'new' Subaru Impreza's first road trip! It did great.

November 1, 2021 -- Rapid River Ski Trail

The significant ups and downs of the Rapid River Trail was a perfect match to the significant ups and downs of November weather. A perfect start to the month revisiting these fun trails in a much dryer season than our last visit.  

October 29, 2021 -- NCT - Noquemanon Marquette North Trails

This is a wonderful and popular trail system with wonderfully varied terrain. This trip had far fewer mosquitoes and black flies (hurray!!) than our last hike here, so we went on a bit farther.
 

October 21, 2021 -- Escanaba Pathway

Since we'd had a fairly dry season we decided to give the west end of the trail a second chance, and found some happy surprises.
 

October 1, 2021 -- AuTrain Beach

This is a walk we did many times this summer; one of our favorite places. On this warm October day we went up for possibly the last bare foot beach and water walk for the year, soaking up this special patch of Lake Superior.

May 5, 2021 -- Bruno's Run Full Circle

We knew we wanted to walk the entire Bruno's Run Trail, about 11 miles, and wanted it warm enough to be able to enjoy our breaks. But also before "they" arrived. No doubts about it, today was the day. Low 40's, brisk cold north wind, mostly sunny. Perfect.

April 25, 2021 -- Walking the Skating Loops at Rapid River Ski Trail

With a stretch of rain/snow/sleet days forecast today was the last day to get in a hike before those indoor days started. When we'd been on the Rapid River Ski Trail in December it had been well wooded with wind-blocking conifers, just right for this north-wind day.

April 16, 2021 -- Days River

After more than a week without a long walk we were ready to hit the trails. And since today was expected to be in the mid 40's, almost partly sunny, no rain, and less than gale force winds it was a day for a hike, though there was a bit of a brisk north wind to contend with.

April 6, 2021 -- Little Presque Isle

A coming rainy spell meant get in one more hike before. It was foggy, mid 40's cool, and there was mention of wind and scattered showers but this was our day to go to Marquette and walk the awesome Little Presque Isle trail along the Lake, starting farther north at the parking lot near the Point and the Isle.

April 5, 2021 -- Re-visiting Indian Lake Pathway

When we walked the local snowmobile trail Saturday we passed by two spots where the Indian Lake Pathway trail crosses, a reminder that we wanted to walk that trail now that the snow was gone, and before mosquito season, since we had guessed that the lower Loop area might be wet. Today we had to go into Manistique so we stopped on our way home to walk the now bare trail.

April 3, 2021 -- A Long Walk North-Northeast

Warm weather - light south wind - sunshine, the odd weather pattern continues. We enjoyed working on the homestead yesterday and this day we decided to enjoy a long hike. Not inclined to drive anywhere we walked out our front door north, then east along the local snowmobile trail, now ORV two-track. We were on our way by 10:30 and it was already warm in the low 40's.

March 25, 2021 -- Bare Ground at Days River!

What a difference a few weeks can make. We had stopped by Days River a a week ago on our way home from Escanaba to find the trail melting but still pretty muddy and quite a bit of ice and packed snow. Today we were in the mood for a longer hike and were pretty sure Days River paths would be clear. And they were!

March 23, 2021 -- Town Hikes Can be Nice, too - and Finding Little Gems

Last week we walked for a couple of hours around Escanaba with hiking friends, enjoying spending time together and walking their home paths, talking about hikes past and those to come. One doesn't need to be on a woods trail to enjoy a hike. On our way home we added to the day by heading down Stonington Peninsula to check out the Bayshore Trail along Little Bay de Noc.

March 19, 2021 -- Going South - to Fayette

Going south to avoid the snow is a normal part of life for many in the U.P. so we decided to give it a try. Our snow is melting (very fast this year) but the packed paths are still pretty much covered with hard to walk slush, ice, or packed snow. So we headed south (about 26 miles) to Fayette State Park on the Garden Peninsula. We were pretty sure the snow would be gone there and (for the most part) it was.

March 13, 2021 -- Around the Country Block, plus

It was a great forecast - sunny, high of 52 degrees. Wow! We'd walk the block, maybe take a lunch, go a little farther to find a spot to sit and bask in the sun. The roads would be clear of snow, maybe a bit muddy in spots but it should be good walking.

March 9, 2021 -- Revisiting the North Country Trail

A snowbank had been plowed up blocking the NCT trail entrance across the road from Valley Spur. But there was a clear fresh NCT marker visible beyond and we knew the trail was there, or at least had been. It had been ten or fifteen years since we'd been on that trail. We clumsily (in snowshoes) climbed up and over the bank and began our re-acquaintance with this great trail section.

March 9, 2021 -- Valley Spur's Snowman Snowshoe Trail

On a trip to Marquette we tossed in our snowshoes in case we might be able to get a walk in somewhere. We knew they'd still have snow up north. We could have just walked in town but decided to stop at Valley Spur on our way home and take a quick walk on whatever version of little snowshoe trail they had. There was indeed the common short Bunny Loop but to our surprise also a longer 2.6 mile long snowshoes-only Loop.

March 4, 2021 -- A Quick Walk at Days River Pathway, that was the Plan
March 4, 2021 -- Or was that the Snowmobile Trail Plan?

Since we we'd had a good work-out with yesterday's hike this was a no-hike day. But it was so beautiful out, clear blue, sunny, almost warm and Days River was right on our way home from a trip to Esky. We'd just stop and see how the trails looked. And maybe a quick loop around the snowshoe path would be nice to stretch our legs.

March 3, 2021 -- Checking Out Bruno's Run

The forecast was for partly cloudy (which we read as Partly Sunny), low 30's and light wind. The trails would be well frozen. Should be easy to walk. We decided to head north and walk another piece of Bruno's Run.

February 27, 2021 -- ManyTracks - Hint of Spring

Not everyone can get excited about muddy roads but this was a beautiful sight to us. Clear blue sky, above freezing temperature, and roads clear of snow -- so we went for another walk around the neighborhood block.

February 25, 2021 -- A New Trail - Ashford Lake Pathway

A little known, little used, old DNR Pathway that was only 30 miles from home - we had to check this one out. So next trip to Manistique we took along snowshoes and packs and headed north of town to see if this unknown trail was worth exploring.

February 17, 2021 -- ManyTracks - Checking Out the Neighborhood

Upper teens, clear blue skies, light south-sw wind -- a beautiful day. After a few weeks of February-cold temperatures and colder wind chills this forecast sounded downright balmy. A walk was in order.

February 11, 2021 -- ManyTracks - First Longer Snowshoe Hike of the Season

Though it was only an hour and a half I figure it rates as a 3 hour hike since it was plenty long on snowshoes this early in the season (I know, it's mid February, full into winter, but since our first real snow only came last week it is early for those snowshoeing muscles). Besides, we did take hot drink and snacks, so it was a hike.

February 3, 2021 -- Escanaba Pathway - Sun Today, Snow Tomorrow
February 3, 2021 -- Days River Pathway

Since this was possibly the last chance for awhile to walk the trails without snowshoes (depending on what really happens with the forecasted storm) we, of course, took advantage of the beautiful sunny calm 28-32 degree day to hike. Having spent 3 hrs at the Escanaba Pathway we didn't have a lot of time left in the day but we wanted to take at least a short hike at Days River on the way home.

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Copyright © Susan Robishaw and Stephen Schmeck