September
30, 2022 -- Bruno's Run
McKeever Lake from Bruno's Run Trail, a
great way to end September. And a wonderful day for a walk. We had
decided to start at Pete's Lake Campground on the north and head
east and south, a route we had covered in late December two years
ago and early April last year. So this time we would discover the
area in the fall, with fall colors and warmer temperature.
It was as fun and interesting as ever; a
truly beautiful route, passing near the three Lakes, with varied
terrain but never too steep. The hardwoods were into their color
tour phase and the days still long enough for a good four hour walk
even though we hadn't started till after noon.
As we walked along the familiar trail we
soon stepped onto a freshly dug section. It was surprising what a
jarr that was, to go from well packed comfortable old trail to
packed fresh dug dirt. This was obviously a "professional" job, as
in done with machinery, unlike the North Country Trail reroute we'd
experienced at AuTrain which was a by-hand-and-by-foot-by-volunteer
labor endeavor. This new path was wide, flat, and regular. As we
went on we were on and off the old pathway onto new reconstruction
or reroute. It was a very neat and fairly extensive job, with
vegetation and removed trees spread nicely along the sides.
Sometimes we could see a section was a necessary reroute, moving the
trail farther up a hill, away from the lower wetter old route.
Sometimes we weren't sure, maybe just a repair. This trail is a
popular bicycle destination which is hard on the hilly terrain. We
speculated on what the equipment might be like to do this job.
After awhile we passed by McKeever Lake into
the lowlands of the southeast corner area where we could hear
machinery somewhere up ahead. We came to a Y where the old trail
continued downwards and a new trail was being cut higher up the side
hill. There was an interesting appropriately sized walk-behind
motorized trailer parked with a rake leaned against it. Then up
ahead on the newly made section a fellow with a another rake was
cleaning up the path. He waved to us to follow the old trail below
him. Ahead of him was a small yellow excavator carving out this new
trail from the woods around it. When we stopped to watch in
amazement at the operator's skill with the bucket the fellow who was
afoot stepped down to talk to us. Yes, they were indeed making new
trails where needed to get out of low mucky spots and repairing
other sections that had gotten rutted but were OK. Bruno's Run is a
Hiawatha Forest Service Trail and these folks were independent
contractors doing the work, and they were obviously very good at
their job! It was a job that would be appreciated by a great many
users of this trail in the months and years ahead.
We continued on our hike and left the noise
of the machine behind (though it was surprisingly quiet compared to
most heavy equipment) as the trail headed up and put land and trees
between us and the excavator.
When we got to the bottom corner of Wedge
Lake we decided we had better head back. The sun was getting lower
and it was cooling off. It was time for a sandwich break so we
promised ourselves to stop at the McKeever Lake "boat launch" for
that purpose, not too far back. We again passed on the trail below
the excavator working up the hill and stopped to watch. It was
fascinating, and too dark in the woods now to take a photo. The
operator was excellently skilled, removing and placing vegetation
large and small, seeming precariously balanced on the side of the
hill. But sandwiches called so we continued on, leaving the voice of
the machine behind, to sit at the small sandy boat launch with a
concrete beam "seat" to sit and enjoy the calm beautiful and
peaceful setting.
As we retraced our steps along McKeever Lake
and Grassy Lake and Pete's Lake, up hill and down, through the
varied forest, we could now see where old trail sections had been
very well "erased" when new ones made. In a year I doubt one will
even notice new and old, except for the neat edges of the newly
carved pieces.
May 5, 2021 --
Bruno's Run Full Circle
It's interesting how our criteria changes with the seasons, and
conditions, and what we consider when planning our days. 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, being May and
knowing the area has plenty of water and bogs, we needed to go before
"they" arrived. No doubts, today was the day. Low 40's, brisk cold north
wind (well, at some point you have to decide that's OK or you'd never go
anywhere), mostly sunny (hurray!), with forecast temperature heading for
50. Ideal. We put all other plans aside and gathered our gear.
We had done three pieces of the trail in December, January, and March,
and today we'd connect them all. With no snow those we had walked before
would feel quite different. The closest trailhead was at Widewaters so
we began there going counter-clockwise, along the beautiful Indian
River, across Hwy 13, and up along the ridges. We enjoyed the
differences between this and our last walk in snow and about ten degrees
colder. Though one is in the woods the entire way around it is so varied
and interesting, with sections of conifers, predominantly hemlock, then
in and out of fairly thin hardwood stands, the large dead beech and
other trees falling and leaving room for new generations and species.
Ridges and bogs; river, creeks and lakes and more lakes; the trail winds
up and down, around and between, over and through. And now there was
occasional bird song to brighten the day.
We knew we'd be coming on soon to that special lunch spot of winter's
walk but it still surprised us, coming around the corner, and suddenly
there was that small lake - Dipper Lake - and the bench. It was too
early for lunch but we did stop to admire the Lake, soaking up the sun,
enjoying a snack. But this is a windy spot so we didn't stay long. It
was a day of much changing of layers due to being in and out of the cold
wind, but comfortably so and there was more than one remark made that
this was such a perfect day. The sun overhead coming through the trees
was wonderful.
The south east section was new ground for us, along Wedge Lake,
mostly looking down on it, coming close to a leg (or would it be a
foot?) of McKeever Lake, and bogs and wetlands. Along here was the only
significant wet section we ran into, and thankfully we were able to get
across without issue thanks to a few small dead trees (with great
appreciation to whoever put them there) and a handy walking stick. This
time I let steady Steve go first, but I made it, too. There is the
beginning of a board-walk bridge under the water. Guess it needs to be
raised up a bit.
When stepping onto the small bridge (it did rise up in the center to be
over the water) a small frog dashed for cover in the water, then another
one followed. There was plenty of hiding places, the clear low water was
incredibly full of plants and brush and bog-stuff, a whole world. Then
Steve spied something interesting and very different -- frog eggs!
Several clumps of them. We didn't know if they'd show in a photo with
the strong reflections of the trees in the water but there they are.
Much prettier in person though.
Soon we were at the Deer Creek bridge where we had turned around from
our north-northeast walk in December starting from Pete's Lake. This
time with no snow we sat on the small boardwalk lead to the bridge to
eat our Orzo-ghetti and PB&J lunch, warm enough that we chose shade. It
felt good to take off shoes and socks, eat our lunch, lounging with
plenty of just emerging plants to point out to each other, some we
recognized, some not. And, thus energetically occupied, we had contact
with our first, and only, other hikers - a young couple with a large,
nervous - I don't want to go by those people - dog. We quickly offered
to get up and move off the side of the boardwalk but they said no, we'll
just go over here, being the other side which thankfully was dry enough.
They encouraged the dog with some treats and she did make it by, with
pets and good-dogs while we just talked calmly with the dog's humans.
They were from Lansing and the semester just ended (I'm assuming
college) and they just wanted to get out of the city so came up here. We
were glad it was great weather for them, and not a busy time on this
popular biking and hiking trail for the dog's sake.
When they were gone we re-assembled and got ourselves afoot. I checked
out how high the bridge was above the creek, wondering if one could cool
one's toes in warmer weather. Close, but slightly longer legs would be
needed, and it wasn't exactly comfortable seating on the edge of the
side-board. Steve spotted a small fish.
So off we headed up the trail. This part is the section of Lakes, the
trail running down along then up and away, mostly near McKeever and
Grassy, farther from Pete's. It would be fun to bring the kayaks to
explore any, or all, of them. They are all large enough and interesting
enough for a fun day. Probably later in the summer though as we had seen
the first black flies of the season while eating lunch. That time was
arriving. But not yet and we remarked once again what a beautiful
perfect day this was.
The day warmed, the trail showed signs of recent maintenance and
grooming with many blue trail-marker diamonds as it passed by and near
Pete's Lake Campground. We considered pocketing a few of those plentiful
markers to put up here and there on the 2/3 of the unmarked sections of
the trail, but we didn't, of course. In the non-snow months the trail is
pretty obvious with few questionable spots. But in the snow you have to
hope someone who knows where the trail is has gone on before. But today
it was an easy-to-follow walk. We crossed an access road then Hwy 13 to
the Moccasin Lake turnout and trailhead. The one where we couldn't find
the trail east two months ago in the deep snow. Now it was obvious -
right across the south entrance to the turn-out. We had been looking
across the north entrance, between those two short posts which usually
indicates here is the trail for hikers (being too close together for
vehicles), but not this time. But we very much appreciate having the
trail at all, and this turn-out on Hwy-13 with outhouse is especially
appreciated by us and very many other people being a stopping point for
travelers, snowmobile/ATVers, fisherfolk, bikers, and hikers. It's also
a beautiful little Lake.
On down the trail, along Moccasin Lake, happy to turn off into the woods
and out of the wind, along the straight historic rail-bed and the
interesting plaquard site-spot. This is a very much-trod part of the
trail so exposed roots keeps one on one's toes. We decided to stop and
eat dinner (leftovers) at the small bridge across a narrow spot where
the Indian River flows from Fish Lake into the widewaters section, a
very relaxing spot with its own early black fly scouts to remind us that
it's May. But early and peaceful. It won't be long and the campground
will be open and full of vacationers, the road full of cars and campers
and boats of all kinds, birds and bugs in the air and smaller critters
active on the ground. It's a great interim right now. We were so happy
we took the day for a hike.
A somewhat muddy walk along the River and we were back to the car, and
home before Lilli could wonder how late supper was going to be.
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. This would be after a
zero degree night which meant the trails would be well frozen. Should be
easy to walk. We decided this would be the day for a hike. We could go
here, we could go there, it didn't matter, we just wanted to go. Well,
the night was indeed cold and there was a little bit of sun now and
then, but not much. Temperature pretty steady at 27 degrees and the wind
was quite a bit more than "light", and from the north. Still, it was a
good day for a hike. It wasn't raining or snowing and no mosquitoes. And
to top it off the roads were pretty much clear. For a winter day it was
really nice. We decided to head north and walk another piece of Bruno's
Run, where there would be only hikers and snowshoers, and likely not
many of either. We put our snowshoes in the car, just in case, but
planned to hike in boots. This isn't a good trail for the larger wood
snowshoes like our old Iverson modified bear paws.
Off we went for an afternoon on the trail, starting at the easily
accessed and plowed Moccasin Lake turnout right on Hwy 13. They had more
snow up there but we hoped there would be tracks to follow and previous
hikers to have packed down the snow. There was one vehicle in the
turnout but with an empty snowmobile trailer it was obviously not a
hiker. We had planned to head east and go to Pete's Lake where we had
begun a previous section of the trail in December. But when we crossed
the road and headed up the steep hill on the other side, between the two
posts that designated the trail, all we found was deep snow. Someone had
walked up there previously but it was soon obvious that they didn't know
where the trail was, and neither did we. The Hiawatha National Forest
folks aren't big on markers. Well, even if we could figure out
where the trail was we weren't going to hike in knee deep snow. We
turned back to the car and decided to check out the other direction
around Moccasin Lake.
The trail wasn't exactly obvious as a very large
bank of snow had been plowed up almost hiding the official "Bruno's Run"
sign. But we'd walked this part before so knew the trail, at
least the first part. We climbed up and over the bank and found a number
of boot and snowshoe prints marking the track. Glad there was a
least a partly packed path we followed them down along Moccasin Lake
(the blue NW trail section on the above map). We
soon found that though it was easier than postholing through deep snow
this wasn't going to be an easy trek. There hadn't been much traffic, a
few hikers and one snowshoer, so the path was not packed down evenly and
it was frozen -- slippery in places, softer in others, uneven, and deep if
you slipped off the path. Once again our ankles got a chance to show
their stuff.
But this trail is beautiful no matter how the
track is. It winds up and down and around through a hilly mostly maple forest.
The first part of this section goes along the SE and bottom of Moccasin
Lake then off into the woods. It had snowed some since the previous
traffic and there was some drifting but the tracks were easy to follow,
which was good because it wouldn't have been easy to find the trail
otherwise. The Forest Service had marked a couple of spots where one
could easily have gone astray which was nice but mostly the trail is
unmarked. We prefer not to have too many trail markers but one now and
then is helpful, especially in the woods. But we had our intrepid snowshoer to follow. Even when
it didn't appear to be the correct way we decided to follow him (turned
out it was a trail re-route and he was correct). This fellow didn't have
it easy. He was on regular wood-framed shoes, smaller than our bearpaws
but still larger than the plastic or metal small shoes one can buy
nowdays. Booted hikers naturally make a fairly narrow path in the snow
and they had gone on before him. So to follow the path he had to walk
with one snowshoe on the traveled trail and one beside it. We saw where
he had taken his snowshoes off and tried walking without, but he sunk in
quite a bit and apparently decided to go back to the snowshoes. This
would have been when the snow was softer. Once, where there was room, he
walked alongside the trail for a ways in the deeper snow but before long
he was back to the one-on-one-off track.
His wasn't the only snowshoe tracks we saw
though. There were quite a few trails and tracks of the large-footed
snowshoe hare. We hadn't seen those anywhere else (except at home). We
also saw the usual coyote, fox, rabbit, squirrel and grouse. They add a
lot of life to a winter's hike. Because of the more challenging walking
we ended up stopping more often to admire a track or a tree, or nothing
in particular. As we've found on other trails there were more people tracks early on
but just a few later which made the walking even harder. And then,
about 45 minutes into walk, even those few turned back. Suddenly it was
only the snowshoer -- he was free to shoe at his own pace and his own
trail and he sure did. You could feel it in the tracks --freedom! And
you could also see that he had long legs and a long natural stride. Steve could stretch out his stride and walk in these snowshoe tracks. But
I suddenly found myself with an on-again-off-again uneven rhythm. Up and down,
into the deeper snow, onto the snowshoe pack, a few steps one way, a few
the other, sliding and slipping, and and not at all
gracefully. What a workout. It wasn't all that easy for Steve either. I
soon called for a time-out. Then decided to keep going since we were
close to our unofficial hour turn-around which
wasn't too much longer.
Then
we came upon a surprising thing, there, in what seemed like the middle
of the forest, was an information placard. This one
had been here some time and it was quite interesting; it seemed to fit
in. We knew we had been walking along a short section of an old rail-road spur.
They are
fairly common in the Upper Peninsula (we have one on our property). They
are narrow, fairly straight with minimal elevation changes, and you can
see the cuts in hills and filled sections in valleys and lowlands. When
you think about the equipment available to build these rail beds at that
time, and the many miles made, it is quite impressive. This info-sign
told about the rail bed we were walking on -- the Nahma & Northern Rail
Line, owned by the Bay de Noquet Company, to move the timber from up
here to their mill in Nahma down by Lake Michigan. You can click on the
photo at left to see a closer readable view (use your back arrow to
return here).
We walked on just a bit farther
then with a bit of a relief turned back. When walking a track in the
snow the return trip is usually easier since your previous tracks will
have somewhat packed down the path, especially with two people's four
feet. But this was not to be. The snow, though now quite settled, had
been soft to begin with and was cold. The earlier traffic had occurred
on a warmer day. But today, instead of our tracks packing the snow they
simply churned it up. We found ourselves now walking, and slipping, in a
sifty layer, much like walking in deep soft sand. And still dealing with
the previous rough tracks. But it was still a beautiful surroundings and
we were enjoying ourselves. It was almost a relief to get back to the
icier early section though the north wind had picked up and we felt it
along the more open section by Moccasin Lake. When we got back to the
car we agreed we were glad we had come but it sure had been a work-out.
January
13, 2021 -- Sunshine! Clear Skies! -- Bruno's Run 2
We awoke this morning to a rare day -- stars in the sky turning into clear
dawn and the sun coming up into a beautiful cloudless blue. We've had a few
partly sunny days these past weeks, usually later in the day and usually
not too much of the sun part. Mostly it's been a real long stretch of
mild gray. Particularly noted in the many times we've had to run the
generator to charge up the batteries in lieu of the sun. Neither of us
could remember when we last had a full day of clear sunshine but we knew it
had been awhile. So this was a day to celebrate. While the sun quietly
and efficiently charged the batteries and warmed the greenhouse,
cheering the plants along, we would go outside and soak up as much of that
sun as we could. The forecast was for mild and calm, as it has been.
They also forecast 37 degrees but from experience we didn't put much
store in that. Around 32 degrees would be fine (and indeed that was what
we had). So we chose our destination and after an early lunch headed
north to Bruno's Run to hike the south-west part of that trail, starting at Widewaters.
There had been enough snowmobile traffic into Widewaters campground (which
isn't plowed in winter) to pack the snow so we were able to drive in to
catch the trail there, heading south. They had a little more snow than
we had but not much. This is a popular, and beautiful, spot in the
Hiawatha Forest with snowmobile trails, cross country ski trails,
hiking/biking, and in the summer camping, fishing, and boating. Widewaters is a lake-like wide section of the Indian River which runs
into/through/out of it. Bruno's Run trail goes by the campground and
along the Widewaters then along the "wild and scenic" Indian River. It was
hard to keep ones eyes on the trail with that beautiful river flowing so
near. Shallow and criss-crossed with blow-downs it was a peaceful
companion. It was easy to imagine stepping into the water to cool your
feet on a summer's hike. It was well worth the hours drive to get there.
At Hwy 13 we climbed out of the river valley and crossed over at the
scenic old bridge over the river, built in 1943 according to a plaque on
the bridge.
Calm, sunny, 30 degrees - hiking heaven. The first 50 minutes to Hwy 13 was
well trod and packed so, except for icy patches, was pretty easy
walking. We crossed the highway and the river, leaving it behind as the
trail headed off into the woods on the other side. We also left behind
almost all of the tracks. Thankfully there were two people who had
continued on this section and there hadn't been any new snow to cover
their tracks. Without snow the well used trail would be obvious. But
with snow the unmarked trail meandering through the woods would be at
best a challenging guessing game without tracks to follow. We trusted that they knew
where they were going, or even if not we were going to follow them (turned
out they did). The trail curves and dips and dives through fairly
thick woods. Our pace slowed walking in the soft, sifty snow but we
enjoyed the peaceful surroundings with the sun slanting through the
trees and across the path, warming us as we stepped into and out of the
rays. We stopped to drink and snack in sunny spots to soak up all we
could.
We had gotten a good start, and the days are a little longer now,
especially on a sunny day, but we decided 3 hours hiking would be
enough. Especially so since we'd gone for a fairly long walk at home
yesterday. So as we neared the 1 1/2 hour mark we looked ahead
for a suitable spot to stop for lunch then head back on the trail. We
remarked that it would be nice to find a memorable landmark
for the turn-around. A few more turns and ups and downs and we suddenly
came upon a small opening in the woods with a
view
of a small lake -- the north tip, or handle, of Dipper Lake, according
to the map. Not only that, but there was a nice wooden bench there, too!
What a great surprise treat for hikers and bikers. We certainly found
our memorable landmark.
We gladly set down our backpacks and made full use of the bench, admiring
the Lake, resting our legs, and enjoying our lunch. For Christmas we had
bought ourselves small Thermous food containers - the 10 oz "Funtainer"
(though we passed on the many fancy graphics versions and went for plain
silver/black and teal). Last month we had taken warm food in a regular
tupperware type container which was nice to have but it didn't stay warm
very long, even buried in our packs. We thought we'd try the insulated
container. This was our first trial and they worked well with our simple
meal of rice and tuna. Though certainly heavier than a sandwich it was
real nice to have warm food on a (mildly) cold day, and 10 oz was a good
size - half now, half later. Based on our experience with our water
bottles I plan to make
neoprene cozies for them which should keep the food even warmer,
especially in colder weather. I had put mine in a simple wool blanket
pouch and my food was a bit warmer than Steve's at lunch.
But it was too cold to sit long so we soon gathered our stuff, thanked and
bid farewell to the Lake and the bench and headed back down the trail
for a nice walk back to the car (the yellow section on the map). What a
great way to spend a beautiful sunny January day.
December 20, 2020 --
Celebrating the Solstice!!
With great date numbers, + or - 32 deg outside, light snow cover, light
wind, the promise of longer days to come -- we simply had to start our
Solstice celebration with a hike.
When we were buying our shoes yesterday we talked with co-owner Keith about
Bruno's Run which is about 35 mi
north of us. We'd been on
that trail now and then over the years for short walks but it had been awhile.
When we read the weather forecast for the day we decided it was a perfect day to check it out.
Mostly sunny and
already heading for 32 deg so we gathered our gear, made some AB&J
sandwiches, added a few logs to the woodstove, and with a last scritch
and a "we won't be late" to LilliB (who knows enough not to hold us to
the latter) we were in the car by 11:00 heading for Hwy 13. An hour
later we were at Pete's Lake and on the trail.
Bruno's Run is a long-time very popular, easily accessible, 11 mile
mountain biking-hiking-running single-loop trail through the Hiawatha
National Forest. With beautiful hilly terrain, lakes, creeks, woods,
very well maintained, it's easy to understand its popularity though
it's not near any population center. Today, when most trails we'd been
on would be empty of people, we followed fresh tracks of 2 bicycles, 2
dogs, and 4 people. We ended up meeting and had a nice chat with 2 of
the people. Later added tracks of 1 or 2 more humans and a dog (there
are a number of access points on the trail). Then a runner with an
energetic young dog came by, adding their prints. It was a great day to
be on the trail. We also had the company of chickadees, a downy
woodpecker and at least one squirrel. And several sections were peppered with
the amazing snow flea.
We started out with the sun shining through the hardwoods, though clouds
took over the sky as we went along, but the temperature stayed plus or
minus 32, with little wind down in the woods. This is a wonderful single
track, traversing the hills but with no steep ups and downs, just a
gentle roller-coaster looping
along the edges. We appreciated that with the
slippery footing in the light but trail-packed snow. With no straight or
flat sections (except the small bridges over creeks) it was continually
interesting. It took me awhile to realize the difference from the ski
trails we'd been hiking. This trail was built for bicycles and hiking,
avoiding straight ups and downs that would wear and wash out readily
with bike traffic. Skiiers, on the other hand, go for significant ups and
downs (well, the downs anyway!). The first half of this section,
starting at Pete's Lake, was through mixed hardwoods, unfortunately
heavy with dead and fallen beech but with enough young regrowth and maples and
others to keep it a nice woods. Later were areas of mostly hemlock
woods. Though the trail goes down along the lakes - first Grass Lake
then along McKeever Lake - we didn't run into any swamps or
wetlands, just low woods. It's an amazing area, hilly woods full of
lakes.
Two hours into our hike we turned around at the bridge over Deer Creek
which runs rather swiftly out of McKeever. Having stopped earlier to sit
on a downed tree (no lack of those) to eat our first sandwich, we did
the same on the return trip. Two hours later we were back at the car
having gone 8 or 9 miles (it's hard to guess mileage on a trail like
this). But even though we still felt strong 4 hours was long enough. We
got home in the daylight, ready for dinner, and happily satisfied with
the wonderful hike.
We'll certainly go back to hike this trail again, hiking the rest of the
main loop and maybe the McKeever Hills trail.
* * * * * *
Copyright
© Susan Robishaw and Stephen Schmeck