12-20-2020 --
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) i t 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.
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" I ndian 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.
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.
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.
* * * * * *
Copyright
© 2021 by Susan Robishaw and Stephen Schmeck
|