I spent last weekend backpacking the Trap Hills section of the North Country Trail in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The color and weather were supposed to be good, and I had two vacation days left to use to get there and back from Ann Arbor, 552 miles away. I left work Thursday evening and drove just past the Mackinac Bridge to a campground snuggled between US2 and Lake Michigan. I heard more trucks than waves during the night, so I was not quite lulled to sleep.
The next morning I headed to Old Victoria, the preserved remnants of a copper mining community which would be the eastern terminus of my 34-mile hike. The drive is at least as good as the destination when you're talking about the UP — nothing but views of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior and forest the whole way. I love it! Anyway, you'll see the folks at Superior Shores Resorts mentioned as shuttle recommendations in your research, but they said they're not doing it anymore. They referred me to Chuck Peterson of Peterson's Cottages (906-884-4230 or petcot@up.net), and Chuck gave me a ride from Old Victoria to the trailhead on M64.
So I started near 2pm on Friday and cheerfully headed up the first ascent to Bergland Hill. The lookout tower there has been replaced by a cell tower, so you can check your Facebook while you catch your breath. There were plenty of leaves on the trail, so loads of mental energy all weekend was spent focusing on the blazes. It may have been an illusion, but it seemed like the westbound blazes were in much better shape than the eastbound ones I was looking for. The mosquitoes were bad. Pretty soon I realized that the straight-up-and-down design of the trail was going to throw a wrench in my schedule, which was based on a 2-3mph walking speed. By 6:30 I was exhausted and dehydrated and wasn't excited to see if I could get to my planned destination of Bush Creek before dark, and I camped just short of the Hacking Site side trail at a site on a bluff. I didn't have a ton of water, so I decided to forgo cooking, but my mouth was too dry to eat much gorp. I had a beer and a little fire and went to sleep. A mighty wind blew all through the night below the bluff, and acorns fell continuously.
In the morning I figured I'd get to Bush Creek and water up and have breakfast, but the creek was revolting. It was black and covered with occasional slicks. I continued on until a seasonal trickle of a stream provided a good refilling spot. Still, sipping throughout the day, I remained parched and had difficulty eating. The mosquitoes kept me from resting more than a minute at a time. Dispirited, thinking I'd never make it to my car by dark on Sunday, I reached Norwich Road around 4:30 or 5 on Saturday and was ready to call it quits with a steep dry ascent ahead of me to the Norwich Bluff area. I tried to call Chuck, but cell service was weak. I tried to hitch a ride but had no luck. After a half-hour, I realized the fates had other plans. I headed up the hill about 15 minutes and hit a nice clear stream with Contrail-shaped flat spots near it that had never made it onto the maps! I collected water, cooked, ate, drank, and escaped into my tent from the bloodsuckers. The wind blew and the acorns fell.
It was Sunday morning and I had 13 miles to go. The last day would continue with anxiety and fatigue and thirst, but I would get to my car on time, and I would bring home pix of endless vistas of autumnal Michigan forest from an ancient ridge of volcanic rock that even lifelong Michiganders like me had never heard of!
Thanks to Ike for the inspiration.
