photo by loren bach - weeblyhereinthewoodsalso.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/5/9/15591998/... ·...
TRANSCRIPT
On November 27, Thanksgiving Day, Gail Lowe shared on her Facebook site that she finished her hike of the North Country National Scenic Trail in Logan, Ohio. Gail has been on the NCT since March 16, seeking to complete an End to End hike in memory of her daughter Becka. Congratulations, Gail! "BECKA'S HIKE" March 16, 2014- November 27, 2014 See https://www.youtube.com/user/NatureNymphLLC Or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bikerhiker?fref=ts
Gail Lowe (also known as “Chosen Hiker”) completed hiking the
North Country Trail in one
year. She is the first
woman to hike the entire
trail in one season.
Board Meeting and Election of Officers set for Friday, January 9th at 7 PM at the Sauble Township Hall near Irons, MI
Our board meetings are open to all. Please join us. We have several officers that are willing to continue in their duties although any North Country Trail member who wishes to volunteer for a board position will be considered as well. Terms are for two years. If you would like to volunteer for a board position or as a board appointee please contact Loren Bach, President by email at [email protected] or phone 231 510-1983. The Sauble Township Hall is at 8906 W 6 Mile Road Irons MI 49644. Nominees are: Loren Bach, to continue as president of the Spirit of the Woods board for a term of two years. Steve Meyers to continue as Vice-President for a term of two years. Brian Buchanan to continue as Treasurer for a term of two years. Dave Martus would like to step down as Secretary. Sara Tucker has agreed to be a nominee for Secretary for a term of two years. Sara has experience with non-profits. She has moved to the Manistee area about a year ago and has attended many hikes and some workdays. Also on the agenda will be board appointments for Trail Coordinator(s). The Sauble Township Hall is at 8906 W 6 Mile Road Irons, MI 49644 Please see the Spirit of the Woods Chapter website for an interactive Google map where you can get directions from your location. northcountrytrail.org/spw
This is a photo of our group of hikers at Ludington State Park on December 6, 2014
It was actually warmer than it looks in this photo. We started near Lake MI so the breeze was chilly but as soon as we entered the woods it warmed up and the sun came out!
L to R: Loren, Joan, Terry, Katie, Patti, Ellen, Bob
Photo by Loren Bach
Events Calendar Everyone is welcome to attend our activities
For up to date information and maps to our events visit our website at www.northcountrytrail.org/spw
Winter Outings For outings see www.northcountrytrail.org/spw Please put these dates on your calendar for outings. We will have hikes or other outside events usually on the first Saturday of each month. You can join our email list for outings announcements. By emailing us at [email protected] Please Join Us!
February Annual Chili Feed at Big Mon Saturday, February 7th. For our February outing we plan to have our annual chili feed at Big M Cross Country Ski area in the Manistee National Forest. We will meet on Saturday, February 7th at 10 AM at the Big M heated shelter. We will ski or snowshoe and meet back at the lodge around noon for chili and all the fixings.
FFI call Loren Bach at 231 510-1983 or email her at [email protected]
Photo by Ross Spencer
1- Lake County Line 96th St. to 76th St. 4.1 Miles Peter Bennett 2- 76th St to Bowman Lake Trailhead including 6.1 Miles incl. trailhead connectors to 76th St TH and Bowman Bridge Campground Merl & Pat Schlaack Bowman Lake Trails unknown Bob & Patti Dunning Not part of NCNST but has several connectors to the NCT 3- Bowman Lake Trailhead to 40th St. west to Hamilton Rd. 4.1 Miles Peg Strobel & William Barclay 4- 40th St. & Hamilton Rd to Timber Creek TH 5.0 Miles Tom & Magie Momenee 5- Timber Creek Trailhead to 8th St. 3.1 Miles John & Patti Wojtowicz 6- 8Th St. to Centerline Rd. 3.0 Miles Tom DeVoss & Scout Troop 1199 7- Centerline Rd. to 3 Mile Rd 3.7 Miles Brian & Barb Buchanan 8- 3 Mile Rd to 5 mile Rd 3.5 Miles Brian & Barb Buchanan 9- 5 Mile Rd. to Freesoil Trailhead 6.3 Miles incl. 2.3 miles of road Steve & Deb Webster 10- Freesoil Trailhead to FS 5331 4.4 Miles including 1.3 miles to Beartrack campground Joan Young 11-FS 5331 to 9 Mile Bridge 5.0 Miles including .5 miles of rd.Joan Young 12- 9 mile Bridge to Udell TH/M55 6.8 Miles including 1.0 mile of rd. Shoreline Cycling Club David Maclean & Kenneth Blakey-Shell 13 –Udell TH to High Bridge 5.9 Miles including 3 miles of rd. Kurt Schindler 14- High Bridge to Tippy Damn Rd 5.2 Miles including 0.5 Incl. connector trail to Sawdust Hole Campground Dave Martus & Loren Bach 15- Tippy Dam Rd. to Coates Highway 5.8 Miles ??? Barry Barto 16- Coates Highway to FS 8060 5.7 Miles including Richard & Judy Ferguson Including 1.5 Mile of connector to Manistee River Trail 17- FS 8060 to Hodenply Dam Road 6.0 Miles including Bob & Patti Dunning including 1.0 miles to Marilla Trailhead
Total Miles 83.4 Give a big round of applause to our Trail Adopters. If you would like to adopt a trail section please email Brian Buchanan at [email protected]
Trail Adopters and Chapter Mileage Between Points
3 Spirit of the Woods Newsletter Fall 2013
High Bridge Re-Route We have had a detour on the North Country Trail for several years now. A bridge washed out when the riverbank collapsed just east of High Bridge Road in Manistee County. Currently the re-route follows High Bridge Road and then enters the woods on a snowmobile trail. We have been discussing an option of getting the trail back into the woods and using a constructed stairway to get up the steep hill and then following the river bluff on a two track before getting back to the original trail route. The plan has been in limbo due to surveying results that said the boundaries of a private landowner were not clear. This really hangs up the process of getting a route planned and laid out, hence the long delay in developing the trail plan. We had a surprise this fall and have discovered another large cave-in of the riverbank. It appears that the clay cap on a large sandy hill is going to completely give way and it is unsafe to continue routing the North Country Trail on the Big Manistee riverbank. So…back to the drawing board. We are currently working with Forest Service personnel to see if we can avoid the private landowner’s (indistinct) boundaries and bring the trail up to a ridge in an area that is hopefully more stable and then stay up at the top of the ridge to avoid more cave ins. The area is hilly and sandy which may necessitate staying alongside High Bridge Road until we can find a good place to enter the woods. The process will take time, but we would like to get something planned so we
don’t just keep waiting for the lengthy legal process to get resolved.
Short Bits Did you know that you could donate to the North Country Trail with online purchases made on Amazon? To do so start at the website smile.amazon.com Set up an account and when they ask which organization you would like to donate towards, use the drop down box for the North Country Trail. After that, every time you shop on smile.amazon.com you will donate a portion of your purchase to the North Country Trail. More videos have been added to the North Country Trail website. Several are aimed at worker safety while out in the field. The video takes the form of a good “tailgate presentation” discussing what types of risk and safety practices are wise when doing field work. In May 2015 Tom Funke will have a new book about the North Country Trail published. It is called 50 Hikes on and Around the North Country Trail, Michigan and Wisconsin. It is pictured to the left. It joins his book 50 Hikes in the Upper Peninsula. You can read more about fundraising for the newest book on his website. See: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/explorer-s-guide-to-the-north-country-trail-mi-wi The North Country Trail Association has a part time position opening for marketing/communications coordinator in Lowell MI. Contact the NCT office at (866) 445-3628 toll free or [email protected] for more details.
Secretary
Dave Martus (Irons)
231 729-0544
Trail Coordinator
Ed Chappel (Irons)
See Brian Buchanan’s contact
info for trailwork concerns
currently.
Manistee National Forest Liaisons
Baldwin District (south of Freesoil Rd.)
Dave Jaunese
231 745-4631 ext. 3122
Manistee District (north of Freesoil Rd.)
Brian Belt
231 723-2211 ext. 3107 [email protected]
President and Newsletter Editor
Loren Bach (Irons)
231 266-8584
Vice-President
Steve Meyers (New Era)
231 750-6761
Treasurer and Acting Trail Coordinator
Brian Buchanan (West Olive)
616 298-3520
The collapse. The soil is quite unstable here.
4 Spirit of the Woods Newsletter Fall 2013
2014 Summer and Fall Outings and Trail work Photos
We had a great turnout for our October 25 trail work day.
Come join us on the first Saturday of each month for Outings. Trail work will resume in the summer.
Trail work day, August 1, 2014. We strengthened and upgraded the Vince Smith bridge.
We attached a cable to a tree upstream and winched it to pull the bridge straight.
Ed Chappel presented the national Trail Maintainer of the year award to Rich and Judy Ferguson. See the Summer 2014 newsletter for the award submission letter.
We had a nice turnout for our hike at Silver Creek on August 2.
Our October hike was on the boardwalk in Sterling Marsh. This is the area of a large blow down a year ago.
Join us during the winter months for outings such as
snowshoeing or skiing.
We had a great potluck lunch after our hike on the first annual North Country National Scenic Trail Day on September 27.