Pigeon River State Forest Day 2

It was a truly beautiful night in the forest. We had a canopy of shimmering stars overhead and the steady drone of frogs from the lake throughout the evening. The tranquility of the forest was broken only by the occasional call of the barred owl and splash of the beaver's tail. The occupant of the large beaver lodge near our campsite made his first appearance at dusk and paddled a nightman's watch throughout the night.

The air grew cold in the night and I found myself regretting the decision to leave the zero degree sleeping bags behind on this trip. When the sun finally broke over the far shore in a hundred shades of orange and red it was a welcome sight.

We slept in late, enjoying the quickly warming air in our cozy two person sleeping bag. When the air was finally warm enough we crawled out of the tent to find a gorgeous morning scene playing out on the lake. We fixed coffee and oatmeal for breakfast before packing up camp. It was almost noon by the time we were back on the trail.

The hike quickly climbed a forested ridge north of Grass Lake. A short side trail lead to an overlook of the lake with a large wooden bench. The trees below the ridge must have grown considerably since the bench was placed, as the lake was now mostly concealed from view. It was still a pleasant point for a break, providing some perspective on the size of the state forest area we were circling.

This was the only significant climb of the day (by Midwest standards), but the trail continued to rise and fall gradually as it worked its way around a number of quiet backwoods lakes before returning to the shores of the Pigeon River. We stopped for another break at Section 4 Lake, which is actually quite a bit more charming than its name lets on. Set in a strange bowl with steep edges 15-20 feet in height, section 4 lake has turquoise water reminiscent of the glacial lakes I've seen out west.

Shortly after reaching the edges of the river again, the trail began crossing a series of open, grassy fields. We hoped these openings would allow us a glimpse of the area's elk herd, but to no avail. The unfortunate side effect of these fields, however, were the deer ticks which had just hatched, it seemed. We started noticing several of the creepy bugs on our legs and boots as we hiked. These little terrors can transmit Lyme disease, and are crafty at getting onto the body and not getting noticed. We hiked the rest of the loop in record time, eager to get out of these fields!

Once back to the Jeep we carefully changed out of our hiking clothes, taking care to remove any ticks we had picked up on our clothes and bodies. After a very meticulous process of changing and packing up in the parking lot, we were on the road. We stopped at a gas station for cold drinks and decided to take the top off of the Jeep for the first time this season. The weather was picture-perfect, with bright sunny skies and temps in the high 70's.

Our destination for the night was Saint Ignace for a night in the Driftwood Motel, but we decided to take the scenic route along backroads to Cheboygan. With the Tigers game on the radio and the top off the Jeep it was a beautiful Sunday drive. The couple of trucks that passed us were the only signs of civilization we saw on the hour and half drive through the quiet backwoods. The buds on the trees were quickly exploding into full grown leaves, and their current condition looked like a Monet watercolor, with pastel colors that seemed too colorful to be real. In a couple of places the road was washed out, giving us an excuse to fire up the four-wheel drive.

Eventually the dirt road linked up with M-33, and we cruised into Cheboygan, and then along the lakeshore to Mackinaw City. The air rapidly grew cold along the lakeshore, and by the time we were crossing the bridge temps were in the low 50's. We were both shivering by the time we pulled into the motel parking lot.

We spent our Sunday night enjoying Whitefish while watching hockey and playing a little shuffleboard in the bar. Not bad for a Sunday Night! It was great to be back in the UP, which seemed to be reaching spring just in time. The waters of Lake Huron shimmered in the fading daylight as a lonely ferry cruised towards Mackinac Island. Summer really was right around the corner.

Pigeon River State Forest

Some days, backpacking is hard. The weather is too hot, or too cold, or too rainy. The bugs are bad. The trail harder than expected. Then, there are days like today.

As I write this we are relaxing in our tent, camped a few feet from the shore of a beautiful, secluded lake. Our dinner entertainment consisted of watching a pair of loons on the lake fish for their supper while bald eagles circled overhead. Not a bad day at all.

The day started with a 7 am alarm, bagels from Big Apple Bagels and doughnuts from Uncle John's Cider Mill in St. John's, which had just opened for the season. Traffic was light and we made it to the trailhead east of Vanderbilt by noon.

Our plan was to tackle the Shingle Mill Pathway, a ten mile loop hike through the wooded hills of the Pigeon River State Forest. Normally, the hike is done in a counter-clockwise direction, allowing hikers to camp near Grass Lake about 6 miles in. On a previous trip we discovered an "unofficial" campsite right on a pretty lake, about 7 miles around the loop. We had our sights set on finding this campsite again.

When we reached the trailhead the parking lot was almost full, which was not surprising considering the beautiful spring weather. We figured other hikers were likely to take our campsite if they got there first, so we elected for a clockwise hike instead. This would put us at the site in a mere 3 miles, leaving us 7 for Sunday.

The hike was incredibly pleasant, with mostly sunny skies overhead and temperatures in the mid-seventies. The mostly level trail followed the fast-flowing, crystal clear waters of the Pigeon River for a while. After a mile or so it left the river, passing through a mixture of mature pine and hardwood forests and the occasional field of saplings sprouting up out of previously logged areas. A variety of birds darted across the trail as we hiked. We saw a number of flickers, and a hairy woodpecker. A pileated woodpecker was hammering away at a decaying old tree as we passed.

We reached the campsite in the early afternoon, finding it unoccupied. We set up our tent right on the shore and spent the rest of the afternoon watching the resident wildlife go about its business on the lake. A large beaver lodge sat a few feet from our campsite, and the lake had a pair of loons fishing on it throughout the day. There are few things more enchanting than the haunting call of the loon.

As the sun dropped out of sight in the woods behind us it cast a golden haze on the trees and water of the opposite shore. We enjoyed our Mac and cheese with a couple travel-sized plastic bottles of wine (high class backcountry fare!) while watching the daylight fade. Several parties of disappointed hikers passed by in the evening, validating our decision.

I'm hoping we'll be treated to some evening music by the owl population tonight. The campsite has plenty of evidence of owl activity. All in all, it was a magical day to be outdoors.