Island Lake is the third busiest park operated by Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources. It offers several miles of hiking and biking trails, canoeing on the Huron River that runs through the park, camping, cabins and even a hot air balloon launch area. The natural landscape features various hardwood trees, open brush land and some meadows. It is in Southeastern Michigan, southeast of the I-96 and US-23 interchange.
One of my top books that I read last year was Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery, a biography of the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (at age 67), as well as the first woman to do so multiple times and the first person to hike it three times.
She also hiked the Oregon Trail, from Missouri to Oregon. However, despite the thousands of miles she accumulated on her Keds, her favorite stretch of trail was in her Ohio backyard: a six-mile stretch from Old Man’s Cave to Ash Cave in the Hocking Hills State.
In 1965, an annual winter hike of this stretch of trail led by Grandma Gatewood, herself, began and this year was the 51st annual hike. After reading about this celebration of this woman, relatively close to where I’m currently living, I knew I had to go.
Pinckney State Recreation Area is probably the best place in Southeastern Michigan to find long trails and a semblance of wilderness solitude. Historically, the area was home to George Reeves who operated a sawmill, gristmill, distillery and tavern in the town of Hell, which is located in the park. Today, many people enjoy the miles of trails for hiking, biking and cross-country skiing; the various lakes for canoeing, kayaking and fishing; and the campsites, cabin and yurt. Moraines, kettle lakes and swamp areas dotted with deciduous forests are characteristic of the area and provides habitat for a variety of birds and mammals. You can get to the park by taking the North Territorial exit from US-23 (which is between M-14 and I-96) and heading west about 10 miles, following the signs.
The joke about the seasons in Thailand is that there are three: hot, hotter and hottest. Truthfully, there are still three seasons, hot, rainy and cool, which leaves much to be desired by people who are accustomed to places that are truly four season wonders, such as Michigan.
While summers in the Midwest get the glory for the outdoor activities and the winters are hailed for the glorious snowscapes and spring brings out a multitude of flowers, nothing quite compares to the autumnal foliage colors.
The sun shone down on my face from the peak of its daily ascent. I lay there, on some of the oldest rocks in the world with my feet dangling over the edge of the ridge, dozing in the mid-day heat and taking a break from my ritual of the day.
The ritual of meticulously placing my hiking pole in a spot that would support and balance me as I swung my foot up onto the rocky ridge in front of me, pushing myself forward on the stretch of trail that is routinely referred to as “the hardest trail in Michigan” only to catch myself as I picked my way down the rocks back into the boreal forest. The process would repeat itself less than a quarter mile later.
I lay there, along with the lichen, soaking up the late September sun and allowing it to turn the sweat on my brow into salt lines, giving me a faux aged look, until the call of a bull moose rang out from the wilderness below my feet spurred me up and onto my destination for the day, still a few hard miles on down the trail.
I’ve been back Stateside for a week now and I’m still getting used to life here. (There’s so much space everywhere! Tap water is OK to drink! Toilet paper exists and is so thick!) But, in addition to getting my bearings here (I’m constantly reminding myself to stay to the right when I’m driving), I’ve also been answering the question, “So what’s next?” about once an hour. There are a lot of things that are next but this is a list of things that I know I will do next.
Michigan is a beautiful state, with the most coastline of any state in the continental U.S., wonderful National Forests, great engineering feats, a booming food and beer scene and a lot more. I’ve been away from my home state for just shy of a decade and I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself with the bounties that are here, and these are the things that are at the top of my list.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
At the beginning of the month there were two Thai National Holidays, Father’s Day and Constitution Day, which fell on a Thursday and Tuesday respectively. Seeing as how we get Thai holidays off and are free to travel as we please on the weekends, a friend and I made plans to put our SCUBA certifications and living near some of the best diving to use and hit up a raved about national park.