An NCT Hike, a Silver River Bushwhack, and another Bear Encounter
This past Wednesday found Julie and me back on the North Country Trail with our friend Jennifer. We ventured down to Alston which is about fifteen minutes to the west of Baraga on M-38. From there we headed down South Laird Road to the point where we could access the NCT to hike eastward. The initial part of this segment passes on the north side of a swamp so it was not a big surprise to see more mosquitoes than we have been accustomed to seeing on our other recent hikes.
Our friends Arlyn and Sandy Aronson maintain this segment of the trail and they had both the trailhead and the trail nicely brushed.
The trail crosses a boardwalk on the northeast side of the swamp. On this day we would find the water here covered with a dense aquatic vegetation.
Before descending to Boulder Creek, we would encounter two westbound female hikers who are in the process of completing the Upper Peninsula portion of the North Country Trail.
In past years we have waded through chest-high thimbleberry bushes on this part of the trail, but Arlyn and Sandy had a really nice corridor awaiting us this year as we made our way to the creek.
Boulder Creek is a small stream that is easy to walk across, but it was clear from the bent over vegetation that the recent rains had swollen it well beyond its current level.
After crossing the creek, the trail enters a beautiful hemlock forest with many very large trees. The only place we have seen nicer hemlock forests has been Porcupine Mountains State Park.
The trail then crosses the Silver River which has a more substantial flow and presents a greater challenge when it comes to keeping the feet dry.
We would continue on through the hemlock forest which would become more mixed with hardwoods as we neared Forest Road 2270 which would mark our turnaround for this 4.12 mile hike.
It was a very warm day, so on our return hike we would go on side hike/bushwhack in the Silver River. The stream has a sandy bottom which makes it easy walk bare-footed. If you elect to do this bushwhack, be prepared to have the sand swallow your legs up to your knees in places along the way!
While we ran into mosquitoes on the trail, surprisingly we found next to no insect pests while in the river.
As we left the river, we heard thunder in the distance and rain followed shortly afterwards. As we crossed back along the north side of the swamp the sun came out in the steady rainfall. Within about 200 yards of the trailhead and about thirty yards in front of me, a decent sized black bear was about to cross the trail from the south! I yelled back for Julie and Jennifer to look. After turning its head toward me with what seem to be an expression of “huh?”, it paused and then suddenly bolted back the other way. Definitely a cool way to complete a hike!
You can see my GoPro video from the hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
If you would like to see more photos from the hike, check out these links to a couple of my Instagram posts:
After our hike and driving back through Baraga, we were able to call ahead to Migizi to order some tasty bowls to enjoy on the back side of our hike!
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