Drafting the 5-Year Recreation Plan
Since getting word about the SPARK Grant award almost two weeks ago, time has been flying by chiefly as a result of numerous meetings and turning out a draft 5-Year Recreation Plan for the township. It started a week ago this past Tuesday with meetings of the roads committee for the Chassell Township Planning Commission where we updated priorities for our 5-Year Road Plan and then a meeting of our Capital Improvements Committee where we continued work on our 6-Year Capital Improvement Plan.
Wednesday morning we had a sun shower that resulted in a rainbow over the house.
With a Township Board meeting that evening, I would have to take a pass on the Keweenaw Running Group run. As the rain passed, I squeezed in a 5-mile run on the rail-trail.
Along the way, I was able to brief a couple of friends on the SPARK Grant award and the impact it will have on Centennial Park.
My report at the Township Board meeting that evening would be focused on the SPARK Grant Award and developments at the Houghton County Recreation Authority meeting earlier in the week.
Thursday evening started with Brian Waters (our Planning Commission Chair) and I doing a phone call with Barb McEwen with the Baraga County Convention & Visitors Bureau to discuss our vision regarding the rail corridor between Chassell and Baraga. Developing a multi-use trail (snowmobile, ORV, cycling, walking/running) would be beneficial to economic development in both of our communities. We resolved to meet the following week to get together to examine this stretch of the rail corridor for both this purpose and to determine if any actions would be needed on our end for this winter’s planned re-opening of Snowmobile Trail #15. We also discussed the benefits of seeking formal river trail status from the DNR for the Sturgeon River and the possibility of developing a launch below Otter Lake and other locations upstream. We will develop a draft proposal seeking river trail status on our end and then forward it to Barb for her input.
Once our call was completed, the Recreation Committee met to discuss the results and comments received in response to the recreation survey which closed on September 30th. We identified priorities and I took on the responsibility of developing the draft plan which would be the focus of my free time from Friday into Monday. You can see the draft at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fzS-sT379fmL1PMvQ3hkZKTP7Sc81NMa/view?usp=share_link
I squeezed in a break this past Sunday from my work on the 5-Year Recreation Plan to hike 5.6 miles on the North Country Trail with our hiking group from South Laird Road (south of Alston) to the Sturgeon River and back. Julie and I had recently covered four miles on this route back on a hot day in late September, but the character of this segment had changed considerably since that time. For starters, the temperature was at least 30 degrees less since our previous visit. There were no beavers to be seen on the beaver pond, but fall colors reflected beautifully upon its surface!
There were a few mushrooms to be seen, but not anywhere near the number we saw in late September.
This hike involves making two stream crossings each way starting with Boulder Creek.
Between Boulder Creek and the next stream crossing at the Silver River is a beautiful hemlock forest that I never tire coming to hike. The size of the trees coupled with the darkness and limited growth of other types below it provide a unique hiking experience.
The stream crossing at the Silver River was a bit trickier due to the deeper water. Some would tightrope the log across the river while others waded across in birdseed bags.
The hemlock forest continued through the climb out of the Silver River Valley where we saw this really cool moss-covered tree!
After reaching the Forest Service Road near Silver Mountain, we continued another 8/10 of a mile to the Sturgeon River. The trail descends toward the river on a narrow spine between two ravines. The leaves in this stretch were particularly vibrant!
You can see my GoPro video from this hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this this link:
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