Hiking the Black Creek Nature Sanctuary and the NCT to Tibbets Falls
This past Sunday we had a refreshingly cool start to the day so I laced up my Saucony Kinvaras and put in a 4-mile run on the rail-trail! This would be a nice way to limber up for that afternoon’s 5.25 mile hike at the Black Creek Nature Sanctuary.
I would be pinch-hitting for our friend Mark by leading the hike. “Lead” might be a bit of an overstatement. My role was more like suggesting next moves. We had close to thirty hikers out for the adventure, so encouragement to move on after stops along the way is probably the better description.
The trail starts at a parking area along Sedar Bay Road and follows forest covered dunes on its way to an awesome beach on Lake Superior. Before taking this fork on the Superior Beach Trail, we headed north on the Lagoon Trail. This spur takes you to a sizable impoundment created by confluence of Black and Hills Creeks.
After exploring the area along the lagoon, we made our way back to the start of the Superior Beach Trail.
Finally we reached the Lake Superior shore where many of us looked for agates and other minerals or just chilled out. There was enough of a breeze that mosquitoes and flies were almost totally absent at the beach and along the trail.
After about an hour on the beach, we made our way back to the trailhead. It is always nice changing my place in line to mix up the conversations, not only to get caught up with friends, but to hear interesting perspectives!
You can see my GoPro video from the hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
After the hike several of us gathered for a nice get together at our friend Beverly’s place for dinner.
Monday morning would start at the pool at MTU. Being a bit of night owl, the earlier open swim time has made it a bit tougher to get over there on time for a full hour, but I squeezed in 2,000 yards in the just short of 45 minutes I had available. Monday would also mark my first day of Medicare eligibility. It’s hard to believe I have reached that milestone, but glad to be shifting off of the high premium/high deductible health plan I have been on in favor of a Medicare supplemental plan.
Monday afternoon, Township Clerk Lynn Gierke, DPW staff Cole Smith and Craig Austin, and I would meet with Merrie Carlock from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in conjunction with her site visit on our pending Natural Resources Trust Fund and Recreation Passport grant proposals. We received some very good input which we will have the opportunity to address in updates to the proposals.
Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, Julie and I then drove on down to the North Country Trail to hike the segment to Tibbets Falls on the Sturgeon River. This segment is one of Julie’s favorites and would add another 4 miles toward our #hike100NCT. It starts at a trailhead along the Baraga Plains Road just to the north of the Sturgeon River and Watton. The initial portion of the segment runs through a more mature forest as it makes its way to the river.
As we experienced last week with the segment east of the Canyon Falls roadside park, the ferns were thriving and in need of some weedwhacking. This made for some rather closed in spaces along the trail, but was very cool and added positively to the hiking experience!
While there are not any spectacular drops in the Sturgeon River at Tibbets Falls, there is a notable drop in the elevation from top to bottom with stair-stepping drops along the way.
The river then meets a massive sharp angled slab of slate that re-directs the river as seen below.
You can check out my GoPro video from the hike at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:
You can also see a photo montage from the hike on a YouTube Short at this link.
Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Consider locating in the Keweenaw where you will find ubiquitous natural beauty, no congestion, and lower crime! Not sure? Come UP for a workcation to check it out! Learn how at Visit Keweenaw at https://www.visitkeweenaw.com/plan/trip-ideas-itineraries/workcations/ Visit Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com. Learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.