Red Hen Foods & Goods in Nisula and a North Country Trail Hike

I would start this past Friday with a 2,800 yard swim at MTU and then went to the Aspirus Clinic in Houghton for physical therapy. I had seen Derek Bustos a few years back when my shoulder had frozen up after a flu shot. Derek had been a huge help as my PT back then and helped me recover back to 100%, so it was great to see he would be working with me on my foot. Since there was still a question as to whether or not I had a stress fracture, Derek was cautious about the exercises he prescribed.

That evening Julie and I would have a great time attending the MTU/Clarkson hockey game as guests of the MTEC SmartZone.

Saturday morning would start off with a beautiful sunrise over coffee.

The rest of the morning would find me out on the Chassell Historic Trail taking my chainsaw to the larger female buckthorn trees on the south leg of the trail. They are particularly easy to identify this time of years as their branches are laden with dark berries.

Sigrid Resh from the Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area (KISMA) had organized a large group of MTU students for Make a Difference Day. One group of students would haul out what I was cutting and another group would support a student working a chainsaw farther up the trail. Craig Austin from the Chassell Department of Public Works provided trailers at the end of the south and north legs of the trail and several trailer loads of buckthorn would be hauled off to the former dump.

This will be a multi-year project to bring the buckthorn under control, but it is amazing how much clearer the view is along the trail across the wetland now that we have cut out as much as we have to date.

Sunday morning, Julie, our friend Sue, and I made our way down to southern Houghton County to hike the Wiggle Creek segment of the North Country Trail to the headwaters of the West Branch of the Sturgeon River. On the way we stopped at Red Hen Foods & Goods in Nisula where we enjoyed some awesome made-from-scratch chicken noodle soup and peanut butter cookies.

We had a very enjoyable discussion with the owners Christian and Alison.

They have a really awesome thing going there in Nisula. This new business is a must stop location if you are traveling across the M-38 corridor to the west of Baraga or pursuing outdoor adventures in this area! Give them a follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/share/hNEySpz6vLfRvfvW/.

It turned out to be an excellent afternoon to be in the woods with the mild temperatures…although a bit loud wading through the fallen leaves. This portion of the NCT heads off in a west-southwesterly direction from South Laird Road.

In recent years there has been a selective thinning of the forest over the first mile. Wiggle Creek comes alongside the trail and is true to its name in appearance.

The trail crosses four ravines on the way to the headwaters of the West Branch of the Sturgeon River. The first two are the steepest and presented some tricky footing in spots due to the leaf-covered ground.

While most of the leaves have fallen from the trees at these higher elevations, we still found some splashes of color as well as some assorted fungi.

This segment crosses through several evergreen stands of hemlock, cedar, and pine which added nice contrast along the way.

We would eventually reach the headwaters of the West Branch of the Sturgeon River, but more about that next time!

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