Spent last weekend in hikers heaven, or as close to it as a Great Lakes flatlander is likely to get in his home state. Hiking the Manistee River Trail was very rewarding to this office bound body. Some sun, some exercise, and some beer were all welcome additions to the weekend routine.We started northbound from Red Bridge on Saturday morning. Dad suspected the distance to our campsite may be too much for one day (it was 11.3 miles), so we left the car there and bummed a ride from Traverse City Charlie four miles up the trail.
The trail started out in the woods, heading towards the river. The path was flatter then either of us expected and before long we were hugging the cavern edge, below us only wide river and grasslands. The view was stunning. All along, we just kept says to ourselves 'wow' The weather helped out with blue skies and cool temperatures. Bugs didn't bother us much, neither did other hikers. We felt like we had just about the best three hours of walking you could have to get to the lunch spot. Abby was perfect on the trail, always just ahead and sticking to the path. She was the silent guide, happy as ever just to be joining us.
This lunch spot, to quote my dad, was 'neat'. Another overlook above a gentle bend in the river. perfect place to fish, and we watched the show from our vantage. A tree lent shade and back support. I think I dozed a little.
The rest of the hike was nice but uneventful. After reaching camp, we decided to take full advantage of the weather, the canoe and the creek nearby. Paddling out from the creek into the lake Hodenpyl was easy work and well rewarding. Swimming in the deep, dammed lake refreshed my body down to the bones. Even Abby joined in. First time Ive ever seen her swim.
The following day we took that same creek out to the Hodenpyl dam for some Portaging , which was a pain. The earth dam holds back a huge amount of water, so it is very tall. Once on the river, all pain was forgotten. We lazily drifted, fished, occasionally paddled down the river for the next four hours. This retraced our earlier hike up the river, so some of the spots were recognizable. Mostly we listened to the sounds and watched the unreal beauty drift past us.
Abby enjoyed the trip. She sat on at the bow, waiting for us to pull over and let her frolic in the lowland grasses. Our lunch spot instincts were again on. We sat on a log overlooking a lazy curve in the river. The whole of the area was ours to wander around, which abby did. Dad fished. He caught something, we're not sure what it was. I just fantasized about setting up a tent and not leaving for 3 months.Eventually we did leave. The car was where we left it, at Red Bridge. The circle journey wasn't a zero sum, I think we all gained something in the trip. Im going to try to never forget the calm I felt out on the river. I think I want to re-read Huckleberry Fin
