TRAIL RANGE
This Chapter is responsible for
developing and maintaining the North Country National
Scenic Trail from the place where it leaves the Wabash
Cannonball Trail in Ohio (about ten miles south of the
border with Michigan) It then heads north, through Hillsdale
County, to the Calhoun County border. Existing trail in
this range includes segments in Lost Nation State Game
Area and the Baw Beese Trail.
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Hard work, but well worth it! (Photo
by Bill Minard) |
MEMBERS
Chapter members live in Hillsdale
and surrounding counties, as well as the Ann Arbor and
greater Detroit areas.
Meetings are held every three months.
Locations alternate between the Ann Arbor and Hillsdale
areas. To listen to an interview with North
Country Trail President Bruce Matthews and Baw
Beese Chapter member, Steve Vear on Hillsdale Radio
via U-TUBE click
here
(special thanks to WCSR, 1340 AM; 92.1FM).
Great news for hikers in our
area! Pickups and drop-offs
available anywhere along the Baw Beese section of trail
free of charge. Contact Jeff at 517-902-3904. Please
call 2-4 weeks in advance to set up.
UPCOMING EVENTS
NOTE:
Work days are subject to modification or cancellation
based on weather conditions
predicted for that day.
August 9
The work day for the
Chief Baw Beese chapter will involve reopening a
section of trail south of M-34. We will be
meeting at the Tote Road trailhead.
Directions: From Pittsford Rd., go west
on M-34. Bear left on Perrin Rd. Just
after Perrin curves to the north, turn left on Tote.
Tote dead-ends at the trailhead. We will meet at
9:30, and finish around 1:00. Bring
water and bug spray. The leaders for
this work day are Sheri and Paul Ewing
drsherido@yahoo.com or (734) 934-0446.
PAST EVENTS
July 12
Thanks to Ralph and
Barbara Powell and Kathy Kulchinski, who cleared the
section of trail between Tripp Rd. and Reading Rd. on a
very soggy morning.
June 14
The
annual picnic of the Chief Baw Beese
Chapter of the North
Country Trail Association.
took place at beautiful
Waterworks Park on the shores of
Baw Beese
Lake
in Hillsdale.
The storms of the previous week gave
way to a picture-postcard, beautiful day.
Steve Vear led an easy out-and-back
stroll along a former railroad bed,
offering some interesting facts about our route.
We got as far as Lake Pleasant Road before turning back
for our picnic and a short membership meeting. The
recently-updated blazing looked great. To see
photos from the day, click
here.
May
10th
We completed the relocation we've been working on
the last two months, and continued to blaze our section.
Contact Ryan if you need to car pool on work days, or
for more information.
e-mail
or 734-308-6696.
RSPVs are appreciated, but not required.
April
12th
was a day of intermittent drizzle after a couple of
days of steady rain. A record number of chapter
members braved the less-than-perfect weather to continue
work on the trail-way improvement. This included
continued clearing of the new section as well as the
beginning of re-blazing the the entire Lost-Nation
section of the trail. Thanks to Ryan Bowles, Allen
Duncan, Mike Dundas, Paul and Sheri Ewing, Roberts
French, Bill Minard, Kathy Kulchinski, and Ned Steinman. To see pictures, click
here.
March
8th
found Kevin Bell, Ryan Bowles, Mike Dundas, and Ralph
Powell beginning
the real work of rerouting
a section of trail around a muddy area in Lost Nation State Game
Area (see the photo above
for just how muddy it wasn't that day). It didn't take long for the fingers and
toes to warm to the work, however, and it was great to
spend a morning in the woods. A
good deal of work waits under the four-inch snow cover
for a (much) warmer work day.
January
12th
Paul and Sheri Ewing, Kevin Bell and Ryan Bowles (l.
to r. at left) enjoyed the unusually warm and snow-free
weather. They scouted a major re-location to avoid
a very muddy and wet section between two very steep
places and also
did some general trail maintenance such as brush
clearing and removal of a blow-down.
December 8th Ken Knight and Mike Dundas braved a
chilly Saturday morning to test the
theory that our blue blazing paint will work in most any
temperature. The road walk
between Lost Nation State Game Area and the Ohio border
is now fully blazed for the first
time in the history of the chapter. A couple of
gaps will need posts installed next spring due
to a lack of available trees at crucial corners, but the
main job is done! A special thank-you
to the folks from northern Ohio who blazed the
southern-most section so nicely before we
got there.
October 11th was spent cleaning up sections of existing trail in Lost Nation State Game
Area. At about 11:00 some friends from the Chief Noonday Chapter caught up with our
work party. We laid aside our tools and joined them for a combined fall color walk through
the rest of the southern section of Lost Nation. Lunch beside Pittsford Road looking down
on Lake #2 was followed by a walk back to our cars or a short ride to yet another section
to walk further. To see photos of the day, click here. To see the Chief Noonday Chapter's
version of our day click here.
REMEMBER
To get the full benefit from our grant, e-mail Ryan
Bowles with your hours spent working for and on the
trail.
BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES
To learn the latest,
click here. |
