March 12:  Jim Heaton will present the "Moose & Wolves of Isle Royale".  Jim has been a field study volunteer in an ongoing population dynamics study, originally through EARTHWATCH, since the late '80's.  For directions and a map on how to find our chapter meetings, please click here!

April 9:   We will have a presenters sharing their knowledge and experience exploring the wildflowers of Michigan. This will be a great lead in to our Spring Hike.  More information will be available later.   Meetings are at 7:00 PM at the Barry Township Hall in Delton on the second Wednesday each month, and are open to the public.

Work Sessions

January 18:   Our previous work session was attended by James Heaton, Steve Hicks, Tom Garnett, Jerry Pattok, and Larry Pio.  We started our day cutting trees on the Sackett property.  Then a section of trail was scouted and flagged beginning on the western side of the Fort Custer Cemetery property, heading toward Dickman and River Road.

February 22:   Our work session on February 22 will actually be more of a trail scouting day in the Middleville State Game Area, so prepare for some hiking.  We will meet for breakfast at 8:00 at the Big Boy in Hastings, which is where M37 and M43 run together as State Street in Hastings.  The Big Boy is on that particular stretch. The Big Boy is across (sort of) from the Strip Mall that contains the K Mart.  At about 8:45 we will leave and meet at W. Grange Road at the south end of the Middleville State Game Area.

If you cannot join us for breakfast, but want to help, you can drive to W. Grange Road.  Coming from the Big Boy, head west on M-37 about a mile or two, and turn right on N. Airport Road (434).  That wanders north and east to W. State Road (438), and then turn left.  Go northwest about two more miles on W. State Road (438), and then turn right (north) on N. Wood School Road (605).   About a half mile turn left on W. Grange Road, and travel about a mile west to the meeting point.   We will need to position some cars, so don’t give up if you can’t find anyone right away.

March 15:   With our work session planned the same week as our next chapter meeting, we need to get you some details for the March 15 work session.  Plans are to work on the western end of the Fort Custer Cemetery property at 9 am.  Meet for breakfast at Lakeside Cafe at 209 S. Webster Street in Augusta for breakfast at 8 am.

April 12, and May 17 (correction) are our work days for the next few months.

Board Members Elected

John Rudnicki, Gail Speer, and Larry Hawkins were elected to the Board of our Chapter at the February meeting.  All have been very active in our chapter, and Larry is taking on additional responsibilities as VP Trail Development.

Fortune Bay Expeditionary Team Invites Hikers, Promotes NCTA

A group of adventurers called the Fortune Bay Expeditionary Team are hiking the Michigan section of the North Country Trail.  They plan to hike the lower peninsula and kayak to St. Ignace by August 31.  At least some of the group are NCTA members.

The team has generously invited hikers to join them, which is a great deal considering you can carpool back to your starting point.  The hiking so far has been day hikes on weekends, but later will include longer trips with overnights.  The team is also promoting the trail and NCT membership, doing a GPS survey, and marking unique trail features, and reporting their journey on their web site, including progress reports and plans for their next segments.   Their web site is: www.fortunebaycompany.com.   Anyone wanting details for trip start points and times, check the web site, or contact Chuck Hayden at charles.hayden@worldnet.att.net.

Sierra Club Presentation April 10

A presentation on the NCT and the work of our Chapter will be made to the local Sierra Club on Thursday April 10 at 7pm at the Kalamazoo Valley Community College.  The Sierra Club is interested in learning more about us.  Brad Parsons, who is a member of both organizations, has set up this excellent opportunity for us to tell our story.

Winter and Spring Hike

Winter Hike February 8:  Our winter hike was hosted by Jerry Pattok and Larry Hawkins on February 8 and was a huge success.  We had 31 people in attendance despite a windy day in the low 20’s.  The hiking was gorgeous though, with just a couple inches of powder.  Organization for the hike was flawless, and the lunch was outstanding.  Tom Garnett gave a brief presentation in front of the fireplace to our visitors describing the trail.

Trail Adopters

General Status:  I do not have an update on adopter needs, but I believe we still have the following segments needing adopters:

• North Barry County Line near Wood School Road

• south towards Middleville (several segments)

• Paul Henry Bike Trail; south of Middleville

• Kellogg Biological area; 39th St. to C Ave

We will need more adopters for trail we plan to build this year, so please continue to contact Dave Cornell at onestep@mei.net, if you have an interest in adopting a section of the North Country Trail.

Work Crew Leader and Trail Interpretive Project Leaders Needed

Contact Tom Garnett if you are interested at GARNETTT@trinity-health.org

Larry Hawkins, the Gourmet Backpacker

Larry Hawkins presented cooking and eating tips for backpackers at our February chapter meeting.  A large crowd was entertained by Larry’s informative session as he reviewed some equipment options, shared some recipes, and shared tricks for eating well.  He also gave out a handout with some of his ideas.  His email address is hawkeyemd@cablespeed.com

National NCTA meeting July 31 to August 3

The national North Country Trail annual meeting is in Marquette at Northern Michigan University.  Mark your calendars!

New Members

The following are new members of our Chapter; please join me in extending a welcome to all of them:

• Don Backus; Battle Creek

• Donald Crispens; Delton

• Sandra Roobol; Kalamazoo

• Jack Wiswell; Hastings

• Mark Zoet; Grand Rapids

Boy Scout Sends Thanks

Adam Sheldon has sent a thank-you note (see below)  for the help he received last year for his Eagle Scout project, where a trail was constructed north of Hastings.

Charles Krammin led that assistance, and Adam has honored Charles by naming a section of the trail after him.

Newsletter Editor:  Larry Pio   nalcoman1@aol.com