1st Quarter Newsletter 2010
(Larry Pio, Editor)

Click here to view the .PDF version.  If you need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader, click here:

 

CHAPTER MEETINGS
    Meetings are at 7:00 PM at the Barry Township Hall on Orchard Street in Delton the second Wednesday of each month, and are open to the public.  Meetings through the First Quarter of 2010 are January 13, February 10, and March 10. 
    NEW:  For those who can join us, prior to the meeting we will meet for dinner at 5:45 PM at the Grove Street Café on the north side of Delton, located at 370 N. Grove Street (just across from intersection of Delton Road and M-43 — also across from the Delton Kellogg School).

REMINDER: For the latest information, especially toward the end of the quarter, please visit our Web site for updates – especially the Trail Log and the Events Calendar.
 

Quarter's Calendar
(See Events Calendar for links related to items below)

Ron Sootsman has nearly as many miles as the rest of our group combined!   I should note some of the above entries are miles I have observed, and do not reflect the complete hiking experience for these folks for the year.  (So turn in the rest of your miles!)
 

Upcoming Events

January 23 — Workday in Barry County:   Our workday in January will be to refurbish our kiosks with new pamphlets, etc. and inspect them to determine if any repairs are needed.  We will meet for breakfast at 8:00 AM at the Grove Street Café on the north side of Delton, located at 370 N. Grove Street (just across from intersection of Delton Road and M-43.  After breakfast, at about 9:00 AM,  we will disperse to handle our assigned kiosks.

January 30 — Hike from the Ott Biological Preserve to Historical Bridge Park; Battle Creek:   We will hike through the Ott Biological Preserve, through Kimball Pines, and then on to Historical Bridge Park on the east side of Battle Creek on January 30.  We will meet for breakfast at the Homespun Restaurant at 210 Columbia Avenue E at 8:00 AM.  We will leave at about 9:00 AM to stage cars, and plan to be hiking at 9:30 AM.  This is a great way to get started in the 2010 Chief Noonday Hiker Challenge.  — To get to the Homespun Restaurant, take I-94 to the I-194 penetrator (aka M-66) at exit 98, and then take the Columbia Avenue exit (exit 2).  Turn left going to the west, to get to Homespun Restaurant.  From Hastings, take M-37 to Battle Creek, turning east on M-89.  Continue to 20^th street, and turn south to Columbia Avenue, then turn east.

February 13 — Workday:   The details of our workday on February 13 have yet to be determined.  Please check our web site for info.

February 27 — Hike Battle Creek Linear Trail (East side):   We will hike from the east end of the Battle Creek Linear Trail, and head to downtown and a possible lunch at Arcadia Brewery.  Breakfast will again be at the Homespun Restaurant at 210 Columbia Avenue E at 8:00 AM.  We will leave at about 9:00 AM to stage cars downtown, and plan to be at our beginning hiking location at 9:30 AM.  This beginning hiking location has yet to be decided – if the weather is better, the hike can be longer.  At least a portion of this hike is also on the North Country Trail, so once again, you can add miles to your 2010 Hiker Challenge totals.

Please see directions located above for the January 30 hike to get to Homespun Restaurant.

March 13 — Workday:   The details of our workday on March 13 have yet to be determined.  Please check our web site for info.

March 27 — Hike the Falling Waters Trail; Jackson to Concord, Jackson County:   Our March hike will be the Falling Waters Trail, which stretches from near Cascades Park in Jackson, to the village of Concord, a total distance of 10.4 miles.  From the Friends of the Falling Waters Trail web site: 

The Falling Waters Trail is a major east-west component of the Jackson County Regional Trail plan, connecting Cascades, Ella Sharp, Lime Lake and Swains Lake parks in south-central Michigan’s Jackson County with the city of Jackson. The Trail has been dedicated
as a Jackson County Park.

We will meet for breakfast at 8:00 AM at the Wooden Spoon restaurant, located at 5781 King Road; Jackson, MI (which is actually just east of the Spring Arbor area).  To get there, take I-94 east to exit 133; then head south on Dearing Road for 3.5 miles; turn left on King Road, and continue for 1.4 miles to the restaurant.  We will decide during breakfast how much of the trail we want to experience, based primarily on weather (of course), and where we will begin the day’s hike.
 

Looking further ahead

More Chief Noonday Hikes for 2010:   The following hikes are scheduled for 2010, with more hikes to be listed in our 2^nd Quarter Newsletter:
●   April 24, 2010:  Chief Noonday and Deep Lake Trails in the Yankee Springs Recreation Area, Barry County
●   May 22, 2010:  Middleville State Game Area, Barry County

May 12 Chapter Annual Meeting includes Election of Chapter Officers:  The May 12 Chapter meeting is our Annual Meeting, where we will review accomplishments for the past year, set goals for the coming year, and this year we will also be electing Chapter Officers.  If you have an interest in serving on the Chapter Board of Directors, please contact Larry Hawkins.  Responsibilities of Directors are included in our bylaws, which can be found by using the search tab on our web site.

Middleville Volksmarch 2010 Dates Announced:   The Middleville Official Volksmarch Events Site (MOVES) has announced the schedule for the 2010 season.  Hikes will be held on May 1, and on September 6.  Additionally, there is a year-around Volksmarch, which can be done in Middleville except during hunting season (the month of November).  See the TRAC (Thornapple River Adventure Club) web site for more information on these hikes and other non-motorized events. 

NCTA Annual Meeting to be held in Ashland, Wisconsin August 5-8, 2010 (with some events earlier):  Only 614 miles from Delton, MI to visit a great spot on the shores of Lake Superior.
 

Web Site Trail Log Reports

Mick Hawkins has included detailed reports, with pictures, on the Trail Log page on our Web site on some of our recent activities.  In the last quarter he has included reports on:

●         Our September 26 “Partnership that Works” celebration with MSU/Kellogg Biological Station, with Dr. Katherine Gross, Director of KBS; Jeffrey Bither, Ross Township Supervisor; Jim Bronson, Farm Manager for KBS; Bruce Matthews, Executive Director of the NCTA; Dave Cornell, Past President of the NCTA Board of Directors, and Boy Scout Troop 294 in attendance among the approximately 40 folks present.  We were celebrating not only our partnership with KBS, but also our near-completion of off-road trail for the North Country National Scenic Trail in Kalamazoo County.

●         A report on high waters in Fort Custer National Cemetery.  We have had an increasing beaver activity there, and Mick Hawkins has supplemented his report with photos.

●         A report on our October workday, where we lowered the roof on two of our kiosks at the Paul Henry Trail in Middleville.  Our crew was joined by Rick Moore, who serves in a variety of ways as Assistant Director of the Barry County Parks and Recreation, head of the Barry County Trails Committee, Board of Directors of the Thornapple Trail Association, and also as the volunteer trail maintainer for the TTA.  He was joined by Mick Hawkins, Larry Hawkins, Jeff Fleming, Steve Hicks, Larry Pio, Ron Sootsman, and George Lee.  Rick also brought his big truck which served as a great platform for the task at hand.  After the kiosk work, Mick, Larry, Jeff, Steve, and George scouted the Middleville State Game area to look at trail condition, and to assess for needed trail work.

●         A report on the hike at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute on November 7, led by Charles Krammin, attended by 10 hikers.

●         A report on that original Chief Noonday, or Nawquageezhig, has been selected as the next subject for a sculpture in the Grand Rapids Community Legends Project.

●         A description of the demolition in late December of the Crown Point Bridge, which is at the eastern terminus of the North Country Trail.  The bridge was the major traffic conductor between New York and Vermont at the southern end of Lake Champlain, and was deteriorating.  It will be replaced in a year or two.

●         In the last week, an article on visitors who have been winter hiking recently.   The Fortune Bay Expedition Team has been hiking quite a bit in Barry County on the NCT.  (More on the FBET below.) A log of their hikes can be seen at: http://bdweb3636n.bravejournal.com .  In addition, Todd McMahon of Madison, WI, “TMAN”, visited for almost a week starting just before the new year, hiking Kalamazoo County, most of Calhoun County, some of Hillsdale County, and into Ohio.  His travels will be posted on his web site: http://sites.google.com/site/isawtman/Home
 

Fortune Bay Expedition Team Begins Major NCT Hike Schedule
from Yankee Springs to Mackinaw

For those of you looking to hike extra miles on the North Country Trail, you may want to check out the Fortune Bay Expedition Team at: http://www.fortunebaycompany.com  

The Team has begun hiking sections of trail from Yankee Springs already.  They plan to continue to hike mostly on weekends and  holidays to get to Mackinaw. 

In their January 2010 newsletter, you are invited to join them.  You can knock off some of those hard to get miles, and get a ride back to your car, for the 2010 CND Hiker Challenge.
 

Lyme Disease has now been reported in most of Michigan’s 83 Counties

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources & Environment, which is replacing Michigan's former DNR and DEQ, has a very informative Web page on Lyme disease. 

See also our last quarter's Newsletter.

More information is available on a number of Web sites, including here and a Wikipedia article on its Lyme disease page.
 

Chief Noonday Chapter Hiker Challenge 2010

We are once again beginning competition for the Chief Noonday Chapter Hiker Challenge Cup, Version 2010.  The basic challenge is to see who can hike the most miles on the North Country Trail in 2010.  The rules: 

1.    You must be a member of the Chief Noonday Chapter at some point during the year.   To become a member, go to the North Country Trail web site, select “Become a Member” from the right hand menu, select the membership you want, and pick “Chief Noonday Chapter” for your Chapter selection.

2.    Only North Country Trail miles can be counted.  (Our primary goal is to get people out to see different sections of the Trail.)

3.    Any segment can be counted only once during the year.  Even for adopters.

4.    Cross country skiing is a legitimate mode of hiking.  After all, our goal is to get people on the trail.

5.    If you can find someone to push your wheelchair, that will count for both of you.  See goal in item 4.

6.    We do not want anyone to wait until December 31 to submit all their miles to win the contest.  Please report your miles with a reasonable frequency, especially if you are one of the leaders.

7.    Report your miles, and segment ID, to me in person, or via email or by postal mail to:  Larry Pio; 2409 Woody Noll; Portage, MI  49002.

Last year we noted hikers doing over 200 miles of trail lifetime would be on the NCTA web site as being “Hikers of Note”.  In a Web site rebuild, that portion is no longer listed — but Joan Young is still maintaining the list on her North Country Trail News blog.  However, we will have “Chief Noonday Hikers of Note”, hopefully on our web site.  Our award levels will be 200 miles, 500 miles, 1000 miles, 2000 miles, etc.  In 2009 Ron Sootsman became a Chief Noonday Hiker of Note.  I am pretty sure we have several others who have accomplished this in the past.  Why not add your name to the list?
 

Please be sure to report your volunteer hours either on the NCTA Web site, or by mail, or by reporting them to a Chapter officer.  These reports are used by Congress, the National Park Service, and others to help determine funding for the North Country Trail, and for some project requests.