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Except as otherwise noted, all contents of this
Web site are Copyright
© Chief
Noonday
Chapter,
the North Country Trail Association.
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August 17,
2010 |
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Happenings
lately:
Chief Noonday
captured in Grand Rapids (in bronze):
On August 10th a $200,000, 7-foot tall
bronze rendering of Noahquageshik
or Nawquageezhig, better (and
more pronounceably) known to Barry
County residents and our NCTA chapter as
Chief Noonday, was unveiled,
dedicated and presented to Grand Valley
State University, courtesy of the
Peter F. Secchia Family Foundation.
The sculpture was created by the noted
artist Antonio Tobias Mendez, who
had done extensive research into the
tribal costuming, head gear, and customs
of Chief Noonday's tribe at the turn of
the 19th century in the Grand River
Valley. No image specifically of
Chief Noonday is known to exist, but the
headdress, garb and accessories depicted
by the sculpture are believed to be
quite authentic.
For more information, see news media
coverage
here,
here and
here. The picture (right)
is from the Grand Rapids Press.
Chief
Noonday Awards Night 2010:
Good friends, good food, and good
fellowship were the recipe for our
annual potluck and awards night on
August 11th at the Barry Township Park
Pavilion. It was a great pleasure
to meet and share with the spouses and
families of our regulars.
As usual, the fare was anchored by the
pulled pork sandwiches from the
Cornells, we had heirloom tomatoes,
pasta salads, potato salad, veggies,
fruit, blueberry pie and sinful kringle
from Racine. Of course, the
highlight of the dinner was a case of
South Shore Brewery Nut Brown Ale
specially labeled for the 2010 NCTA
Conference in Ashland, Wisconsin
and a fine brew it was.
Our
2010 National Park Service awards
were announce and presented to those
present. Jim Martin received his
100 Volunteer Hours certificate
and pin, Linda Sootsman was
awarded her 200 Volunteer Hours
recognition, a NCTA Water Bottle, and
Ron Sootsman was awarded his 1000
Volunteer Hours award, a fleece
vest with the NPS Volunteer patch.
Larry also announced that Ron
Sootsman will be receiving the Chief
Noonday Chapter Honor Award when
it arrives from Lowell.
Cal
and Jean Lamoreaux made a brief
presentation about a project of the
Thornapple Trail Association in
which they are developing a system of
trails on property left to the village
which will be used for hiking and for
the Thornapple Kellogg Cross Country
Team. They are requesting and we will
provide volunteers to open up the path
the Saturday after Labor Day.
We had a
very abbreviated meeting to make plans
for the rest of the month and Larry
provided some highlights from the
National Conference and Board of
Directors meeting.
August
2010 hike:
The turnout for our
August 14th hike was pretty small.
Charlie Krammin and I met for
breakfast at the Village Inn in Allegan.
As we were leaving to go to the trail
head, we met Don Krause, a
chapter member from Allegan, who was
joining us for the hike.
We
caravanned to the trailhead on Monroe
Road and set out on a bushwhack which
Charlie said was a trail he used in
his previous incarnation as an Indian
scout. We hiked along the top of
the ridge of the Highbanks of the Swan
Creek.
Not too far along the way, as if to give
support to Charlies claim, we
came upon a campsite that was comprised
of the frame of a Potowotami shelter
with a very large fire ring outside and
a smaller fire ring within. Other than
the fact that it was held together with
plastic zip straps, it was very
authentic and a very interesting find.
We
hiked out to the Swan Creek Dam and fish
ladder. As it is not the season
for a spawning run, there were no
steelhead or trout making the run
upriver. We took a break for
snacks and hydration and enjoyed the
view in spite of threatening sprinkles.
After resting, we crossed the creek and
headed back on the opposite highbank.
We didnt
encounter much wildlife other than scads
of tiny toads and angry blue jays. We
were hoping for a sighting of a pileated
woodpecker, which Don assured us
he had seen in the area, but no such
luck. We did see a fantastic array
of different toadstools, mushrooms, and
other fungal forms.
At the
end of the hike, Charlie insisted
that Don take a picture of my
legs and his to make the point that I
should have accepted his offer of long
pants before we set out. What I
should have done was read the
Webmasters description of the hike
a little more carefully and dress
appropriately. Did you know that
sticktights stick to bare legs as well
as cloth?
Larry Hawkins
President, Chief Noonday Chapter
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July 28,
2010 |
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Oil spill in Calhoun
County impacts NCNST:
A
major oil spill from a pipe line south
of Marshall ended up in the
Kalamazoo River and as of 7/28 was
creating havoc all the way past the
Kalamazoo-Calhoun County line
including the North Country National
Scenic Trail where it passed through
that area along the river.
Area
news media including the
Battle Creek Enquirer were
keeping on top of the story.
Hikers on
the North Country Trail would be
affected in two areas: Historic
Bridge Park, which was closed, and
along the river on the Battle Creek
Linear Park pathway where it
followed the Kalamazoo River.
Several
Chief Noonday Chapter members are
reporting that the smell along the spill
is pretty intense. Jeff Fleming
witnessed not only the smell but the
sheen from the spill at Augusta.
Word is that
the pipeline company and the authorities
are hoping to contain the spill before
it reaches Galesburg in Kalamazoo
County.
Check out
our special map page to see the
extent of the area affected. And
see photos
supplied by Tom Garnett and the
Webmaster.
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
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June 19,
2010 |
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The puncheon after and
before: In the inset,
see those two steel rods
sticking up to the left?
The end of the puncheon/bridge
had been centered on those rods
before the flood moved it off to
the side and tilted it up
against the bank. The main
picture, taken from the opposite
end of the puncheon, shows the
effort required strong men
lifting while while a come-along
tugs on a tow rope secured to a
tree to the right to horse the
heavy water-logged wood
structure back into place.
Stephen Norton (gray
sweatshirt in the background),
the Eagle Scout who designed and
supervised the project, keeps a
careful eye on the proceedings. |
Workday at Kellogg
Forest, Sackett's, Hutchinson's:
I can't report in depth about the
workday for this month as we had two
separate projects and I was present for
only one of them. We had nine for
breakfast at Duda's in Augusta to get
fueled up for the morning's work, them
we split up to go to the different job
sites.
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| One by one
these logs had to be carried
down the trail and placed to
form a corduroy which would
produce a dry trail over what
had been an enticing slippery
pathway of ... muck.
Jeff Fleming (right) is the
chapter adopter for the KEF
Trail section. |
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| With a course
of logs partly in place, a
sand/gravel mix was brought in
and spread over the logs to
create the new path while some
of the crew continued to carry
more logs further down the
trail. Stephen
shows how the spreading needs to
be done. |
Larry Pio, Bob Sulaski,
Ron Sootsman, Mike Wilkey and
Charlie Krammin headed to E-F Ave
to mow and lop both Hutchinson's and
Sackett's properties. They used
the DR mower south of E-F and the new DR
weed whacker north of E-F.
Jeff Fleming, Jason Buckner,
Mick and I joined Stephen
Norton and the scouts and their dads
from Troop 294 on an Eagle Scout
project in the Kellogg Experimental
Forest.
Stephen had developed a plan to
restore an existing puncheon/bridge to
its former position after it had been
washed away in a flooding and then
repair the path on either side of it by
building up a corduroy footpath similar
to the country roads of old. The need
for the new footpath was immediately
apparent when we arrived. The heavy
rains of Friday night only amplified the
need for dry footing. We were
sinking into several inches of muck.
Using a come-along, snatch strap and tow
rope along with levers and brute
strength, we were able to move the
waterlogged puncheon bridge back to its
original position and brace it somewhat.
It required two lifting and dragging
operations, one at either end of the
puncheon, to get it back to where it had
been before the flood. In a drier
season, we would likely have to go back
and stabilize it better.
Once
that was in place and Larry Pio
(the masked man, left) had come
over with our old weed whacker and
opened up a path for us, we started the
really heavy work. We had a large
stack of pre-cut logs which were about
four feet long and eight to ten inches
in diameter which we needed to carry
down to the trail site and lay side to
side through the muck to the bridge.
When the logs were down, we brought in
wheelbarrows of sand and gravel and
built up the footpath on top of the
logs. The sand cemented the logs
in place and provided a relatively
smooth surface on top of the logs.
The path closer to the picnic grounds
and the bridge over Augusta Creek was
far more mucky. We managed to get
down a layer of logs and sand about
halfway through the section needing
repair.
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| The Scouts
didn't miss a beat providing an
essential element to any
productive workday on the trail
food and drink! |
This section was going to require a
second layer of logs as the ones we put
down were already sinking into the muck
with just our walking on them.
After the second layer of logs was down,
then more sand would be added to build a
smooth surface.
The crew worked until about 2:00 in the
afternoon, with lunch and snack breaks
provided by the troop.
Stephen was hoping to get some
more volunteers in on Sunday afternoon
to perhaps complete the first layer of
logs and sand and then have another
workday next weekend on Saturday.
The plan was really well conceived and
was, I think, an excellent Eagle
project.
Hopefully, we can get some more folks
out next Saturday to complete it.
Larry Hawkins
President, Chief Noonday Chapter
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June 5,
2010 |
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Trails Day 2010 in
the Manistee National Forest:
Though the weatherman had some
threatening predictions as late as
Friday evening, National Trails Day 2010
dawned with clear skies and not a little
fog. Facing a two hour drive, I left
Hastings at 6:30 AM. Just north of
Walker I passed a green Jeep Liberty
with a NCNST sticker on it piloted by my
brother Mick. In Newaygo, we pulled into
Mickey Ds and there we met Charlie
Krammin, Steve Hicks and Mary Rebert.
We had coffee and/or breakfast and
waited, as Jeff Fleming had told Mick he
would meet us there at 8:30 which came
and passed, but no Jeff. Thank God for
cell phones! We found that Jeff was up
in White Cloud looking for a nonexistent
McDonald's. The mystery solved, we set
out for the NCTA's Birch Grove
Schoolhouse on Felcher Avenue north of
White Cloud where we found Jeff.
Interestingly, the Schoolhouse only
lacks about 10 miles of being exactly
halfway between the Lake Champlain and
Lake Sakakawea ends of the North Country
National Scenic Trail.
We decided to change our plans from
hiking the short trail at the Loda Lake
National Wildflower Sanctuary to a
longer hike on the NCNST to put some
hiker miles in for the Chief Noonday
Hiker Challenge Cup. (Click anywhere
on the map (right) to see a
full-size map of where we ended up
hiking.)
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|
Steve, Mary,
Jeff, Charlie and
Mick take a break while
Larry takes the picture. |
Having firmed up our plans, Charlie,
Mary and I set out for Seven Mile Road
to spot a couple vehicles where the
NCNST crosses. That turned into an
adventure in itself. Seven Mile Road was
a barely passable, very sandy two-track.
We did locate the trail, left two
vehicles there, and headed back to the
rest of the crew. Deciding to forsake 7
Mile Road, we took off on another better
looking two-track. Better maybe, but
waaaay longer. With a couple more minor
navigational mishaps, we finally caught
up with Mick, Steve and Jeff, who were
patiently waiting on 3 Mile Road.
The trail from 3 Mile 7 Mile was really
great. It is a beautifully forested path
through a mix of hardwoods and CCC-
planted red and white pine forests. The
Trail was very well maintained and well-
if not overly-blazed.
Our
wildlife encounters included a mother
ruffed grouse who valiantly fluttered
and limped to distract us away from her
nest, a blue racer (right) in the middle
of the trail who threatened Mary who was
in the lead (and who took the picture),
and an interesting growth in the trees
which Charlie says are called witches
nests.
We also encountered quite a few mountain
bikers but, curiously, no other hikers
as the trail in the Manistee National
Forest being a dual-use trail shared by
hikers and bikers. I must say they were
all very polite and friendly.
Interestingly, except for the wet areas,
the trail does not look like it has
suffered much from the bikes. Perhaps
the layer of leaves on the tread
protects it?
Although the day was not overly hot, we
were all pretty hot and dry by the time
we got to the spotted cars.
We picked up the other vehicles and
headed for Sallys restaurant in White
Cloud, where we were treated quite
royally. We had a great lunch and downed
several carafes of ice water and iced
tea. I have to say we were all a tad
stiff when we tried to rise from the
table to leave.
Though our group was small, the
companionship was great and the hike was
wonderful. I hope to see more of you on
our future hikes.
Larry Hawkins
President, Chief Noonday Chapter
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May 15,
2010 |
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MSGA Workday:
We had a glorious day
for our May Workday in the
Middleville State Game Area.
Most of us met for breakfast at the
Cracked Pepper in Middleville where we
ate very well. We departed from
our more usual fare
and
experienced ...
soft shell crab
Benedict, mushroom frittata, bagels and
lox, giant blueberry pancakes. Yes,
we ate very well. Meeting for
breakfast were Jason Buckner,
Larry Pio, Bob Sulaski,
Mary Rebert, Ron Sootsman,
Mick and Larry Hawkins. We
actually did a fair amount of chapter
trail business over breakfast.
We drove out to the Robertson Road
trailhead. Charlie Krammin
brought the tool trailer out to us from
Delton.
We initially scoped out a
couple different alternative routes
around the major washout about a third
of a mile in from Robertson Road.
We settled on a gentle S-shaped set of
switchbacks which crossed the existing
trail about two thirds of the way down
the hill.
Our initial efforts went into cutting up
deadfall, some of which we dragged over
to form barriers across the existing
trail at the top and bottom, and then we
spread heavy brush down the length of
the trail to further discourage its use.
Mick and Mary opened up
the path with loppers.
When
Charlie arrived with the trailer,
Ron Sootsman took the blower and
cleared ... well, more like blasted
... the path of the new trail.
He
was followed by Larry Pio with
our new DR
8.25 Pro-XL trimmer/ mower
which cleared
out the remaining vegetation.
Larry also was Johnny-on-the-spot
with his blue blaze paint, marking the
re-route before we could have any second
thoughts. (Larry
also collected some
video footage of the project in its
late stages.)
Jason and Bob built a
bridge/erosion barrier over the old
trail where we crossed it.
Stump pulling, benching, and lots of
McLeod work filled out the rest of the
morning. Throughout most of it,
Charlie was there to supervise in
his own inimitable style. We
finished with a really fine, gently
graded re-route of a very severe
washout.
Kudos to everyone on a job well
done.
Larry Hawkins
President, Chief Noonday Chapter
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May 7,
2010 |
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Faithful stewards
of the Trail gather: Our
annual Trail Adopters gathering at
Kellogg Forest on May 1 was temporarily under
new leadership this year as Larry Pio
covered for the regular and
long-standing adopter leader Dave
Cornell.
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| This year's
Trail Adopters gathering.
(Click on the image to see a
larger version on the Volunteer
Recognition page.) |
On hand were
adopters Susan Bond, Jim
Mackey and son, Jeff Fleming,
Larry Pio, Ron Sootsman,
and Vicki and Greg Hall.
Also participating were Larry
Hawkins, President of Chief Noonday
Chapter, and Steve Hicks, Vice
President for Trail Management.
Diane Hawkins served as the
photographer of the day, capturing the
annual Adopters picture.
Jim Mackey and Greg and
Vicki Hall are among a number of
Chief Noonday members who are just
getting into the trail adoption project
for the first time, and we're glad to
have them aboard. Jim Mackey
will be working with Jim Martin
as they jointly tend to the rather
demanding Kellogg Biological Station
section.
Larry Pio and the other adopters
of long standing drew from long
experience in trail work as they
discussed the various tasks entailed in
trail care including blue-blazing, brush
management, and tree and limb removal.
Larry provided show 'n' tell with
the Chapter's new DR portable
trimmer/mower and Larry,
Steve and Ron later gave it a
test run at the Hutchinson section
trailhead on Augusta Drive.
Other adopters not on hand for the
picture were Mike Wilkey, Mary
Fleming, Jim Martin, Bob
Cooley, George Lee, Jerry
Pattok, Roxanne Potter,
Marcia Mellen, Tom Funke,
Josh Richie, Joe Higdon,
John Rudnicki, and Chris Vreeland
and family.
Thanks to all who participated in the
gathering and to all who faithfully
tend to Chief Noonday's section of the
North Country National Scenic Trail
to keep it something in which we can
truly take pride.
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
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May 2,
2010 |
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Catching up:
We've gotten a bit behind
reporting on events lately. This
update should provide the salient
details. Our apologies!
Workday
in Yankee Springs:
We had a good turn-out on April 17 to do
some detail work and tweaking on the
Trail re-route between Norris Road and
Hall Lake Road preparatory to getting
the section added to our certified
segment list by the National Park
Service. Thanks to George
Lee, Charles Krammin,
Steve Hicks, Bob Sulaski,
Larry Pio, Jerry Pattok and
his granddaughter Anna, and
Mick Hawkins for making up the team.
After our usual hearty breakfast at the
Gun Lake Diner we drove to our staging
area east of Hall Lake were the Pines
Scenic Trail used to come out, got
organized, and dispersed from there.
Jerry Pattok, Anna and
Mick Hawkins installed new signs
west of the "Little Mac" bridge and by
Duck Lake next to M-179 directing hikers
to the Deep Lake Campground, one of the
only two areas in YSRA where camping is
permitted. The signs, ably crafted
by Jeff Fleming, were placed at
waypoints #9 and #13 (see
our map) on the re-route and what
had now become the north spur of the
Trail off the re-route for the benefit
of hikers needing camp sites.
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| Pictured by a
newly installed sign near Duck
Lake: (l-r) Anna,
Mick, Steve,
Jerry, and George. |
Steve
Hicks, our sawyer for the day,
Bob Sulaski, and George Lee
cleared downed trees and some "trippers"
from the Trail between waypoint #9 and
the old Pines Scenic Trail crossing
(waypoint #7). Steve had to
head back to the M-179 crossing
(waypoint #13) to provide "emergency"
drill service when Mick's drill
batteries pooped out.
Larry Pio worked with our stump
puller removing small stumps from the
east half of the re-route and also
removing the old tape flags with which
we had marked the trail before the
blue-paint-blazer had gone through and
completed the trail marking.
After the other work was done, Steve
took Mick and Bob back to
the Norris Road trailhead to show them
were Yankee Bill's spring had been
located at the site of the old hotel on
the stagecoach road. (For future
reference
it's here by the green arrow and
the Google map has the road name wrong:
it's Norris Road, not Yankee
Springs Road).
And Mick and Bob concluded
their day by hiking back to the horse
trail crossing (waypoint #9) where
Mick put final touches on the new
sign and Bob set out on the trail
to complete an inspection hike all the
way back to Hall Lake.
Mick
Hawkins
Webmaster - Chief Noonday chapter
Memorial service
for Martha Jones:
Mick Hawkins, Derek Blount
and myself represented the NCTA
yesterday afternoon [April 23] at
Martha Jones' Service of Death
and Resurrection at the First United
Methodist Church of Birmingham, where
Martha was clearly also a treasured
and very active member.
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| Martha's
picture from the cover of the
service leaflet. |
Martha,
most will recall, was NCTA Board
President from 1990-92. All will
recall Martha as a regular
fixture at our annual conferences, a
spry, enthusiastic, fully engaged lady
of indeterminate age who lived to hike.
Martha's service was very well
attended, with family gathering from all
points, including her two daughters and
families from Alaska and New Mexico.
It should surprise no one that Martha's
daughters are both free spirits, living
outdoors lifestyles in beautiful places;
nor should it surprise anyone that
Martha, even at age 90, still lived on
her own in Royal Oak, Michigan,
resisting her daughters' overtures to
come live with them. We understand
Martha had a heart attack while
talking on the phone with one of her
daughters; we were assured that it
happened quickly and was as Martha
hoped living independently in her own
home.
In addition to meeting many of Martha's
family, as Mick remarked, it was
wonderful to see Martha through
the context of her church home and
family. She clearly led, most
notably an effort to bring a "tea party"
to the home of members no longer able to
attend. According to those
reminiscing, these weren't just any tea
party; things happened just so and in
accord with Martha's specific
guidelines.
The family had assembled a collage
illustrating many of Martha's
interests. NCTA memorabilia,
including her name tag from last year's
Valley City Conference, were prominently
displayed. I made a nice copy of
the photo Marty Swank shared
yesterday morning, of Martha
completing a hike at last year's
conference, arms outstretched and
dancing lightly. It was just as I
remember her, full of life and joy and
focus on what really matters. I
was glad to be able to share that with
the family.
Martha will be missed.
Bruce
Matthews
Executive Director, North Country Trail
Association
Hiking in Yankee
Springs:
Our monthly
chapter hike the next weekend after the
workday wasn't quite as well attended as
the workday with Charles and
Verle Krammin and Mick Hawkins
doing the honors. The weather
forecast probably had put a damper on
wider interest in the hike, but as it
turned out, we were not rained upon
during our hike.
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| Where we
hiked. Click on the image
for a larger version of the map. |
We spotted
our vehicles at the Chief Noonday DNR
Trail trailhead on M-179, the starting
point for the actual hike, and at the
DNR parking area off Gun Lake Road where
the old Yankee Springs stagecoach road
had come out back in the 1800's.
We managed to hit a number of trails in
one hike. We hiked the Chief
Noonday Trail and the southern loop
of the Deep Lake Trail,
connecting the two via the North
Country Trail along the Long Lake
Trail and the Hall Lake Trail.
As he is prone to doing, Charlie
shared way more from his vast store of
knowledge and lore along the trail than
my brain could possibly hold. Next
time maybe I should take notes!
Thanks, Charlie and Verle,
for a great hike!
Mick
Hawkins
Webmaster - Chief Noonday chapter
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April 19,
2010 |
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Chief Noonday
Chapter loses its Senior Member:
We were saddened this
afternoon to receive the news that
Martha Jones had died suddenly last
Thursday, April 15th.
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|
Martha K.
Jones
September 21,
1919 - April 15, 2010 |
We received
the news from Derek Blount via
Dave Cornell. Derek,
Dave and Martha all shared
the distinction of having served as
President of the North Country Trail
Association's Board of Directors.
Martha served as President at the
beginning of the 1990's.
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| Martha in
hiking togs in North Dakota last
summer. |
Although she
lived in Royal Oak, Martha had
designated Chief Noonday Chapter
as her chapter of membership, and we
have taken great pride in celebrating
her as our chapter's senior member.
And she didn't just phone in her chapter
membership either. A number of
times in recent years she made the trip
from Royal Oak over to our tri-county
bailiwick to take part in chapter
activities, especially our hikes.
Customarily she would drive over the
night before a hike, camp overnight
somewhere nearby in her car, and show up
bright and chipper for our traditional
pre-hike breakfast the next morning.
The picture (right) shows her on
a hike in North Dakota carrying a snazzy
telescoping hiking staff. She was
compelled to buy a new staff after our
chapter's Fall Color Hike in October 2006 ...
during which we broke her old staff near
Kellogg Forest trying to free a deer
which had gotten caught up in a wire
fence.
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| Martha
Jones with Larry Hawkins
and Tom Gilbert at the
National Conference in North
Dakota last summer. |
Martha
was not only a delight in any company.
She was amazing. She hiked
with us at last summer's National
Conference in North Dakota. We
were on the Stairway to Heaven
hike in the afternoon on the return leg
from a visit to a falls (not a common
sight in North Dakota, I'm told).
I was maintaining the best pace I could
muster ... when Martha overtook me on
the trail. She walked with me a
ways and we chatted. But
apparently I was holding her up and she
decided to move on ... and walked on
down the trail and left me!
Did I mention that she was approaching
her 90th birthday at the time?
Martha lived a busy and enviably
active life right up to her final hour.
She was on the
phone talking with her daughter Cindy when she suddenly
became unresponsive. Cindy
immediately contacted one of Martha's
local friends who summoned emergency
services. Sadly for us, Martha
had suffered a heart
attack and died.
Martha was born in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The family moved to
Birmingham, Michigan, in the fall of
1964, and Martha moved to Royal Oak
after her husband died. Martha
is survived by her daughters Cynthia
Jones of Alaska and Sandra
(& Max)
Ratliff of New Mexico, by her
older (can you imagine?) sister
Elizabeth Johnson, and by her
mother-in-law Irene Jones, along
with other family members and special
friends, young and old. Martha was preceded
in death by her husband Richard Jones
in 1970. At her request her
remains were cremated and the
ashes were to be spread on Mount Whiteface in New Hampshire where Richard's
ashes also had been spread.
 |
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| Martha
negotiating a fence stile at
Kellogg Biological Station
in Kalamazoo County during one
of our Chapter hikes in June
2007. |
Past and
Future Presidents:
Martha, who served as
President of the NCTA Board in
the early 90's, greeted incoming
NCTA Board President Bobby
Koepplin at the National
Conference in North Dakota. |
There will be
a memorial service for Martha at the
First United Methodist Church of
Birmingham, 1589 West Maple
Road, Birmingham, Michigan, on Friday,
April 23, 2010, at 1:00
PM. Bruce Matthews,
Executive Director of the North Country
Trail Association, will attend
representing NCTA, and I will be
attending on behalf of Chief Noonday
Chapter. We've been given
instructions to "wear colorful clothes"
to the service and we can just see
Martha smiling and laughing as she
tells us to do that, not just for her
memorial service but for life itself.
An
on-line guest book is available for
messages.
Donations may be sent to
Lowell in Martha's name to
continue her dream of promoting the
North Country National Scenic Trail
and the NCTA. Other
organizations for which Martha
also requested donations were Alma
College, The Detroit Institute of Arts,
and the Appalachian Mountain Club.
(See also
Joan Young's blog for more about
Martha. And Larry Pio has
posted on YouTube a video clip
from one of the hikes in North Dakota in
which Martha briefly appears ...
without slowing down!)
Mick
Hawkins
Webmaster - Chief Noonday chapter
|
|
|
March 27,
2010 |
 |
| Denizens of
the Falling Waters Trail
the deer,
at least go into
vigilant mode as we pass by on
the trail. The sandhill
cranes on the other hand don't seem to give a rip. (Photo
by John Merry) |
Falling
Waters Trail:
We ventured onto a trail
on Saturday, March 27th, that was
basically new to all of us the
Falling Waters Trail in Jackson
County.
This paved
rails-to-trails linear bike trail runs
from Weatherwax Road just southwest of
the City of Jackson to the Village of
Concord and connects three townships in
the process. It is based on the
old Michigan Central Railroad
bed.
Only a small
group of us took advantage of the
beautiful day in early spring: Larry
and Mick Hawkins were joined by
Larry Pio and John Merry
for a tasty breakfast at the Wooden
Spoon restaurant on King Road.
This was our
first outing with John, who had
driven something more than 100 miles
from his country home near Goshen,
Indiana, to join us.
John had been in touch with the
chapter for some time now, and it was
good to finally meet him and get to know
him.
The
Falling Waters Trail as a whole is
about 10.5 miles long. Mick
had earlier scoped out the parking
options along the trail and determined
that basically there was one place to
spot vehicles for a one-way segment hike
at a parking area right along the
trail just west of Lime Lake
about 6.5 miles from the Weatherwax
trailhead.
That allowed
for a roughly 6.5 mile hike from the
east end at the Weatherwax trailhead
and a 4 mile hike from the Concord
end.
We
went for the longer 6.5 mile hike, which
took us along a tree- and brush-lined
corridor through a varied landscape of
wooded areas, wetlands with streams that
looked like possible trout streams,
agricultural fields, eventually over a
causeway that had taken the Michigan
Central trains of old across Lime
Lake, and brought us out on Teft Road.
We did see a
few other walkers and runners, but most
of the traffic seemed to be people out
for a nice spring Saturday bike ride,
and the mood was invariably friendly.
And from the picture at the top above
you can see that we also came upon other
"residents" of the area who weren't
quite sure what to make of us.
It was very
apparent that the dedicated
Friends of the Falling Waters Trail
do an excellent job of tending to this
trail. One of the very few items
of flotsam we saw along the way was
actually more of an artifact dating back
to railroad days an ancient white-wall
automobile tire that had been there so
long that a fair-sized multi-trunked
tree had grown up around and
through the tire. It was as
though the tire had earned an
undisturbed resting place there for the
duration.
Just a short
walk down Teft Road from the
parking area where we came out, the
Lime Lake County Park offers a nice
spot right on Lime Lake equipped
with picnic tables where you could
indulge in a post-hike lunch, although
we didn't do that today.
And if you
continue walking another 4 miles west,
at Concord the trail crosses a
large scenic old mill pond
(right) where you could launch a
small boat or canoe and get some fishing
in before heading home. We didn't
do that either. Maybe next time.
Mick
Hawkins
Webmaster - Chief Noonday chapter

|
|
|
March 13,
2010 |
 |
| The trail
crew at Litchfield stands at the
mill pond with the trail we
worked on showing in the distant
background across the pond.
(From left) Marcus
Davenport, Kevin Bell,
Ron Sootsman, Mike
Ingels, Larry Hawkins,
Jeff Fleming, Jason
Buckner, Mike Wilkey,
and Jim Studt.
Marcus, Kevin and
Mike Ingels are members of
Chief Baw Beese Chapter.
Jim Studt is a member of
West Michigan Chapter.
Ron, Larry (chapter
president), Jeff,
Jason, and Mike Wilkey
are members of Chief Noonday
Chapter. Not included in
the picture were Chief Baw Beese
members Ryan Bowles
(chapter president), Jeff
Ward, and Ben Anklin
who had left already, and
Mick Hawkins from Chief
Noonday, who was wearing his
camera man hat for this picture. |
 |
Chapters build
trail together:
Delegations from three chapters of the
North Country Trail Association
got their hands and jeans a bit dirty on
March 13th clearing new trail just south
of Litchfield in Hillsdale County.
Six members of Chief Baw Beese
Chapter, whose bailiwick is
Hillsdale County, were the hosts matched
by six members of Chief Noonday
Chapter plus one member of West
Michigan Chapter. The names of
the guilty parties are listed in the
picture caption above.
We cleared about a thousand feet or so of
trail on a berm along the St. Joseph
River north from Herring Road across the
mill pond from the township park.
(Click
here for a map mash-up by Chief Baw
Beese president Ryan Bowles.
And
click here for Mike Ingels'
blog report on today's activities.)
We were fortunate that Ron Sootsman,
our certified sawyer, had a hike
cancellation with the Fortune Bay
Expedition group and so became available
with his chainsaw. He made short
work of what would have taken the rest
of us all day just using the bow saws we
had with us.
The trail tread itself still needs work,
but if you're careful you can easily
walk the section now where before you
would have needed a machete!
This was not Chief Noonday Chapter's
first visit to our sister chapter's
hunting grounds:
-
In 2007
we had joined Chief Baw Beese
Chapter for a workday clearing and
mowing existing trail as well as
building trail re-routes in the Lost
Nation State Game Area.
-
In
October 2007 we returned to Lost
Nation for our chapter's Fall Color
Hike and were joined by several
Chief Baw Beese members who had been
doing trail work there that day.
-
We were
back again in October 2009 for
another Fall Color Hike.
-
In
addition, Mick had hiked
several times and had personal
workdays in the Lost Nation section
as well as on the old trail west of
Bird Lake Road, and Larry had
joined him on one occasion for a
recon hike in Lost Nation preceding
our first joint workday there.
(Click
here for our map mash-up of the
Lost Nation trail.)
There is
great trail to be hiked in Chief Baw
Beese country, with more to come.
Mick
Hawkins
Webmaster - Chief Noonday
Chapter |
|
|
March 6,
2010 |
 |
| There was
considerable visitor interest in
the North Country Trail
Association chapter exhibits
at the Quiet Water Symposium
at Michigan State University.
Participating chapters were
Hiawatha Shore to Shore
(right foreground), Chief
Noonday (center), and
Tittabawassee (left
background -- this side of the
reflective NCNST Triangle Emblem
sign). |
 |
| Steve
and Larry chat with one
of the many visitors to Chief
Noonday's table. |
Quiet Water
Symposium:
Larry and Mick
Hawkins were pretty amazed at their
first experience of the
Quiet Water Symposium.
Steve Hicks may have been
somewhat less amazed because he'd been
there before as an avid fan of canoeing
and canoe-building, which is a prominent
and very visible interest at the
Symposium. It had been Steve's
very worthwhile idea that we come to the
Symposium this year.
The 15th annual QWS was held at
Michigan State University on
Saturday March 6th. It was part of
Michigan State's 95th
Agriculture and Natural Resources Week,
once called Farmer's Week.
This was Chief Noonday Chapter's first
exhibit at the Quiet Water Symposium,
but it certainly won't be the last.
Larry, Mick and Steve
figured they'd probably talked to more
interested and eager outdoors people in
their first one-day gig at the Symposium
than they'd talked to in five years of
other outreach activities.
We passed out a boatload (pun intended)
of NCTA and NCNST literature as well as
overview maps of Chief Noonday's
tri-county Trail section (we hadn't
brought nearly enough copies of the
latter item with us). Somebody
even made off with Mick's
insulated travel mug with the NCNST
Triangle Emblem logo, although that had
decidedly not been part of the
plan!
It was fortunate that the three NCTA
chapters were grouped together, which
served to increase our visibility and
impact with the visitors.
Hiawatha Shore to Shore Chapter from
the Upper Peninsula, capably represented
by Kay and Stan Kujawa,
were old hands at exhibiting at the QWS,
and we learned a lot from their set-up.
Chief Noonday Chapter had our
literature table with show 'n tell items
in the center, with Larry,
Mick and Steve greeting and
interacting with an almost steady flow
of visitors. And Tittabawassee
Chapter's large display, complete
with wilderness sound effects, rounded
out the NCTA presence at the Symposium.
 |
| Larry
signs sponsor cards for a couple
of potential new chapter
members. |
Our
neighboring Chief Baw Beese Chapter
was not directly represented at the
Symposium, but we did have a stack of
their brochures on our table and we did
our best to recruit some new members for
Chief Baw Beese who happened to hail
from that neck of the woods.
Among the many visitors to our table
were a number of friends we already knew
including Cal and Jean
Lamoreaux, Tom Funke, Mary
Armitage and her family, David
("Hikerdave") Goodman, and Jim
Studt and family. Dave
and Jim are members of West
Michigan Chapter.
The only somewhat frustrating aspect of
the day was that there was so
much to see and do that we didn't begin
to have the time and opportunity to take
it all in and still engage our
interested visitors at the Chief Noonday
table. So inevitably we missed out
on hearing presentations and
demonstrations by such well known
Michigan outdoor people as
Cliff Jacobson,
Doc Fletcher, and
Eric Hansen, and learning more
about such things as canoeing, kayaking,
hiking, cooking, and performing
wilderness first aid in Michigan's great
outdoors.
With any luck, next year we can assemble
a larger group of Chief Noonday people
for the occasion and divvy up our
teaching and promotional mission on
behalf of the chapter and the North
Country National Scenic Trail.
Mick
Hawkins
Webmaster - Chief Noonday
Chapter
Update
3/17/2010: Here are links to
NCTA-related images taken at the
Quiet Water Symposium by Richard
Bailey:
-
Image 1: (From
left) Mick Hawkins (CND),
Gary Johnson (Tittabawassee),
Larry Hawkins (CND), Steve
Hicks (CND), and Kay and
Stan Kujawa (Hiawatha Shore
to Shore)
-
Image 2: Larry
and Mick (Steve
missed being in this picture because
he was off gallivanting
somewhere....)
-
Image 3:
Duane Lawton,
Gary
Johnson, and
Ron Wiley of Tittabawassee Chapter.
-
Image 4: Stan
and Kay Kujawa (Hiawatha
Shore to Shore Chapter)
|
|
|
February 27,
2010 |
|
Winter hiking
2.0 Slogging through the snow:
Only a small group braved
the elements today for our scheduled
hike on Battle Creek's Linear Park
pathway. Mick
and Larry Hawkins, Steve Hicks
and Ron Sootsman met at the
Homespun Restaurant for a hearty
pre-hike breakfast and planning session.
Initially, we'd planned a long loop
starting from Cereal City up to KCC and
then to Bailey Park and back on the
NCNST to Cereal City and the Arcadia
Brewery. Once we got on the way,
it became abundantly clear that Mary
Reberts suggestion of snowshoes was
dead on, and none of us had them!
We hiked as far as Leila Hospital and we
were the first to plow through about a
foot of virgin snow (Mick insists
it was more like a foot and a half or
more!) in Irving Park. It was
clearly going to be more work than any
of us were in the mood for.
So we adjusted our plan and did an urban
hike down Emmet Street in the direction
of Bailey Park where, once again, we
began to break snow heading back along
the Battle Creek River to downtown.
At one point, we did move a little off
the trail and hike along the shoulder of
Wagner Drive.
We arrived back at Cereal City tired and
sweaty but satisfied. The GPS
recorded that in all we had walked just
over 5 miles which Mick asserts
was the equivalent of 6+ "snow
miles." The map mash-up below
shows where we walked.
We topped it off with a good lunch and
fellowship at the Arcadia Brewery, which
was really jumping due to a High School
Wrestling Tournament at Kellogg Arena.
Next year, were going to have to think
seriously about snowshoes!
Larry
Hawkins
Chapter President - Chief Noonday
Chapter
|
|
|
January 30,
2010 |
 |
|
This
impressive picture of the
hoar frost early
Saturday morning across the
Kalamazoo River
from the Historic Bridge
Park gives an idea of
how cold it was when we
started out on our hike.
(Image by Steve Hicks) |
Winter hiking from
Ott Biological Preserve to Historic
Bridge Park:
It was
predawn when I left Hastings for Battle
Creek. The thermometer registered a
minus-3° as I drove down. Unfortunately
for me, the Battle Creek PD was out in
force despite the bitter cold, and I
was delayed in my arrival at the
Homespun Restaurant for breakfast.
 |
|
Rest stop on the
iron bridge
in the Ott
Biological
Preserve:
(l-r)
Josephine Miller,
Maureen
Tucker,
Larry Hawkins,
Vicki and
Greg Hall,
Bob Cooley
partially hidden
behind Mary
Rebert, and
Steve Hicks
(Mick Hawkins
inset). |
When I did arrive, I met Mick,
Bob Cooley, Steve Hicks,
Mary Rebert and, newcomers to our
hikes, Greg and Vicki Hall
from Battle Creek.
During breakfast,
Greg shared with me his experiences
in Antarctica when he was there working
for Raytheon. He is now retired, and
hiking is his retirement hobby lucky
for us.
When we
spotted the cars at Historic Bridge
Park, it was beautiful. The sun was
out and shining on all the trees covered
in hoarfrost along the Kalamazoo
River with ice floes moving
downriver. Steve got a couple
pictures, and I later regretted that I
hadn't gotten my camera out, as it was
all gone when we arrived later at the
end of the hike.
We all
gathered at the Jameson Avenue trailhead
for the Ott Biological Preserve.
There we met Josephine Miller and
her friend Maureen Tucker who had
driven down from Grand Rapids. It was
still briskly cold but no wind, and
though there was snow on the ground it
was not enough to make hiking difficult.
We hiked the Ott Preserve along
the traditional NCNST route, as Tom
Garnett had been unable to join us to
guide us through the Calhoun County
Trails Alliance reroute. Even though
Tom wasn't with us, I
indoctrinated everyone on the progress
and efforts of the Alliance and the
quest to establish the Historic
Iron Bridge Trail through the
Preserve as well as Kimball Pines.
As we
headed into Kimball Pines,
Bob and Mary couldn't
resist making snow angels in the middle
of the virgin snow of the Silverleaf
parking lot. Further on in the wetlands
we experienced how easy it is to walk
through wetlands ... when they're
frozen.
When we reached the school
property, Mary and Vicki
left us, and the rest of the group
followed the proposed path on the school
property behind the homes on Wattles
Road, which effectively bypasses the
street- and roadwalk from the former
Harper Creek School property down to
Historic Bridge Park a big
improvement.
Bob Cooley, the adopter for Ott
and Kimball Pines, fell in love with the
new route and vowed to keep it open.
Bob is a retired freight conductor
for the railroad; so he entertained us
with railroad lore as we hiked down that
section of trail to the tracks and out
to Wattles Road.
We entered Historic Bridge Park
through the old underpass and walked
over several of the bridges as we made
our way back to the cars.
The map mash-up above shows the path we
took although through no fault of ours
it mis-names the Ott Biological
Preserve.
Everyone
pretty much had commitments after the
hike, so we split up and left for home.
The Arcadia Brewery awaits our next
month's hike on the eastern portion of
the Battle Creek Linear Park.
Larry
Hawkins
Chapter President - Chief Noonday
Chapter
|
|
|
January 23,
2010 |
|
Kiosks
refurbished:
We had an
amazing turnout for our workday for
January.
 |
| Jim Heaton
and Bob Cooley post maps
and information in our kiosk in
the Historic Bridge Park
east of Battle Creek.
(Battle Creek Enquirer photo
by Kevin Hare) |
We met for breakfast at the Grove
Street Cafe in Delton. Kudos
to them! The omelets were
outstanding. When they brought
Steve his "Farmers Omelet", he
thought he had made mistakenly ordered a
"Family Omelet".
As our group grew
and grew, they graciously came out and
asked if we wanted them to set us up at
a family style table in their back room.
Well definitely keep patronizing them.
As much effort as I made to organize the
kiosk restoration project, we still had
a few snafus.
The Battle Creek
contingent, Jim Heaton, Bob
Cooley and Mike Wilkey had to
rush off early to meet Kevin Hare,
a photojournalist for
the
Battle Creek Enquirer at Historic
Bridge Park and unfortunately left
some of their refurbishing supplies
behind. They met up with Jeff
Fleming later and collected some of
their lost material.
Larry and Mick experienced
some mix-ups with their supplies and had
to pay two visits to the Robertson Road
south kiosk.
And Larry briefly lost his cell
phone in the snow but luckily returned
to the scene and found it.
Jeff, Jim Martin and
Eric Longman went to the Kellogg
Biological Station and did the
kiosks at the Farm, Bird Sanctuary,
KBS's bio-fuels field, Kellogg
Experimental Forest, and Augusta
Drive.
(Update 1/25/10)
While Jeff, Jim and
Eric were at KBS they ran into
Gwen Pearson, Assistant Director for
Education and Outreach for KBS, and
offered to do some additional posting on
the kiosk for KBS. Later Jim
and Eric went back to KBS to pick
up the material from Dr. Pearson
and post it on the KBS side of the kiosk
by the Bird Sanctuary.
Steve Hicks and Mary Rebert
re-did the kiosks in the south portion
of the Barry State Game Area and
Yankee Springs, while Larry
Pio and Bob Sulaski, a
recruit from Wyoming and the West
Michigan Chapter, cleaned up the
northern portion.
Larry and Mick Hawkins
traveled to the Paul Henry
Thornapple/NCNST trailhead at
Irving and worked north through the
Middleville State Game Area.
The Stagecoach Park and Ott
Biological Preserve at Jameson
Avenue remain to be done as they are
locked by our partner organizations.
We elected not to change anything on the
Arlington Avenue kiosk at the
Preserve for now as it has been
subject to what appears to be gang
related vandalism.
My very great thanks to everyone who
showed up to work. It is very gratifying
to have such dedicated and neat people
with whom to work.
Larry
Hawkins
Chapter President - Chief Noonday
Chapter
|
|
|
January 22,
2010 |
|
2009 Chief Noonday
Hiker Challenge results:
At
our chapter meeting this month Larry
Pio announced the results of the
2009
Chief Noonday Hiker Challenge.
The challenge had been made to members
of the Chief Noonday Chapter to
see who could get in the most miles on
the North Country National Scenic
Trail. Miles could only be
logged in one direction and only once
per section for the year so the miles
listed below do not necessarily reflect
the total miles actually hiked on
the Trail by the hikers listed.
The four who
placed in the Challenge and will
be awarded prizes were:
● First
place: Ron Sootsman 287.7
miles
● Second
place: Jeff Fleming 123.2
miles
● Third
place: Linda Sootsman 71.6
miles
● Fourth
place: Mike Wilkey 71.0
miles
 |
|
This elegant engraved Hiker
Challenge Bowl is to be
awarded to the first place
winner of Chief Noonday Hiker
Challenge 2009 Ron
Sootsman. |
The
also-rans (pun intended!) were:
●
Mick
Hawkins
34.45
miles
● Mary
Rebert 26.8 miles
● Larry
Pio 23.0 miles
● Bob
Cooley 9.4 miles
● Larry
Hawkins 6.6 miles
● Dave
Cornell 6.2 miles
● Martha Jones 4.2 miles
● Total
all others 15.7 miles
Larry Pio
points out that these recorded miles
comprise mileage reported by the
participants plus, in some cases, miles
observed by Larry himself.
It is possible, even likely, that these
participants and others hiked miles on
the Trail which are not included here
because they were not reported or
because they were walked in both
directions or on more than one occasion
on the same Trail sections.
Congratulations to all who took up the
challenge!
The 2010
Hiker Challenge is already under
way. At the chapter meeting
Mick suggested to Larry Pio
that rules be amended to allow Ron
to donate "surplus miles" to other
hikers, but predictably Larry
didn't go for it....
(Update 1/27/10)
In the latest
Newsletter Larry Pio pointed
out that last year when the Chief
Noonday Hiker Challenge was getting
under way, hikers doing
over 200 miles on the Trail in their lifetime would be
listed on the
NCTA web site as Hikers of Note. When the
national Web site
was rebuilt, that list was discontinued.
However, Joan
Young is still maintaining the list on her
North Country Trail News blog. Moreover, we
will now have Chief Noonday Hikers of Note
given
recognition 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.
Most likely there are a number of others who have accomplished this in the past. Why not add your name to
the list?
Contact Larry Pio.
See Larry Pio's official
announcement of the 2009 results
and the 2010 rules
here.
See you on
the Trail!
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
|
|
|
January 19,
2010 |
 |
| Tman
takes a picture break by the
kiosk in the Ft. Custer section
near the "beaver reservoir." |
We saw Tman!
Tman
a.k.a. Todd McMahon of Madison,
Wisconsin did a winter hike on the
North Country National Scenic Trail
in Chief Noonday Chapter's and Chief Baw
Beese Chapter's sections in recent
weeks. And he posted 500
pictures on his Web site as
evidence.
As reported below, Todd hiked
off-road trails in the KBS section
from Baseline Road to 40th Street, from
Kellogg Forest to the Augusta
Drive trailhead, then Ft. Custer
with Larry Pio and Ron
Sootsman.
 |
| Ron
Sootsman
and Larry Pio of Chief
Noonday Chapter accompanied Todd
on parts of his hike through our
sections. |
After Ft.
Custer, Todd and Ron took
a "break" for a few days and hiked most
of the NCNST in Chief Baw Beese's
sections in Hillsdale County
including the Lost Nation State Game
Area, hiking all the way across the
State line into Ohio.
After Hillsdale County, Todd returned to
Calhoun County and spent New
Year's Day hiking by himself from
Armstrong Road into Battle Creek and
walked the Linear Park pathway
all the way to the Emmett Street
bridge. At that point, hearing
reports of heavier winter weather
approaching, he concluded his adventure
with a hearty meal and headed back to
Madison.
Click here to access Tman's
Web site with links to his hike
reports and to the boatload of
pictures he took along the Trail, with
scenes that will be familiar to Chief
Noonday members.
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
|
|
|
January 2,
2010 |
|
Winter action on
the Trail:
The North Country National Scenic
Trail has not closed for the winter
in and around Chief Noonday Country.
Visitors have done some winter hiking
recently that involved significant miles
both on the Trail and
getting to the Trail.
A group called the Fortune Bay
Expedition Team has been journaling
a section hike of the NCNST from Yankee
Springs north to (they hope) the Straits
of Mackinac. In 2003-2004, they
section hiked from the Ohio/Michigan
Boarder to Highway US-10.
On Saturday December 19 three members of
the group hiked northward through the
Yankee Springs Recreation Area and
the Barry State Game Area.
They found the section north from the
Hall Lake crossing a bit of a challenge
at times due to the many intersections
and crossings with DNR trails and to
reduced blazing between McDonald Lake
and M-179 resulting from deterioration
and loss of some of the old plastic
blazes used there.
On the day after Christmas they made
their way from the Peets Road trailhead
via roadwalk and the Paul Henry
Thornapple Trail/NCNST to
Middleville. And on New Year's
they hiked the Middleville State Game
Area section and on north a ways
along the Harris Creek Road roadwalk.
You can
read their account of their trek on
their Web site.
 |
| Tman
from Madison, Wisconsin, makes
his way across our bridge over a
very flooded creek in the Fort
Custer State Recreation Area.
(Photo by Larry Pio) |
Another
winter adventure was carried out by
Todd McMahon known on trails as
Tman with some assistance from
Chief Noonday Chapter members.
Tman drove all the way from his home
in Madison, Wisconsin just over 300
miles' driving one-way to hike most of
the Trail from Baseline Road south to
the Ohio State Line.
He hiked not only on Chief Noonday
Chapter's sections of the Trail in
Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties
but on much of Chief Baw Beese
Chapter's sections in Hillsdale
County as well.
He received valuable assistance from
Chief Noonday members Larry Pio
and Ron Sootsman. Larry,
the able Trail Adopter for the Fort
Custer segment, facilitated Todd's
project, in direct contravention of the
work of the beavers, by clearing the way
to and across the bridge and rendering
it accessible. Ron provided
parking and vehicle spotting services
and actually accompanied Todd on
much of the hike in the three counties
it traversed.
On December 29th Todd hiked the
Trail alone through the Kellogg
Biological Station to C Avenue, then
due to the winter conditions elected to
follow a road walk down to Kellogg
Experimental Forest where he
rejoined the off-road Trail and followed
it to Augusta. After lunch in
Augusta with Ron he continued
east and over the Ft. Custer
section, hooking up and hiking with
Larry and Ron along the way,
ending for the day at Armstrong Road.
They suffered one wet feet incident on
their way across the puncheons in the
wetlands.
On December 30th and 31st Todd
and Ron by-passed Calhoun County
for the time being and hiked together on
Chief Baw Beese's section from
Hillsdale down to the Ohio State
Line, including the Trail from
Baw Beese Lake and on through the
Lost Nation State Game Area.
In places they had a little difficulty
following the thread and hiked a few
extra miles in the process of getting
back onto the Trail. And Ron
had another wet feet incident. On
December 31st they hiked between the
Pittsford Road parking area and the
Ohio State Line, setting foot
briefly into Ohio because Todd
had never been to Ohio before.
Todd spent New Year's Day hiking
by himself from Armstrong Road east
through Battle Creek following
the North Country/Linear Park Trail,
reaching the Emmett Street Bridge
over the Battle Creek River by
evening. After enjoying an evening
meal (not to mention curious glances
from other patrons) at an eatery near
the bridge he got a ride back to his car
on Armstrong Road. Because the
weather forecasts were less than
encouraging, Todd decided to head for
home in Madison that night. He ran
into major snow in places which had
traffic crawling at 10 MPH but still
managed to make it home by 2:00 AM.
Quite an accomplishment! To find
out more:
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
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December 28,
2009 |
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| The moment
of implosion
of the Crown Point bridge over
Lake Champlain. (Image from WPTZ,
Plattsburgh NY) |
Crown Point Bridge is history!
The bridge over Lake Champlain
between Crown Point and
Vermont is ... no more. It was
skillfully brought down by implosion
this morning shortly after 10:00.
The bridge
is ... or was ... at the easternmost
terminus of the North Country
National Scenic Trail.
Luckily a recent inspection disclosed an
ominous degree of deterioration in the
piers supporting the bridge, and the
bridge was promptly closed to all
traffic. (Click
here for the inside story of how
this discovery happened.)
The bridge
will now be on a fast track to
reconstruction.
And the dream is
that one day the NCNST will go over it
into Vermont on its way to the
Appalachian Trail.
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| What now
needs to be cleared.
And you thought cleaning up your
room was a big deal!
(Image from Albany TimesUnion) |
Here is a
sampling of coverage you can access
on-line:
Joan
Young is also keeping on top of the
story in her
NCT Blog.
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
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December 16,
2009 |
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Chief
Noonday in the news:
The original
Chief Noonday, that is.
Chief
Noonday or Nawquageezhig
has been selected as the next subject
for a sculpture in the Grand Rapids
Community Legends Project.
Sculptor Antonio Tobias Mendez
has been commissioned to create a bronze
sculpture of Chief Noonday, as one of
ultimately 25 sculptures of important
figures in the history of Grand Rapids.
The sculptures will be placed in various
places in the downtown area of Grand
Rapids.
The planned site for the 7 foot tall
bronze statue of Chief Noonday
will be on the west bank of the Grand
River near the Blue Bridge, the
approximate location of an early Native
American settlement. The site,
near Grand Valley State University's
Eberhard Center, will be on GVSU's
campus and therefore will belong to the
college once installed. Delivery
is expected in August.
There is no known photographic image of
Chief Noonday in existence.
So the sculptor will do his best to
recreate an image as true as possible to
Chief Noonday's tribe and times.
Click here to read the recent
article in the Grand Rapids Press.
Joan Young has posted an item in
her
North Country Trail News blog.
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
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November 7,
2009 |
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The
good side of autumn:
November this year seemed to start ...
well ... in early October. But
today we managed to hit more of a late
October day in November, as we went a
bit off-trail, NCNST-wise, to hike on
the trails of the Pierce Cedar Creek
Institute in Barry County.
What a day for a hike in the woods!
The Brothers Hawkins, Larry
and Mick, joined Jeff and
Mary Fleming and Charlie
Krammin for our customary pre-hike
repast at Big Boy in Hastings before
convoying out to the beautiful natural
preserve of the Pierce Cedar Creek
Institute.
On our way down Broadway we received a
call from Ron Sootsman that he
would be ten minutes late. We
assured him we wouldn't leave without
him then found him waiting for
us when we finally arrived at our
rendezvous.
By the time
we hit the trails the group had grown to
include Verle Krammin, Susan
Bond, Sheilah Mutschler, and
Mary Armitage.
The group as a whole first hiked the
Institute's Red Trail.
Strong winds in the past week or two had
downed most of the leaves, but the
relatively balmy sunny day made for a
most enjoyable hike setting nonetheless.
We actually found ourselves shedding
layers as we went along.
By the time we arrived back in the
vicinity of the visitor center we'd
walked just under 2½ miles.
There Larry, Verle,
Jeff, and the two Marys took
their leave, while Mick,
Charlie, Sheilah and Ron,
hardier souls that we were, elected to
continue on around the outside portion
of the Orange Trail and the
entire Blue Trail. By the
time we finished we had covered about 4½
miles for the day which, of course,
was no big deal for Ron Sootsman,
but the rest of us sauntered back to our
vehicles like we'd really accomplished
something!
Thanks to all who took part.
Mick Hawkins
Webmaster, Chief Noonday Chapter
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