October’s Work and Walk In the Rain:  The weather forecast did not promise us much for our workday and it didn’t deliver much either. 

We met for breakfast at Middleville’s Cracked Pepper, which was the highlight of the day.  We’d all recommend it highly.  

At Stagecoach Park on the Paul Henry Thornapple/North Country National Scenic Trail in Middleville, the kiosk roof module is lifted back into place after the uprights have been shortened.  The result is a nicely proportioned trail kiosk low enough for all hikers, including persons in mobility assistive devices, to easily read the displays.

We ended up with a large group:  Mick and Larry Hawkins, Steve Hicks, Ron Sootsman, Jeff Fleming, George Lee and Larry Pio were joined by Rick Moore, the Assistant Director of the Barry County Parks and Recreation and head of their Trails Committee.  Rick does the lion’s share of maintaining the Paul Henry Thornapple Trail.

After breakfast and a lot of discussion about trail related issues, we headed out to Stagecoach Park.  Rick’s big work truck proved to be an ideal platform from which to work on the kiosks, and we made quick work of un-roofing the kiosk, cutting off the uprights, and reinstalling the roof module.  

We replaced some of the faded reading material in the kiosk and headed off to the Irving trailhead to repeat the process.  Things went just as flawlessly in Irving. 

Maps and informational postings on the kiosk are duly updated.

Due to the weather, we were unable to stain the kiosks as planned, as they needed to be dry with promise of dry weather to come.  That obviously wasn’t in the books!

Rick, Ron and Larry Pio headed home at that point, and the rest of us left on a scouting trip of the Middleville State Game Area. 

On the drive to the Johnson Road trailhead to spot a vehicle, Jeff, George and Mick had to stop and use Mick's trail maintenance tools to cut up and remove a substantial tree limb that had fallen and was blocking Johnson Road.

In the MSGA we identified a number of projects to be done.  The first project left us wishing we hadn’t let the others go.  The Crane Road kiosk was as badly in need of lowering as the two on the Paul Henry Thornapple Trail had been.

Between Crane Road and Robertson Road we identified a number of problems involving erosion.  The trail as we had inherited it simply followed the contours of the land without the switchbacks which would ease the grade and prevent the erosion issues.  Since we do not have the option of modifying the route, we will have to work with erosion barriers.  

The first three areas would be ideal projects for Boy Scout Service Projects. The fourth area will be a major project and will need to be tackled by our own team of experienced trail workers.

We’re happy to report that the kiosk at Robertson Road looks none the worse for wear since we turned it ninety degrees to make it a less inviting target for small arms fire from the parking area. Now we just have to overhaul the damage that was already done.

From Robertson Road to Johnson Road we will be dealing with water issues.  That section has a number of runoffs which drain across the trail, the width of the streamlets dependent on the rainfalls.  We identified five sites where bridges similar to what we had put in at Kimball Pines will do nicely.  Larry noted that one of the streams could be easily crossed if we simply paced a large rock in the middle.  Jeff generously offered to place said rock if Larry would carry it back to the site.  What a great crew we have to deal with!!!!

The DNR had bulldozed a large berm up to the trailhead at Johnson Road which would very effectively keep large ORVs off the trail.

The trail through the MSGA is a beautiful section.  Those of you who haven’t hiked it should really take the time to do so.  Unfortunately, this week’s rains have probably done in the colors, but it is still well worth it.   Just wear your Hunter Orange!

Larry Hawkins    
President, Chief Noonday Chapter   
 

Pack boots for Ft. Custer!  And we're talking knee-high waders here, at least!  Sneakers just won't cut it.

How about a bridge ... to the bridge?  Here are views from the west (left) and the east showing the sad state of affairs which the beavers have wrought.  Could it be that being native to the habitat has gone to their furry little heads?

I went to hike the Ft. Custer section today to collect GPS data for a new map on the Web site.

Having set out from the Ft. Custer Drive end, imagine my delight when I arrived at the creek — and found about a 15-20 foot wide pond of water separating me from the west end of the foot bridge. 

I could have slogged through it if I'd had my 18 inch high duck hunting boots with me, but I didn't, and my Cresta Hikers were no match for the crossing.  I had no choice but to retrace my steps back to my Jeep and drive around to access the trail segment at its eastern terminus on Armstrong/County Line Road.
 

Larry Pio, the Trail Adopter for the Ft. Custer section of the North Country National Scenic Trail, provided this recent picture of the beaver dam which he'd captured with his cell phone.

Turns out — not much to anyone's surprise — that our friends the beavers had been hard at work building a dam a little ways downstream from the bridge.  And the water level was now all the way up to the bridge.  In fact high enough that the bridge itself was holding back the floating leaves on its upstream side.  Much higher — and the bridge would be floating!

Hiking in from the opposite end I came upon two or three sections of the trail between James B. Eads Drive and the puncheons which were pretty water-logged.  But they were either shallow enough for hiking boots or were avoidable with short walk-arounds. 

You sort of expect this in on the Ft. Custer trail in the spring, but it seemed late in the season to be seeing this much surface water.

I was expecting to run into other water obstacles in the puncheons area, but although I had seen lower water levels around there in the past, the puncheons today were clear and dry and mostly easily walkable, although the wetlands grasses were tall and thick enough that sometimes you had to sort of hunt for the puncheons.

Trust me, the next time I visit the Ft. Custer trail, I'll have my Cabela's 18 inch rubber boots along just in case.

Click here to see the map mash-up of the Ft. Custer trail section — including the "boot zones".

Mick Hawkins    
Webmaster for Chief Noonday Chapter   
 

Dr. Katherine Gross, PhD, Director of Kellogg Biological Station, and Jeffrey Bither, Ross Township Supervisor, share the shears, cutting the ribbon to open the new re-route of the North Country National Scenic Trail through the northern portion of K.B.S.  Kay and Jeff are backed up here by Bruce Matthews, Executive Director of the North Country Trail Association.

A PARTNERSHIP THAT WORKS! — KELLOGG BIOLOGICAL STATION:   Mother Nature wasn’t smiling on us this Saturday, although I suspect she was grinning.  

It was cloudy, gray and misty when Jan and Dave Cornell arrived to start setting up the refreshments table for the celebration of completing the North Country National Scenic Trail off road through Ross Township and Kalamazoo County.  This was a day to celebrate the partnership of the landowners, the Township Board, the Kalamazoo County Road Commission, the M.S.U. Kellogg Biological Station, and the North Country Trail Association.

Before work gets under way, conversation is shared by Dave Cornell, NCTA past president, Jim Bronson, Farm Manager for KBS, Bruce Matthews, NCTA Executive Director, Jim Martin, Chief Noonday Trail Adopter for KBS, and Tom Garnett, past president of Chief Noonday Chapter.

Steve Hicks soon arrived with the work trailer.  Charlie and Verle Krammin arrived to help set up the displays to celebrate our history and demonstrate the tools of our craft.  

We were soon joined by the rest of our crew, Larry Pio, Mike Wilkey, Ron Sootsman, Mary Rebert, Jeff Fleming, Tom Garnett, Mick Hawkins, Cal Lamoreaux, and Jim Martin, all of whom pitched in to prepare for the ribbon cutting and would later do the trail work for the final link in the Trail through the farm.  

We were particularly happy to meet Eric Longman, a long time supporting member of the chapter who today became a trail builder.

Our guests began to arrive as were completing our setup.  Bruce Matthews, the Executive Director of the North Country Trail Association, arrived and immediately pitched in with the setup.  Jeff Bither, the Ross Township Supervisor, was there to represent the Township.  Jim Bronson, the director of the Kellogg Dairy Farm project and longtime supporter of the NCNST was there.  Jim was very instrumental in our completing this last off road segment of the trail in Kalamazoo County.  

Dr. Kay Gross is presented by Bruce Matthews with one of the very first of a new design of the North Country Trail Association official baseball cap, as Larry Hawkins looks on.

Dr. Katherine Gross, the Director of the Kellogg Biological Station, arrived to cut the ribbon.  

And we certainly can’t forget the carloads of Boy Scouts and their leaders and parents from Troop 294, Richland, who showed up to help complete the last section of trail.

The ribbon cutting ceremony was performed by Kay Gross, who was duly presented with one of the first of the new NCTA caps by Bruce Matthews.  

Dave Cornell, Larry Hawkins and Bruce each had a few words to say celebrating the partnership that had brought about this celebration  and of the connectivity of the trail throughout the seven states.  

Larry Hawkins and Bruce then presented the 2009 NCTA Outreach Award originally presented in absentia to Tom Garnett at the 2009 National Conference in Valley City, North Dakota.  Somehow, Tom had not yet gotten around to reading the announcement in either the North Star or the Chief Noonday Newsletter; so it was a great surprise.

Leaders and Scouts of Troop 294, Richland, got a chance to give tools from Chief Noonday's work trailer a real workout along the new trail today.

Larry Pio was then presented with the NCTA 2009 Honor Award for the Volunteer of the Year for the Chief Noonday Chapter.

A trail building workshop was conducted for the Scouts and their leaders by Jim Martin and Ron Sootsman.

And then they were off to the woods to complete the Trail, working alongside Bruce Matthews and the Chief Noonday trail builders.  

A misty start had turned into a great day for the trail.

Larry Hawkins
President, Chief Noonday Chapter, NCTA

Webmaster note:
●   More pictures from the day's activities appear on our Photos Page. 
●   And click here to check out our latest map of the North Country Trail's pathway through Kellogg Biological Station, including a future spur from the Trail which will lead up to the New Barn where hikers will eventually be able to view KBS's exciting new robotic milking program.
 

K.B.S. trail-building news item:  Today's Kalamazoo Gazette contains an article about this Saturday's trail-building event at Kellogg Biological Station in Kalamazoo County.

Access the article here.
 

K.B.S. trail-building update:  Final plans and preps are under way for a busy trail-building morning at Kellogg Biological Station in Kalamazoo County this coming Saturday, September 26.

(See our updates — including the updated map image — in our earlier item below, which show the location where we'll be gathering at KBS for meeting and greeting, breakfast, the ribbon cutting, and staging for the trail building workshop and project.)

Dave Cornell and Jim Bronson have done a yeoman job of getting this event organized.

Assignments for Chief Noonday members include:
•   Mowing — Jim Martin (our hats are off to Jim, because there's a lot of it!)
•   Breakfast — Dave Cornell and Jeff Fleming
•   Welcome table and ribbon-cutting set-up — Dave Cornell
•   Meet and greet — Larry Hawkins and Mary Rebert
•   Tool trailer and display — Larry Pio and Charles Krammin
•   Trail building demo — Mike Wilkey, Jim Martin, Steve Hicks, Ron Sootsman
•   Photo coverage — Mick Hawkins
•   Publicity — Dave Cornell

Chapter members are asked to arrive by breakfast time at 8:30.  (That includes Mick...)   Uniform of the day will be NCTA shirts or tees.

Update 9/21/09:  Word is Bruce Matthews, Executive Director of the North Country Trail Association, plans to be on hand for the occasion.
 

Summerfest and a hike, as summer winds down:  The Post-Summerfest Hike was a small group this year, particularly as we had neglected to properly advertise it at Summerfest.  However, we could not have asked for a nicer day or better companions.

Mary Rebert, Marcia Mellon, and Mike Wilkey at the M-179 trailhead kiosk.  (Larry Hawkins was the camera operator.)

Larry Hawkins, Mike Wilkey and Mary Rebert met for breakfast at the Hastings Big Boy.  Marcia Mellen rounded out the group, meeting us after breakfast.  We convoyed to the M-179 trailhead, dropped the cars off, and drove up to the Peets Road trailhead.

Generally, the trail was in excellent condition. Thank you, Jerry Pattok. We were, however disappointed to see evidence of horse use on the trail.  The wetter areas were definitely very damaged by the passage of the horses.  We will need to place No Horses decals on the kiosks and Carsonite posts, although it was evident that riders were ignoring the DNR signage at the Bowens Mill Rd. gate.

It was also very evident to me that our January workday will have to be renewing the kiosks which we did not do this year. The contents are very faded from sun exposure.

We had more wildflowers than usual for this hike, as the summer has been so damp.

Once again, the cranes weren't happy with our passage and very noisily trumpeted their annoyance as we hiked by.

This is a very scenic section of trail and easy hiking for those who might have small children.  The only challenge was hiking down the recently plowed corn plots.  We encourage you all to get out there and hike and be sure to report your mileage to Larry Pio for the Chief Noonday Hiker Challenge.

Speaking of Summerfest:  Somebody definitely stole the “summer” from this year's Summerfest in Hastings.  Long sleeves, vests and  fleece were definitely the order of the day for those of us who volunteered to staff the booth in downtown Hastings on September 28th and 29th for our annual PR blitz for the North Country National Scenic Trail. Dave Cornell and Charlie Krammin constructed our unique booth Thursday evening.

Summerfest opened with rain Friday morning as Sandy and Anna Pattok anchored the volunteers.  Anna remembered that she'd forgotten to talk to Grandpa about a new tarp for the roof of the booth as she sat under drips for the second year in a row.  This year, however, Charlie rigged tarps for the sides and back of the booth which made things
much cozier in the rains and winds of Summerfest.

Mick and Larry Hawkins drew the short straws as they did double shifts on both Friday and Saturday.  MIke Wilkey was also an “iron man” doing shifts both days.  Mary Rebert, Tom Warner and Jeff Fleming rounded out the Friday crew.  Jeff actually biked from Augusta to man the booth.  His wife Mary came later to collect him for their anniversary dinner and took him home. 

Saturday, Steve Hicks, Jean Lamoreaux, Larry Pio and Jerry Pattok filled out the list of volunteers.  Jerry, Charlie and Larry dismantled the booth at the end of the day on Saturday.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered for this effort.  We talked to lots of people who had no idea the trail existed in their backyard.  And, hopefully, we made some new friends and hikers for the trail.

Larry Hawkins
President - Chief Noonday Chapter of the NCTA