Northville Placid Trail Day 4: Miles 58-83 (+1.2)

morning thoughts

I feel ineffective in getting going in the morning. I got up at 5:40 but didn’t even put the water on to boil until 6. This means I wait 15 minutes for breakfast to cook and eat slowly. I started an hour after waking up at 6:44. A mouse ran up to me while I was eating breakfast, so I was glad I brought the bear canister. Knowing how far I had to go today, even the extra 15 minutes felt intimidating. Needless to say, this day was mainly about trying to get to Stephen’s Pond as quickly as possible. There is no Lean-To for almost 10 miles there, so there was no other option but to get there.

My foot was very bruised. I had a large red section that was clearly separated from the spots that were not inflamed. The little finger was also quite swollen. I have photos but I’ll save you the trouble.

Is anyone starting a Christmas tree farm?

Additional miles

This silly, trucker mom road. I took quite a few offshoots today just because I was looking for things to avoid stepping on instead of climbing the trail markers. But the biggest detour I took was the half mile to Cedar Lakes #3 Lean-to. This time there was literally no signage for any turns for those going to NOBO. I found a sign for SOBO peeps, but it wasn’t particularly visible from my perspective. I felt quite frustrated that I had gone the extra mile. Then, quite a bit later (after Wakely Dam), there was a trail that wasn’t on the map in the Township 33 easement that was clearer than the trail, so I went down that quite a bit as well. Total extra daily mileage = 1.2.

I see with my little eye… the wrong trail

I don’t know what this bunker thing is about.

A bridge from times past

I like it when the trail becomes blurry.

The sun feels good 🙂

A fun tree stands out from the rest.

Super fun clouds over Wakely Dam

Views at the foot of the road

Rainbow looking tree

Views from the road trip part 2 (Wakely Pond)

This section was DEEP in leaves.

Bridge before another wrong turn

The sign was clearer for this left turn but I still missed it.

Stephen’s Pond

Finally I reached the shed at Stephen’s Pond. There were three other people there, including the guy who ran away from me before Wakely Dam. Luckily, he wanted to sleep in his tent, so it was just me and two other people in the shed. They were walking together but they wanted to be on opposite sides, so I was in the middle…? And one of them kept belching until he almost vomited. Like when you burp after a big meal and the solids/liquids hit your esophagus and stop the burping? It was always like this and it was frequent.

Stephen must have been cute because I like his pond.

Other panoramic views

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