[at-l] Day hiking on one of the 30 best?

[kent_gardam at yahoo.com (Kent Gardam)]

The new issue of Backpacking magazine includes a list of their 30 greatest dayhikes in the continental U.S.  Now I’m no hiking expert, but I’ve got to believe that to make the top thirty of any kind of list, a hike would have to be pretty special.  Turns out one of them, Proud Lake State Recreation area in Michigan is only about 70 miles away from us.  So Saturday, my wife, my nine-year old daughter and I took a road trip to check it out.

 

Proud Lake us only about 30 miles from downtown Detroit and the increasing urban sprawl has brought civilization to the doorstep of the Recreation Area however the park itself seems to have reasonably survived its surroundings and there is no sense the surrounding community once there.  

 

We asked for a trail map at the gate, got a park map that was not a whole lot of help but found a sign board showing the trails next to the parking lot.  We opted for the Blue trail, the longest at 3 and a half miles.

 

I had recently purchased a Gregory Reality pack from Ken Bennett and wanted to give it a try so I had brought along much more food and drink than appropriate in an effort to load the pack down some to see what it felt like.  This is my first “real” backpack as I have always used knapsacks previously and I am happy to report that it more than lived up to my expectations.  It’s amazing how the twenty pounds of weight was carried effortlessly by the hip belt rather than pressing down on the shoulders.  That was cool.

 

The hike turned out to be nice although largely unspectacular.  The loop did take us across a bridge over a little river twice where there was a canoe portage around a small dam and lots of people enjoying a paddle up and down the river.  We took advantage to cool off our feet in the river the second time and have a picnic lunch.  My daughter enjoyed mashing her “fruit gusher”  snacks over her cheese crackers and eating them that way.  Not exactly the culinary choices my wife and I would make, but what ever works for her.

 

We did encounter a large box turtle in the middle of the trail that provided some entertainment and a chance for Kelsie to examine it and found a little lean-to shelter constructed out of branches that was just off the trail.  There were second growth pine forests, boggy areas, maple and oak covered woods, meadows, and the previously mentioned river for variety.  The hike was mostly flat and easy walking but through the cool of the woods.  Only when we were briefly crossing fields or a large power line cut did we recognize the heat of the day.  Other than a group of boy scouts out for the weekend and a guy and a girl trail running, we were the only hikers we saw.  All in all it was a pleasant if unspectacular little jaunt.  Now whether it truly belongs on a list of the 30 greatest dayhikes could be debated, I have certainly been on some other hikes that offered much more in the way of scenery, but I suppose that there was some desire to incorporate some Midwestern locations in
 addition to the more obvious choices of the eastern and western mountain areas.

 

But reservations aside, the purpose was accomplished.  It was nice to get out in the woods, even if only for a short while.

 

Enjoy your opportunities wherever you may find them!

 

Kent Gardam



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