SE Michigan/Highland Rec. Area

“Hey Tarabull, Hyperpacker and everyone else!

I scouted Highland Rec. Area today. I hiked about 10 miles on a combination of mountain bike, horse and x-country ski trails. It was great hiking - hilly with lakes, bogs and knobby trail - and I really only scratched the surface.

The area has 45 miles of designated trail. And if you start at the SW corner of the park, you can backpack into the rustic campground. The camp isn't anything much, but it sure would be a nice hike. Anyway, just thought I'd pass it on.”

“Oh, BTW, it's 15 miles west of Pontiac off M-59. Backpack the suburbs!”

“Oh, BTW, it's 15 miles west of Pontiac off M-59. Backpack the suburbs!”

“Hey reformed lurker...

Proud Lake Rec & Pinckney Rec have some decent trails as well. Generally in the 2 - 8 mile range with a variety of scenery.”

“Highland Lake is closer to me than Brighton Rec! So much hiking... just outside my backdoor.

I've been horseback riding there, but never hiking. The land is great.

I would try to fit a hike in if anyone is interested.”

“Reformed, thanks for the info. Gonna have to check this out!”

“I'd be interested .. I missed the hike / camp this past weekend at Island Rec, by the sounds of it it was quite the adventure. I live in Brighton so Highland is about a 1/2 day hike for me, or a 15 min drive.”

“Hi Tie Guy!

I hike in Pinckney Rec. Area all the time. It's kind of my home base. Lots of hiking in and around there.

But I'm trying to explore all the parks up on the northern tier of the suburbs. It looks like some really good stuff.

I'm gonna be busy the next couple of weekends, but if someone wanted to get something going for August, it'd be fun.

Oh, and Tie Guy, I'm all over the local trails, so just post up here if you're going on a dayhike and want some company.

Oh, yeah, one more thing...
I dropped into Monroe Custer Airport today. They run flights out to Put-in-Bay for $40 bucks. They also do Mackinac Island. I think it'd be cool to charter something out to Beaver Island or Bois Blanc (N. of Cheboygan). Sure would save time on the drive north.

Rambling Laughably,
RL”

“hey reformed if you do a flight somewhere let me know,its not that bad of drive for me. And also it wasnt that bad of drive to Brighton. Im up for a hike whenever again. that was fun.”

“reformed lurker...

That sounds great on the local and northern hikes. I usually like to hit the trail early on Sundays @ Pinckney Rec (5 Mile loop) I'm always up for a day hike even if I have to drive alittle to get there. Ditto on the July being busy, but definetly keep in touch for August. BTW count me in for any quick trips (i.e. Mackinaw, Beaver Island, etc). In closing remember my motto... Pack your Sh*t and get out !! (BackPacking that is).

Tie Guy”

“Adventure girl your invited too...Heck everyone is invited !!”

“Reformed, My Dad has a six seater Cherokee. He flies us to Macinak Island almost every year. Maybe I could talk him into a TT flight. He might be into going somewhere different. $40 is a pretty resonable cost. What size plane and how many have to be aboard for that price?”

“I believe Joys dad Cherokee 6 costs $50 an hour to operate. Weight would be a serious limitation too. But imagine no driving!”

“Yeah, it's probably too expensive to really do. But I've always thought it would make sense for getting out to the Lake Erie Islands. 15 minutes in the air from Monroe is definitely better than 2.5 hours on Route 2.

I'm going to a banquet there next week with Gen. Paul Tibbets (pilot of Enola Gay) and I'll ask what the prices to places are.”

“John and I hiked Pontiac Lake Rec Area yesterday. There are miles of trails. Pretty hilly and forested.

Some pretty nice scenery but was not impressed w/ the trail map. The trouble is that the foot-traffic-only trails are NOT on the map. Only the equestrian and mountain bike trails are indicated. So if you step off the equestrian trail onto the foot trail, you don't know where you are when it dumps you back on the equestrian trail.

We took several of the foot trails and made a few wrong turns trying to get out...

That was the first time we've pulled out the compass on a day-hike. (Pretty amazing we actually had the compass w/ us).

Just wanted to let other Michiganders know.”

“Funny, Tarabull!

We are badly in need of a hiking advocacy group to push for little things like this. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and the mt. bikers/horse people are much more organized.

I haven't made it out to Pontiac Lake yet. Thanks for the warning.

Mike”

“r.lurker....
have you read bob greene's wonderful book

duty: a father, his son, and the man who won the war

greene spends a lot of time with general paul tibbets and has some great (and surprising....he drives a toyota, for example)insights into this fascinating man....”

“rl-
great idea. I'd be in for helping with something like that. We do need something like that in this area!”

“RL - Chairman of the Lower Mich Hikers Advocacy Group

We were thinking about writing a letter to the dnr to let them know our needs for more detailed maps.

otherwise, the only "safe" way to hike this trail is to do so on the horse trail... playing hopscotch around horse poop.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Gonzo!

Yes. When I heard that Tibbets was going to be in town, I went to the bookstore and bought "Duty" to prep. for it.

Tibbets apparently had MPs track all of his men. If they heard a soldier was having a baby during a wiretap, Tibbets would congratulate him before he told anyone. He kept a tight ship.

As a social studies/English teacher, I always find it interesting to meet the people who have actually made history.

I just watch the papers and if someone interesting is in town, I go. I've met/seen speak the Dalai Llama, Al Gore, John Glenn, Paul Tibbets, Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, Dan Quayle, G. Bush Sr., the Pope, Ray Bradbury, Bob Dole, Sandra Day O'Connor and others. That way, I can tell my kids about this wonderful period of history.”

“Laqtis!

Good question.

I've been thinking about what it would take to start a hiking club up.

Maybe we could start by picking a Saturday each month to go on a regular dayhike in the area. If people can count on the day/time, I think they would come.

After enough people got involved, we could organize some work outings. This would build up a record of accomplishment. DNR people might be more willing to listen if they saw good stuff happening. Oh, and we'd improve trail.

As we go, we could think of cool things to work for. Maybe we could make field trips to Natural Resources Commission meetings or start letter writing campaigns.

Oh, and I think that a nice SE Michigan hiking website is very much needed. We have lots of hiking that no one knows about.

We might also want to piggyback on events held by the NCTA or MMBA. They both seem good at constructing trail and could possibly help with some technical expertise.

I'd be all for starting something up if other people are interested.”

“Reformed, this sounds like a good idea. But the MMBA, those people are dangerous LOL!”

“let me know if anything is goin on.. i live in sarnia (across the river from Port Huron).. i dont have a car, but i could prolly meet someone along their way.. detroit is only about 45 mins from here.”

“I'm in to it. I know that when I first started looking for places to hike, they where tough to find on my own. I was very lucky that Hyper and Joy helped me out and gave me good info on Waterloo/Pickney. Without help like that, breaking into hiking would have been tough.
I don't have a lot of experiance in hiking, but I will do what I can to help. I work in a school district as well and at times my time is very limited. I might be able to tap one of my students for a website, but I will not be seeing students until September. I think that a hiking club in this area would be successful! Let's try.”

“I know hyper. I hear the mountain bikers carry knives with them and eat the brains out of little children.”

“Speaking of the MMBA and mountain bikers, consider this. Obviously I don't know what the situation is at this Rec. Area, but it could possibly like that at the Coralville Reservoir, near Iowa City.

There are a bunch of trails created by ICORR, Iowa City Off Road Riders (or, now, Iowa Coalition of Off Road Riders). Yes, they created the trails. The great majority of users are mt. bikers and a few horse people.

So I was wondering if maybe the mt. bikers or horse people put in a bunch of work on those trails you mention? It CAN HAPPEN that they do that.

Too bad there isn't a more inclusive map, whatever. What you said of the trails reminds me of the Coralville Reservoir area, which is called Sugar Bottom. In one section near the lake the trail has one-way loops that go off it, then dump you back onto the main trail system. Is that how this system you speak of seems to be?

ICORR is pretty good. They have numbers on the trails and they are rated for ability. They also have maps. Heck, they used to have a bandana with the trail system marked on it.

NO knives though, although they might favor stem cell research. MOOOOOOOOOOhahahahaha!! :-)”

“lizs - These trails are a little different. They are not one-way loops that dump you back onto the same trail you started on. In some instances, you could be hiking on one of the horse trails, turn off onto a foot-only trail, and be dropped on a different horse trail (or a bike trail, for that matter).

Hiking at the park is not impossible. I just wish the hiking trails were mapped.

We made a couple wrong turns during our hike and we are experienced. I could see a first-timer getting him/herself lost here!

RL - Sounds like we need to plan a day hike so we can get together and brainstorm this hiking club idea. Whaddya think?”

“Tarabull - Count me in. I was just able to fee up the weekend of the Dream Cruise. It get REAL nuts in my city and it's a pain every year, so I'm looking at going that weekend to Highland. I will also talk with some of my hiking buds to see if they would be interested in helping. Anyone else?”

“I'm leaving for New Hampshire/Maine on the 17th and returning on the 26th. I'm free a couple weekends in September, though!”

“reformed lurker / lagtis... Count me in, I live in the Brighton area. I think a hiking group that meets in this area for a daily or weekend hike would have great success. As you are aware there are many decent trails to conquer in Brighton Rec, Pinckney Rec, Proud Lake, Bishop Lake, etc. Besides if we get enough tt'ers on the trail when we run into not so cooperative mountain bikers we can take em !! sell their bikes on Ebay then go buy us some more hiking gear (just kidding of course). Based on the responses of the local tt people I think a hiking group would be perfect.”

“September Saturdays are all free as of this date. Name your day people!”

“If you do the Jordon River on a Saturday-Sunday, again. I might be able to make it. I could drive down Friday, sleep at the trailhead and hit the trail in the am. Sunday I'd leave right after the hike out. Let me know when you go. I was really disappointed that I missed it last year.”

“It would be a great hike for fall color viewing. Maybe Jordan River would be a good early/mid October hike?”

“Me too! I want to come too! But school starts soon and that means I have much less time. But give me dates and we will see if I can pull it off.”

“Okay, here are possible dates for a hiking club meeting:

Sat. Sept. 8
Sun. Sept. 9
Sat. Sept. 15
Sun. Sept. 16

The first weekend in Sept. is Labor Day weekend. The weekend of the 21-23 is the Zaleski hike.

My preference would be either of the Saturdays. We could hike in the morning (10AM?). Sundays might be a problem for church going people.

I'm thinking that Pontiac Lake or Proud Lake Rec. Areas would make for a nice hike. I've never been to either.

So, any thoughts?

BTW, the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) is sponsoring a trail construction/maintenance class at Pontiac Lake on Fri. Aug. 24th. I'm not sure of the times, but this might be a good educational outing for anyone interested. More on this later.

rl”

“I'm new on trail talk, so don't run me out of town like a few others! Just kidding. I live in the Novi area and would be interested in hiking with you guys!

Sept. 8th works for me, and since I am one of those church-goers, Sunday morning usually don't work for me (early afternoon is better). The 15th and 16th don't work for me either, I'll be on a rafting trip.”

“Sept. 8th would be fine with us. Or the other Saturday too.”

“reformed lurker, joy, smiley girl, etc... I picked up a trail map of Proud Lake Recreation today on the way home. There are 3 trails that make up a 7.5 - 8 mile loop (Red Trail 2.75, Blue Trail 3.75, Ecology Trail 1.5 miles). The map is pretty crude but it does show a collection of hardwoods, pine plantations, marshes, and river crossings. There are other hikes outlined on the other map that shows organizational campgrounds, campgrounds, picnic areas, etc but these are not on the detailed map. If your interested in getting additional information yourselves here is the info...

Proud Lake Rec Area
3500 Wixom Rd
Commerce Twp, MI 48382
Ph: (248) 685-2433

As far as a weekend... any weekend in Sept is good for me !!!”

“the week after labor day, I willbe hiking the Jordan River Pathway. Any weekend other than that one would be fine with me. invite is always open to anyone that would want to go. FYI”

“Is that the weekend AFTER Labor Day, laqtis? Sat-Sun?”

“hmmmm...sounds interesting!”

“Yea, sorry. Long day -the plan is to leave on Thrusday night 9/6 and stay at Graves Crossing Campground. I planned the trip a little long, but if you, or anyones else, would like more info, feel free to email me.”

“I am pretty sure that I'm available either weekend for a day hike.

I would prefer to do Proud Lake since John and I just did Pontiac Lake two weekends ago.

I'm glad to hear we're planning another hike. I had such a great time on the last one!”

“Okay, following the can't-please-everybody-all-the-time approach, here is the time and place:

Saturday, Sept. 8, 10AM
Proud Lake State Rec. Area, meet at park headquarters (off Duck Lake Rd.)

Would anyone be opposed to designating the second Saturday of each month as Hiking Club Day?”

“rl - not offended, that Saturday idea sounds great. What part of Proud Lake do you think you'll be hiking?”

“I am putting the 8th on my calendar.

I'd be open to the second Saturday of each month. But, of course, can't promise I'll always be free!

I'm sure that will be the case w/ most people.

RL are you sure about the headquarters? I thought it was on Wixom Road.”

“I'll double check, Tarabull. Maybe I looked at the map wrong. I just figured the headquarters would be an obvious spot to rendezvous. Happy Trails!”

“Sounds great! The calendar has been marked. Same as Tarabull re: second Saturdays. Thanks for organizing this Reformed!”

“rl, the park headquarters I picked up the maps at are off of Wixom Rd. Isn't that Highland Lake State Recreation area over off Duck Lake?”