trips - Manistee River Loop - TheBackpacker.com

Trip Info

Dates: 8/28 - 8/29/08
Trip Organizer: zelinski1994
Location: Manistee National Forest

Number of Attendees: (view all)
1 yes
0 maybe

Description

We began our hike at the Marilla Trailhead off Beers Rd. The hike starts south on about a mile extension trail to the intersection of the NCT and MRT. We took the NCT (Blue blazes) south. This segment is the most "viewful" of the NCT with high views off the valley below and Manistee River. We stopped near Sweets Ravine for lunch and continues our steep switchback up and down to Coates Highway. Coming out at the Red Bridge we filled or packs up with water and dove back into the forest heading north on the MRT (white triangle blazes).We were about 12 miles for the day and desperately needed to find a place to set up camp. We really wanted to abide by the "designated" camp sites only or 200' away from water rule so we kept hiking long after our comfort level. We finally rolled into the Stagle Creek Campsite (15 miles from Marilla Trailhead!)around 8 pm and to our dismay all designated sites were filled! We did find a fine spot about .5 miles in from this area just in time for nightfall. We had a great campfire and dinner and a very peaceful sleep. The next day we headed north again on the MRT and geocached on the way toward the suspension bridge. We finally reached the intersenction of the MRT-Seaton Creek and NCT extension trail. We headed on the extension trail(white blazes) back toward the intersection of the MRT & NCT and took the extension back to our car at the Marilla Trailhead. We figured a total of 24 miles in two days. A little on the aggressive side but definately do-able!