Monday, October 10, 2022

Campground Interludes - On Foot


Once a year I can tolerate- OK, I actually enjoy,  visiting with family. (But don't tell anybody! I have a reputation to uphold.) Carousing, and perhaps even partying, with people I've known pretty much since birth, mine or theirs depending on where we fall on the chronologic time-scale.

But because of the way I'm built I have to take my socializing, even with this familiar crowd, in small, measured bits or else I end up fetaled in a corner with my hands covering my head.


One of my favorite ways of decompressing between bouts of socializing is hiking.

In that department this particular campground where we were holding the reunion offered more of a stroll than a hike, but I'll take what I can get! In fact I got to know this stroll/hike quite well during the week I was there.

Put together the two loops of official campground trail add up to just over 1.6 miles, but their figure 8 configuration meant I could loop around twice per stroll, covering each loop in both directions with minimal overlap, so I didn't feel like I was running in circles on the high-school track.

And yes, even the most modest of trails has something to offer as long I take the time to smell the flowers, and the dew on the grass, and the dog-cra - - well, OK, you get the idea.


The first loop, the southernmost one that is closest to the campground, actually passed within 30 feet or so of the backside of my campsite allowing me to bypass the official trailhead, accessed by tramping through the dump-station, with a few high steps over the intervening brush. Careful steps so as to not disturb the normal people that aren't up quite this early and sleeping in tents just a few steps away.

And yes, for those of you with very good eyes, this loop of the trail is fully paved.

But there's not quite enough light for photographs yet so - 


let's start on the back loop. The one called Wildlife way. (The front loop is called the Nature Trail and has a few placards identifying some of the trees.)

Oh, and I think that claim of being one mile long is just a little optimistic. Though it probably does make us gym-avoiding office-drones feel just a little better about ourselves when we finish the loop.

 

The front loop is entirely within the shadows of a wooded area, but the back loop, not paved like the front loop though the way is clearly defined with a well-mowed path, 


is more out in the open so brightens up earlier.


Of course we're not exactly out in the wilderness here


but in the right light - well, you know, that whole pigs and lipstick thing? That can work with just about anything.


And as long as we're on that whole pigs and lipstick scenario, back on the trail map, second image from the top in this post, you see that arrow pointing to Mt. Holly?

That's actually a ski resort and, with a good bit of zoom on my trusty Cannon SX50, it's visible from the trail I'm on.

But wait! Michigan is not exactly known for it's mountainous terrain!

Yep, Mt. Holly, which has operated as a popular ski resort since shortly after I was born, is actually a pile of garbage.

Seriously! It's built on top of an old landfill. (Back in its day this landfill was out in the country - not so today by a long shot!) A big pile of the crap we didn't want anymore. Which are the only real hills to be found around here.

For a while Mom worked in the emergency room of Pontiac General, the nearest hospital, and often saw the results of Mt. Holly skiing-gone-bad. - - As kids we were never encouraged to take up downhill skiing!


Now that the sun is getting a little bit higher this morning


let's try plunging into the foliar tunnel that leads back to the front loop.


In sharp contrast to the Wildlife Way loop, this area


is heavily wooded,


so pay attention!

This tree wasn't laying there on my out-bound passage this morning - - -


Back at the official trailhead there's a sign warning that the max grade on the Nature Trail, this bit of paved loop, is 13%.

I think this is what they are talking about. But don't get your panties in a bunch! The elevation change is less than 20 feet so the climb doesn't last long.



Perhaps not the most challenging trail I've ever been on,


but that didn't stop me from getting out there on it often


and enjoying the great moments it had to offer.

8 comments:

  1. I have to admit that I like walking campground loops, especially if the woods are muddy or full of ticks or there are some interesting rigs to look at. Some especially nice nature photos in this post!

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    1. I'm not adverse to walking campground loops either in the hopes of spotting a unique rig or site-setup, but I always feel like people are staring at me, wondering what I'm up to, judging my clothes, my hat, my posture, or even worse for the introvert in me, they might want to talk to me!

      Some especially nice photos compared to my usual crap? :) Yeah, I did have good light some mornings.

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  2. I envy you early birds. Congrats on catching the light.

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    1. Always have been one to get up early. Even now after being retired for ten years there are many mornings I'm awake at 0400 waiting for enough light to get out and start my day. Not sure how I ended up that way but I'll take it.

      Yep, the right light can make anything look good. Well - except for me I suppose.

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  3. Interesting about the self-consciousness. I'm amazed you were able to get through school and achieve all you have.

    I read a number of your early blogs. Your facility with design & software is beyond impressive. Did you lose interest in all that?

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    1. Frankly I'm amazed too now that I'm looking back on it. I think I survived and even thrived - at the expense of a great deal of stress - by staying focused on the technical aspects of living and working. My colleagues appreciated my expertise at technical things but pretty much universally though of me as weird.

      It wasn't until I retired and was finally able to retreat back to that personal refuge that I had been kicked out of when I was sent off to first grade, (Mom says that I was a happy-go-lucky kid until I suddenly became quiet and withdrawn at the age of 5. I'm not sure she or I ever connected my personality change to suddenly having to deal with people.) that I gave much thought to what makes me tick. But life sure is a lot easier now that I somewhat understand and accept who I really am.

      And nope, still designing things. I currently have just under 100 drawing on my USB stick. In fact at this moment, in another window on my laptop, I have cad drawings I'm working on of a nimble, pared-down, backcountry-worthy, 4WD pickup-based RV. I'm currently on version 14. The first 10 are based on a Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma which are limited to 5.5' beds. (Toyota used to offer a 6.5' bed with the crew-cab but have dropped that now.) I tried, I really tried, to make the small pickup work, keeping in mind that I'm going to continue to age so simplicity and usability are paramount and comfort is nice. But it was a lost cause. Now I'm working on version 4 of a design for a full-sized pickup with extended cab and a 6.5' bed.

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    2. Greg,

      Here's a link you may find interesting.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_processing_sensitivity

      I read her 1st book soon after it came out; it leant an additional bit of credence to my own "self-evaluation."


      What are the sticking points in your smaller version? As much as I'm enamored of Phoebe, I may need to get a truck-camper. I prefer smaller vehicles and am curious about what you couldn't do without. (I'll pay good money for the plans)

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  4. Pay for the plans? That would just screw up my taxes! But I have no problem sharing my drawings.

    As for your other questions, this discussion is getting beyond the capability of comments so I'll be switching over to e-mail. But give me a bit of time. I don't know why, but I'm actually pretty busy at the moment.

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