A short trip up north to break up the monotony of daily life. I am about 2 weeks from a couple weeks in Montana, and had all my gear strewn across the floor just begging to be utilized. I had not been hiking with my father for a couple years, and the 2 previous adventures together had been a bit more rocky then necessary. Coupled with some recent stresses in his routine, I figured it was time for a get
away.
I read an article in backpacker magazine about a State park in the Northeast corner of the state, Negwegon. The author mentioned a couple choice beach campsites that required a mile or two hike into. Campsites requiring some distance traveled from the car are a rarity in the Lower Peninsula.
Below is a cut out of the State Park campsites. We would be driving into where the “P” parking symbol is indicating and hiking 1.8 miles to campsite 3, (Pewabic).
Below is a larger version of the map with some backcountry info on bears, water, fires, etc.
Download Negwegon Backcountry Guide And MAP
We left from Birmingham around noon and were up to the park around 3pm. We were lucky to find this potable water source at the trailhead as our water was limited. Of course there was 10 trillion gallons of water just passed the pump but why worry about foreign bodies if you can help it
Another view from the water pump towards Lake Huron
Picture that represents the majority of the trail
This is a view from our campsite.
We were situated just behind a burm, about 100ft from the shore. The picture above is looking from the top of the burm to the shore.
I lent my dad my solo tent and thought I could survive with a tarp and a sleeping pad. We set up camp in 30 minutes and I was off to the beach to go swimming
The water was surprisingly warm, just lots of large rocks covered in slime, making the traverse out into the deep a bit challenging. After chillin’ at the beach for a bit, I heated up a couple ready made meals and we were sitting by the fire with nothing to do or drink by 8pm.
I crashed pretty early. I woke up in the darkness surrounded by shooting stars believing it to be around 3am, when I was shocked to see 23:00 on my chronometer. It was gunna be a long one. I read for a few hours and eventually fell asleep about 4am, with first light just before 7am. It must have got down to the 40s as I was pretty cold huddled up in a ball with all my available clothes on.
The morning showed not a cloud in the sky and after a light oatmeal breakfast we headed north on the trail
Below is the point indicated on the map above by campsite #4. I would say site 3 or 4 are the best, with 4 being a little closer to the shore, but not as much sand or open space as 3.
The snake charmer strikes again. Easily 6ft if he was an inch. The Garter Snake Whisperer.
On the way back we checked out a few places where my father used to spend overnights on business trips and had dinner at Wheeler's Restaurant in Standish. A short trip, but a good break from the grind, unfortunately it takes till the second day to shed your city stresses and then it is time to return to civilization.
See ya Soon,
Darren
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