IsleRoyaleGirl's Wilderness Blog

A Journey Around the High Country Pathway - 80 Miles in 5.5 Days

Thursday May 13 -- A Rainy Start

There is a certain draw with some places and this is one place that I've been drawn to often. This is my third through hike of the High Country Pathway, although the last one was six years ago. I have been back many times since then but only for sectional and bushwhack hikes. After responding to inquires about the pathway on a backpacking forum, I simply stated that it was a thru-hike that I would like to do again. Others "called" me on that thought and soon there was talk to do it soon. Mike F. from Canton, Mi organized it and Ewa R. from Livonia, Mi and I would join him.

The pathway is an 80 mi loop through varied forests and terrain in the Pigeon River Country State Forest. This vast state forest lies in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It is mostly a quiet place and it is rare to see others on the pathway.

We started our journey at the headquarters unit of the PRCSF. There is parking for backpackers close by to leave their vehicles for multiple days. We picked up the requisite permits for our journey. These permits are free and it would be silly to be fined for not having them. There is always a conflict of opinion regarding how to use these permits as it solely depends on which state worker one talks to at any given time. 

We were told we had to have one for each night and then to leave it posted to a tree in the middle of the woods at each camp site. Other times, including just recently, we were told that we could carry one permit for the whole trip and not leave the woods littered with them. The latter makes the most sense for backpackers as I doubt they would ever get retrieved from most remote spots. I understand the concept behind posting a permit permanently though as some people leave a mess, have unattended fires, etc. Our small group would do neither. No trace will remain from our journey as we always pack out everything and we don't have fires.  

We soon were on our way. We traveled counterclockwise on the pathway and hiked through pines, blueberry bushes, wintergreen with red berries and purple Gaywings. They all are at home in acidic soil.

After hiking less than a mile, the telltale rain sprinkles began. As they soon intensified, I donned my rain gear as did the others. It wasn't to abate so we spent the entire day walking in the rain. It wasn't without interest though as the wet forest highlighted tons of elk rubs on trees, especially in the hilly area of glacial moraines and between the old remnants of the fire tower and the two following overlooks. As we passed the spur to one of the state forest campgrounds, Ewa spied a raccoon just wandering around.


We crossed the East Branch of the Black River on the marvelous new bridge that was built since my last journey in that part. I had waded the river on a couple of  prior occasions as the old bridge was destroyed by high water. 

The new bridge was highly structured and made to last. We checked out a potential camp site prior to the bridge but decided to walk further and chose a spot further back from a meadow area to get out of the wind. We were not in view of the river but it wasn't much of a walk to obtain water.

We set up our shelters, hung our food, fetched water and just hung out in (tent) or under (tarp) our shelters as it was still raining steadily.

At dusk the rain lightened and the woodcocks who are nocturnal began to make their calls. Peent, peent....it went on for a long time. They resumed again around 5 AM. I think we were definitely in their territory. We were also entertained by meadowlarks at various times.


Friday May 14 -- Rattlesnake Hill

Everyone packed up and dried anything in the wind that was wet or damp. I really didn't have much to dry other than my rain gear. The field looked like an abandoned camp with everything hanging in trees.

We soon were on our way. We almost immediately hiked through the Tubbs Creek area which has dozens of boardwalks through the moss and cedar swamps. Mike noticed a sharp shin hawk.

We procured water at Rattlesnake Creek, then climbed the steep approach to Rattlesnake Hill which really is a series of hills. It was quite windy and cool at the top so we didn't linger very long. We started the series of short climbs. Ewa saw a deer and soon we were back in the red pines and then jack pines. We met two mountain bikers who were climbing the hill by Pug Lakes. We watered up at Van Dalen Creek and made camp shortly after. We were deep into the pines after climbing to higher ground. We had hiked over 15 miles today and although it went well we were all glad to be at camp.

Saturday May 15 -- A Tough Decision

The night was fairly chilly. I got up and put some extra layers on and then I was content. In the morning I walked down to the creek while the others finished packing and startled a partridge. We ran into a group of morel hunters..looked like mostly family units enjoying the activity.

We only had about two miles to go before Clear Lake State Park. it is located on a short spur off the pathway but we went there because Mike was not feeling the best. He hadn't eaten much this morning and wanted to have breakfast there to see if he would feel better. We lingered there for a couple of hours. After contemplating different options, Mike decided it was best that he leave the trip.

We walked to the park office and a ranger took him immediately back to his car. Now Ewa and I would go forward to hike the rest but felt bad that Mike couldn't do the same. It was his trip and he was really looking forward to completing it. I knew though, that he would do it another time!

It was already noon when Mike left, so Ewa and I knew we had a long day ahead of us. We crossed the highway, climbed up to the tower area and then walked through jack pine forests, old railroad grades, ghost towns (McPhee), wetlands with rickety footing, clear cuts and more. 

As we crossed a dirt road, Ewa hailed a slow-moving recreational vehicle. We confirmed with the owners that we were crossing the road we thought we located on the map (Millersburg). Although the pathway is suitably marked and we certainly weren't lost, it is hard to keep track of the road crossings as many or most are not on the map. Overall, we have seen much traffic on forest roads today with free-wheeling teens and turkey hunters. It has surprised me as I usually see almost no one.


We refilled our water containers at Tomahawk Creek and ascended into the lovely hills there. Soon we came to the flooding where we spied red wing black birds and a deceased turtle.

Ewa and I walked seemingly forever to get out of the no-camping zone which extends the length of the flooding. We were heading to the area well east of Tomahawk Lake but decided to camp in a meadow after walking through a pine plantation. All told we were tired but food and drink rejuvenated us. A sliver of a moon hung in the sky. 

Sunday May 16 - Lots of Wet Areas and the First Mosquitoes

As soon as we walked a few hundred meters this morning, we realized we were where we wanted to camp last night. It was fine though, as I would of missed the crazy sounds from the wild last night. I can't even describe them but some animal was making noises I never heard before. 

When we got to Tomahawk Lake we topped off our water supply a bit and then hiked to Shoepac Lake. We stopped to get fresh water from the pump there and enjoyed a break on the lovely shoreline.

Today our travel went through wetlands, clear cuts, and even hardwood forest on each side of the Black River. I noticed a neat black and white bird with a red vest (Rose-breasted Grosbeak) in the hardwoods. It was a pretty day with longer breaks at Canada Creek and then the Black River.

We had lunch in front of the shelter at Canada Creek and Ewa noticed a few ticks.The day was again very hot and I dipped my hat and neckerchief in water to cool me off. We stopped and cooled our feet in cold water too. 

We hiked for hours (17.5 miles) and negotiated tons of broken board walks and waded through extensive wet areas. We often bushwhacked around the worst. We finally made it to Duby Lake at 9 PM and it was quick work to set up camp, set the bear hang, make dinner and journal. Also had the first of many mosquitoes today through the wet areas and at camp. They weren't particularly bothersome though.

Our camp was on a great spot on a small ridge overlooking the lake. Because I had been at Duby Lake a few times in the past I knew obtaining water there is a hassle due to extensive bog-like wetlands lining the shore of the lake. 

We had enough water to camp and we knew we could backtrack a short ways to get water at Milligan Creek in the morning.


Monday May 17 - A Great Surprise

Another cold night! There has been quite a contrast between high and low temps on this trip. Awoke by 7 AM and we were ready to go quickly this morning. We backtracked to the creek to resupply our water and then hiked through mostly pines to the Dog Lake Flooding. After that the forest became a combination of pines and hardwoods. There were still wet areas to navigate and we even came across a small creek so we decided to have lunch there amongst the mosquitoes.

Soon after crossing Webb Road we saw a morel hunter from Ohio. The hardwood forest was the perfect environment to find the morels so he has found several nice looking ones. His partner was somewhere else within the forest and they would meet up later.

We stopped for a nice break at an overlook above the Pigeon River when we were almost to the Pine Grove Campground. As we approached the campground I saw a guy and his dog hiking towards us. Wait a minute, I know this guy! It was Dennis and his dog Relay! They had just set up camp and were going out for a training hike (Relay's training, not Dennis). He was as surprised to see us as we were of him, he asked us to sit awhile so we took another break as we only had a few miles to go. Relay is one of 57 dogs that Dennis owns, but the only one that got to go on this trip. I bet he got spoiled by that! It was also neat because Ewa got to meet Dennis and she would be going on the same group trip as he in a few weeks to Canada.

After saying our goodbyes, we headed to the bridge that goes over the Pigeon River. It was technically closed but had cables to further secure its footings. Actually the bridge is in much better shape than the boardwalks that follow it.

We came across a turkey hunter fully decked in camo. We also chatted with him about turkey sightings but none of us had seen any. This trip has been different from others I have done here as we've encountered more people than usual doing their sports of choice. It was neat to see many people enjoying the merits of this great state forest land.

We headed towards Bird Tally Creek. Before we got to the actual crossing of the creek with the pathway, we saw neat wide open wetland areas complete with beaver dams and an active beaver which we watched for awhile. There was also great bird activity with herons and red wing blackbirds being the most predominant.. We hiked on a short ways and then decided that it would be a great place to camp so we backtracked to that spot. 

Evening talk amongst the bird chatter made a great atmosphere while we were cooking our own respective dinners. A nice sunset completed the day.

Tuesday May 18 --Climb Through the Hardwoods

The night had been peaceful as all the activity was on hold. We were awake early, at 6:30 AM or so and had breakfast and quickly packed. We quickly found that our decision to camp last night where we did was a great one! The actual crossing of Bird Tally Creek with the trail is now non existent. It is dried up or very swampy!

Now it was time to climb up through the hardwoods for quite a ways. I often wonder how it would be to ski down this climb as it goes forever. At the top of the climb we joined into the Shingle Mill Pathway (which is one in the same as the High Country Pathway for this section) until we got back to the park headquarters where we started.

We followed the exterior loop in hot and dry conditions with a few breaks to cool down. When we reached the end of our journey, we both drove off in separate directions. Ewa was heading back downstate and I ventured off traveling the dirt roads to Webb Rd and eventually getting back to the expressway to head north.

We had a great experience and I'm sure I'll be back for another round sometime!