This year Gentlemen's Weekend was planned for the weekend of 24 Oct. Weather is always a concern later in the fall, however this year the weather was beautiful for almost the entire trip. The usual group was planning on coming up, but an emergency prevented Jon's attendance at the last minute. In addition, I was able to exploit my new found freedom to come early so gentlemen's weekend ran in multiple phases.
I was able to leave Livonia around 9:30 AM and driving straight through I arrived around 3:00 PM. It is no longer necessary to arrive in the middle of the night! Leaving in the morning the temperature was below 50 °F and the temperature rose as I drove north, arriving to a nearly 60 °F day. Though this was expected, it still seemed strange to warm up as I headed north.
I passed a few people heading south on Old Seney, south of Nawakwa Lake, otherwise it was quiet in the woods. As I pulled up the usual squirrel was hanging around outside and probably had been inside the Cabin. I had to scare it away a few times throughout the trip to keep it at bay. Despite this, the Cabin was in great shape. Even accounting for the relatively short time from Labor Day, there was almost no cleaning necessary. Even the floor only needed a quick sweep.
Due to the ease of opening I went on a quick hike around the "big" loop. It was past peak colors with many of the leaves having already fallen. There were still some trees with good colors along Old Seney and the rest of the loop. Heading up McCloud Grade following 443 past the Lucky Buck I looped back across Harvey Creek. The usual puddles along the path were present, though rather small. It clearly had been rather dry. Despite this it was still damp. As the sun fell below the trees it started to cool down quickly. Overall it was a 6 mile hike.
With the hike done it was time to complete opening the Cabin. With the cooling temperatures it was also justified in getting the fire going. I was quite surprised when I started laying a fire to find a mouse inside looking as if it were asleep. It was not, but it also did not seem to have been in there long. The bigger question was, how did it get in? Could there be a hole in the insert? In the end I expect not. As we later discovered, the door was not sealing tightly. Even though this left a very small gap, mice can get through incredibly small openings. Why it did not leave I do not know.
Once the mouse was removed, the fire was lit and the usual shot of krupnik consumed. Overnight the temperature dropped to near freezing. The insert kept the temperature inside near 70 °F, though the wood did burn more quickly than expected. This was another result of the door not sealing tightly.
I got a late start to the day. The morning started out cool with a clear blue sky. It warmed up to near 60 °F throughout the day, remaining clear and bug free. I planned to head north from the Cabin, crossing the Sucker River, and exploring the area near Whitewash Road and the western bank of the Sucker River. Though the Sucker is a daunting barrier and prevents easy access to areas north of the Cabin, the existence of the new beaver dam suggested a way across. Heading out to the beaver dam it did not quite work as a bridge. Though I could get more than half way across, a gap in the dam to let water through was too long to span. Continuing along the river there were a few fallen logs that might have served as bridges. It being the fall and it having been dry meant that it is much easier to hike along the river and spot these sites. Not all worked well, but I eventually found one that got me across. Only to discover that I was on an island? Fortunately there was another usable log on the other side, so taking that, ..., I discovered I was back south of the river!?! I really do not know how that happened. Eventually I found yet another log. It required some wading through the (chilly) water, then clamoring along the log, then a bit of climbing to finally make it to the north side of the river. The hike could now begin.
As there are few roads north of the Cabin, I began cutting through the woods. Again, since it was the fall, the woods were fairly open so cutting through them was not too challenging. Hitting and following the road north of the river I came across the "camping site" on a bluff at a windy part of the river. It would make a nice site for a camp and even includes a fire pit. Near here I also came across a dead grouse. I am not sure what killed it since it was left hanging in a bush with only some of its feathers strewn on the ground. Continuing through the woods I came across signs of logging in the area. It is always amazing how much wood they cut and leave behind.
Even further along I came across the hiking trail along the Sucker River. Following this to near the sandy ravine we drove the broncos through. Near here I found what looks like a "shelter" dug out and built on the edge of the ravine. I do not know if it would actually have offered any protection from the elements. From here I continued along Whitewash Road which is now very wide and covered with gravel in many stretches. Further along there was an ongoing construction project in the state forest near the Sucker River. The sign said it was for "erosion control". It looks like they had put in a new road. Maybe they are also providing a way to cross the river providing access to the east side of it. That would be nice.
I had a vague goal of getting to the eastern side to explore some trails and even getting far enough north to visit some camps. It was getting late so that was not going to happen. Instead I continued along Whitewash Road, up to Airport Road, heading towards the airport. I skirted around the airport and explored a few nearby roads. From here I came back to camp along Old Seney and McCloud Grade. There again was traffic on Old Seney, another reminder of why I typically avoid the main roads. Overall it was a 14 mile hike.
It was warmer overnight, maybe getting down close to 40 °F. Two mice were caught by the kitchen door. The first one was cleared out around 4 AM, then another was caught in the same trap. This morning I got an earlier start as a longer hike was planned.
Getting started around 9:30 AM the plan was to explore some new trails and visit some new camps to the east. Heading east down McCloud Grade to the end, passed the ruins of Kalamazoo camp, passed where the trucks had gotten stuck, crossed the north branch of the Two Hearted River, passed the ruins of "Crazy Woman" camp, and took a northern logging trail I had hiked before. This trail ends at a creek near two parallel fallen trees that serve as a convenient bridge. The other side had not been explored but there was a known road to the south that probably would not be too hard to find ....
Crossing the creek I came upon a dense, boggy forest strewn with downed trees. Even with it being fairly dry and not buggy, climbing through such an area is not fun. Heading south and east the forest cleared up making travel much easier. Even better, the known road had not been fully mapped so it extended much further north than shown on my map. As I had hoped, I thus hit a road quickly and was able to get on with the exploration. The road did continue further to the east, something worth future exploration, but I was focussed on following it to the west and south.
As the road turned to the south it paralleled a series of roads that also ran north-south. I had hoped to find a cross road connecting them at their northern terminus, but I did not come across such a road. Once again, it was time to cut through the woods. These roads were relatively close to each other and the woods was fairly open, so it was easy to cut cross country. On the way I came across an old deer blind long abandoned in an area overlooking a fairly wide meadow long one of the roads. The third road over contained a new camp to the north, just off the road. It did not contain a sign with a name but did contain a sign with the number 23059.
Heading south from this camp and towards Dillingham Lake and Dillingham Road I came across a mailbox hanging on a tree. It contained forms for anyone logging certain, private lots. These were to be filled out and returned to the land owner after the logs were sold at the mill. On Dillingham Road I came to Tom's Camp. It is situated right on Dillingham Lake in a beautiful area. It was nice enough that I stopped nearby, sitting on the lake shore for lunch.
Following Dillingham Road to where it intersects with Carlson Camp Road is another camp, slightly off the main roads. This camp has no name. Heading west on Carlson Camp road I next came across the cab of an old, ruined truck. Just the cab, the rest of the body had been removed. It was at the intersection of Carlson Camp Road and Belle Lake Road.
Carlson Camp Road is another major road in the area that runs all the way up to Lavender Corner. It is a road we take when turning off M-77, following it a short distance before turning onto Old Seney. It appears to be well maintained (for a dirt road) at least as wide as Old Seney and perhaps in even better shape. A short distance west on the road from the ruined truck cab I came across Carlson Camp. Of course it is just off the eponymous Carlson Camp Road. It was a nice looking camp and I completely agree with the sign wanting deep snow.
The day started clear but it had been clouding up. I also was still pretty far from the Cabin and it was time to start heading back. There was one more camp to visit. It was somewhat on the way back off a side trail of Carlson Camp Road. This was a logging road and the turn off from it was even less used being blocked by a berm. Following this overgrown road north I came to what might have been the actual turn off for the road to the camp. It was completely overgrown and did not look like a road at all. While making this side trip it did start to rain very slightly. Being concerned about more rain, the current length of the hike, and the uncertain (but significant) length of the return trip, I decided to turn back and head more directly to the Cabin. I had not seen the purported camp on satellite images (I usually do find the camps on them) and the supposed road to it did not exist. After returning I see that the existence of this camp (like some of the others on my map) comes from a 1968 topographical map. Further, I see there are other roads in the area. In fact, the road from the corner of Dillingham and Carlson Camp roads that goes past the unnamed camp seems to contain a few offshoots that could lead up to the claimed area of the camp. Finally, it does seem that there is a 40 acre private lot (not under the conservation easement) upon which the camp should sit. This is all to say that another visit is warranted. Maybe there is still a camp there, maybe there are ruins. At least there will be other roads to explore: it is in a blank area of the map and there must be other logging roads there!
Turning back I followed a mostly known path back. There was a new road or two which paralleled known ones. The rain remained very light, barely getting through even the trees mostly devoid of leaves. Focussing on getting back, I skipped stopping by other camps. Instead, heading around North Lake to its east and north I made it to Harding Trail (aka 443) and followed a well known path for the home stretch. It did clear up while following this way back: very little rain ended up falling. In all it was about 8 hours of hiking covering about 22 miles.
It was another warm night with the temperature only falling near 50 °F. One more mouse was caught overnight, again near the kitchen door. The day was spent preparing for the arrival of the gentlemen. The Cabin was cleaned up, the woodshed cleared out, etc.
The traditional gentlemen's weekend began with the arrival of everyone else. The group from Detroit: Bill, Andy, and Mikey, arrived around 4:45 PM. About 10 minutes later the group from Kalamazoo: Ed and Jim arrived. Unfortunately an emergency prevented Jon from making it up. The drive up had been good for everyone except for the last bit of M-77 north of Seney. Apparently a grouse flew out while Ed and Jim were so close to the Cabin. Though they did not see it come out, nor where it ended up, it left a large, spider web crack on the passenger side of the windshield. They looked for the bird but could not find it. Despite everyone arriving earlier than usual we did not do too much: sat around the insert, talked, played some cards, had some beer, ..., a relaxing evening.
As has also become traditional, there were a number of projects planned and these dominated the rest of the weekend. As has seemed to be a new trend, the weather was actually quite nice. It was sunny and even warm during the day while remaining bug free and only somewhat cooling over night. The weather is always a concern, particularly this late in October.
Without Jon's presence it was necessary for others to take over the bulk of the food preparation. Ed managed breakfasts. While he did an excellent job, there were not mountains of food left over and the admonitions to "not be shy" were mostly not necessary. Bill reinstated making pasties, something he had done remarkably on the February 2014 Snowmobile Gentlemen's Weekend. He had lost the original recipe and, as he admitted, this batch did not come out nearly as well. Jim made burgers on the grill which we were able to cook while sitting near the outside fire.
As always we had a fire going outside. We began burning the brush pile I had build up on the previous two trips. (Apparently I did not take a before picture of the brush pile, even though I was sure I had, nor did I take one at the end of Labor Day. Regardless, it was a fairly large pile.) Mikey cut off slices that we fed into the fire. Though it was not very cold out, it was still nice to have and it was pleasant to sit around at night. We burned through most of the brush pile in a day and a half. The fire was supplemented by debris from the other projects and other wood we have sitting around.
One of the major projects was to clean up some of the dead trees around and restock the woodshed. The woodshed was getting quite low. Any time we need to burn wood to heat the Cabin we end up going through more than I would have expected. If we want to have any chance of a winter trip, or even for a may trip, more wood was necessary. Also, the hung up tree at the entrance to the driveway needed to be removed. Over Labor Day I had marked a few standing dead trees around the Cabin that were also good targets. Largely led by Mikey, we cut down the dead trees, cleaned out a few other bad ones, and processed them. Cutting them into rounds and splitting the larger ones allowed us to fill in the back wall of the woodshed. This is a good amount of wood. It still needs some drying and I wonder how it will hold up over a long, cold weather trip. We will need to continue to restock the woodshed on subsequent trips. There is plenty of other dead wood waiting to be harvested.
The other major project was to begin repairing the roof. Over Labor Day Bill had noticed some moisture in a corner of the bunk room. It turns out it was coming from water getting under the tin on the last couple of feet of the roof eaves. Though it was most notable on, and most necessary of repair to, the corner of the bunk room to the left of the door (as viewed from the outside), much of the roof needs repair. We are not completely sure the cause of this. It is probably due to a combination of water getting in through the unsealed nail holes in the tin and capillary action from water coming up past the edge of the tin since there was no drip guard installed. Bill took on the job of repairing the worst section. This involved removing the tin and some of the shingles, cutting out the rotted portion of the plywood, installing new plywood, waterproofing it, and replacing the shingles and tin. This was made more challenging by needing to go into town for materials and having to work around the angle of the dormer over the door. Drip guard was installed and the holes on all the tin and the seems between some of the sheets were sealed with silicon everywhere around the Cabin. Hopefully this is enough to dry out the worst section and slow down the damage on the rest of the Cabin. Other sections will be repaired in the future.
The kitchen door has always scraped on the kitchen floor making it difficult to fully open. Whenever you go in or out you need to lean on the door to get it open wide enough to move things in and out. It had been planned to do something about this for years, but it has always been a lower priority. Andy decided to just fix it. To do this he rehung the door (I think) with new hinges and new screws to hold it solidly. He also sanded the bottom to smooth it out and remove some of the portion that rubbed on the floor. As an added bonus he sealed the edges with some spar (probably originally used for the flag pole). Once reinstalled the door opened very smoothly; only sticking a little when fully closed and fully open. It will take some getting used to opening the door without heavily leaning on it!
Two winters ago the flag pole was damaged from snow and ice falling off the Cabin roof: the top had snapped off. Last year Mikey was not up so the flag pole had been ignored. This year it finally was fixed and we flew flags over the camp again. The flag pole is now shorter, but is also a better size. We used the flag pole for the few days the guys were up.
Not all time was spent working. A little bit of time was spent on short hikes. On Saturday the loop was hiked. Without the beaver dam and beaver pond there it is less interesting than it used to be. On Sunday, in the rain, we hiked out to the new beaver dam.
A number of other small projects were also done. These are little things that do not seem like much, but make noticeable improvements. Bill more permanently installed the LED strip above the stove, installed one on the other side of the kitchen above the counter, and attached it to a switch so the lights can more easily be controlled. Mikey adjusted the handle on the insert so that the door seals tightly now. This immediately made the insert burn more efficiently, allowing us control over airflow and meaning it burns much more slowly over night. It also should prevent mice from getting trapped inside! He did discover that a nut is missing for the handle (which he then borrowed from the screen door) so that will need to be replaced at some point.
As always it was a great trip. The weather was incredible most of the time, only cooling down and getting some rain on Sunday. Even with everyone coming in earlier on Thursday the trip felt too short. It would be even better with more time. We spent a lot of time working on projects. Though fun and important, it would be good to have more time to relax and enjoy the woods around the Cabin. Since I was staying, minimal cleaning was required by the rest of the group. Packing up and getting in the hike to the beaver dam, the rest of the group was able to get on the road by 1:00 PM. I will note that we changed the gas tank on Saturday, 24 Oct, so there are 2 full and 1 empty tank. I never keep good track of how long the tanks last: I think it had been a bit over a year since we had changed the tank. I left a sign in the gas shed with the change date, maybe that will remind us.
Once everyone else left I wound down from all the activity. It had cooled off again and the rain continued for a few more hours. I kept the fire going in the insert which maintained a comfortable temperature inside of the Cabin. I did some of the cleaning including mostly closing up the bunk room.
Monday was another beautiful day, sunny but cooler, with the temperature not getting above 50 °F. It would have been another great day for a hike but I had decided to keep other hikes for future trips. Instead I worked on the moss. Probably a combination of the rain and the previous spraying over Labor Day had loosened some of the moss on the west roof of the bunk room. I was able to brush some of it off without too much effort. Afterward the entire roof was heavily sprayed, soaking the moss on the roof. With the left over solution another heavy spray was put on the slab outside the kitchen. The moss here was drenched. This should significantly reduce the moss and allow us to take preventative measures for the future. Otherwise some packing and more cleaning was done to prepare for closing up the Cabin.
Overnight it began clouding up and again got down to around freezing. The better seal on the insert door was quite noticeable. When fully damped the wood burned more slowly and a good bed of coals was maintained for a longer time, at least 6 hours instead of 4. The morning remained cool and some rain returned. The Cabin was closed up and another trip came to an end. Much like the time with the gentlemen, and even though I was up for another week, the time went by too quickly. It would be easy and better to stay up for a longer time. This was helped by the nearly ideal weather. Cool, mostly dry, and bug free is ideal. It makes being at the Cabin, getting in hikes, completing projects, etc., so much easier. Though we are expecting a bad winter (which of course means little snow) I am hopeful, particularly since I can, in principle, go at any time. Even with the wood we added to the wood shed I am a little concerned about an extended, cold weather trip. It would be worth the "risk". Regardless, I am looking forward to the next trip.