Manistee River Trail Loop - Day 1

I had to work on the first day of our trip so we didn't get to leave town until after 6:00pm.  We had all our gear packed in advance and stowed in the back of my truck.  All I needed was to survive 12 hours at work, drive home, and point the truck north.

I had punched the coordinates to Red Bridge River access into the GPS and parked the truck there.  After getting our packs on we were greeted by a couple of Boy Scout Troop leaders from Fruitport, MI.  We chatted for a while.  Their maps were much better than ours and they offered us one to take with us, I am not used to hand outs so this little bit of trail magic was awkward for me at first but paid off big dividends along the trail.  One of them informed us that we weren't supposed to park here but had to use a lot about a half mile east of there.  The Manistee River Trailhead isn't near the Red Bridge access parking lot, parking is on the North Country Trail side.  Before we left we posed for a picture, then stowed our bags and moved our truck to the trail head.

Once we finally had the truck parked in the right place we donned our packs, did a quick gear check, and headed the wrong way down the trail. After we hiked a few hundred yards down the trail my internal compass turned us around the correct way and we headed the correct way down the trail.  The first half mile or so is relatively flat until you reach the first hill of the trail.  I would wager this is the longest climb on the entire loop. 

Daylight was quickly fading so we found a suitable site to set up a tent along the trail and made camp for the night.  Darkness quickly settled in around us and the critters of the night came out to play.  The real adventure begins tomorrow.

More Photos from the Trip  Hike to Day 2

Manistee River Trail Loop - Planning/Itinerary

Several years ago a coworker of mine told me about the Manistee River trail.  I did some research and found that it's able to be done as a two day, overnight hike.  Some people take as many as 4 days, but it could easily be done in 2. 

On the west side of the Manistee River is a segment of the North Country Trail.  This segment takes you away from the river, and also have limited views of the river.  On the east side is the Manistee River Trail.  This section of trail has great views of the Manistee river as well as some fairly impressive bridges to cross.

When planning for the North Manitou Island trip we decided that we wanted to try an easier trip before jumping in with both feet.  After some searching, the MRT seemed to fit the bill.  It would give us the ability to be in a "wilderness" setting, but close enough to civilization for a bail out if needed.  We decided to do a 2 night, almost three day trek.  This will give us enough time to shake down our gear and test some meals as well.  We had tossed around the idea of stowing a canoe, hiking north up the Manistee River Trail from Red Bridge and canoeing back down the river.  This idea was quickly vetoed in favor of a 3 day hike.

Here is the tentative plan:

Day 1
Leave home after work and drive north to the Red Bridge Access site.  Google puts drive time near 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Obviously Google never was a passenger in a car I was driving.  Hike approximately 1 hour on the North Country Trail until dusk.  Set up camp, have dinner, enjoy nature. 

Day 2
Hike north on the remaining part of the NCT, cross over to MRT and hike a few miles back.  Find a suitable site for for night 2

Day 3
Hike south to Red Bridge.  Drive home.

We don't have any real defined goals for the trip other than to get accustomed to our gear and each other's hiking style and preferences.  There are only 2 parameters we need to work within.  I won't get home from work until 6:00 pm on Friday, and have to be back home by 5:00 pm Sunday.  Outside of that, we are free to enjoy the weekend in the wilderness.

Hike to Day 1