Michigan Adventurers Club

For this week’s workout we will hike Island Lake's Hickory Ridge Trail. We'll be meeting at the Hickory Picnic Shelter. Restrooms are located there. Let's meet at 6:15 pm and begin hiking promptly at 6:30 pm. We will hike ~5 miles, at a moderately fast pace of 3 miles per hour for about 2 hours.

*Please bring water to drink… bug spray, raincoat and headlamp strongly recommended to keep in your backpack at all times this time of the year

Meeting location:
Hickory Picnic Shelter

Important to know:
This is a state recreation area, the Michigan State License plate sticker is required

Locations of these midweek hikes are in Michigan State Parks/Recreation Areas or Metro Parks, that require daily or annual passes. Passes can be obtained from park headquarters or toll booths at park entrances.

Release of Liability:

The organizers of the Michigan Adventurers Club are volunteers and not professional guides. The function of the organizer is only to organize this event. Each person who signs up for and participates in an event is responsible for his or her own safety and the safety of his or her guests.

By signing up for and participating in this event, or any other Michigan Adventurers Club event you are acknowledging that you are aware and have made your guests aware of the risks, dangers, and hazards associated with this activity and freely accept all such risks, dangers, and hazards, and fully assume responsibility for your own safety, and further agree to release and discharge the organizers of this event from and against any and all liability arising from you and your guest’s participation in the group activities.

What:
Join us for a camping / hiking / biking weekend @ Ludington State Park! It's considered one of Michigan's most beautiful state parks.

When:
Friday April 26th to Sunday April 28th. Jan, the dogs and I will be there for Wednesday - Monday, join us for more days if you want to.

Where:
We'll be staying at the Beechwood Campground on Lost Lake. Lots of sites, available now. It will be easy to reserve vs. our Platte River and Turkey Run trips.

Charlie will be staying at Jackpine as he normally does, so there is an option to stay there

Activities:
* Tentative times, weather may change, look for updates in the comments

Saturday

• 9:30am - ~5 Mile hike from Beechwood #308.
• ~10:30am - ~12 Mike hike. Meet at Jackpine walkin campsite
• 1:00pm - Bike ride to the Lighthouse and then into town. Jan and I will stop at Stix for drinks / eats on the way back

Sunday

• ??:?? - Hike from Jackpines, tbd
• 11:00am - Bike ride part of the Hart Montague trail after packing up. Meet at Beechwwod campsite 308
• Feel free to join some, all .. or none of the activities; it's up to you. Jan, the dogs and I will be there most of the week and do most/all of these things.. come up earlier in the week and join us for more if you want!

Next Steps:
Reserve a campsite

• Beechwood campground: Traditional drive in campground with restrooms and shower. Login into the Michigan SP reservation system for Beachwood. Update the dates, party size, equipment, add filters and click "Search". Look at sites on the different loops and read the details. Pick a loop & site that works best for your camping.
  We're on site 308, Middle Beechwood Loop. Keep in mind that we have dogs if you choose to camp near to us. They are friendly & non-aggressive but also social and curious. Consider that if you don't like dogs.
• Jackpine walk-in campsite: Charlie is staying at Jackpine as he usually does, use the this link if you want to stay there. For those that haven't been, Jackpine is a half mile walk on a sandy/gravely 2 track. There's an outhouse and a hand pump for water.

Questions:
Feel free to post in the event chat or contact me directly through Meetup for topics I haven't covered here

Disclaimer:
By signing up for and participating in this event, or any other Michigan Adventurers Club event you are acknowledging that you are aware and have made your guests aware of the risks, dangers, and hazards associated with this activity and freely accept all such risks, dangers, and hazards, and fully assume responsibility for your own safety, and further agree to release and discharge the organizers of this event from and against any and all liability arising from your and your guest’s participation in the group activities.

Where:
We'll be staying at the Turkey Run State Park. We'll be camping, and also there are rental cabins in the park and an Inn nearby

Activities:
Turkey Run State Park has kayaking, hiking and gravel biking opportunities. We'll schedule:

• Hikes with beautiful views similar to Hocking Hills and Red River Gorge
• Gravel bike all (or part) of the 33 mile Gravel bike ride viewing the countryside and covered bridges
• Kayaking/Canoe/Raft/Tube: We'll have an outfitter/livery option if you can't/don't want to bring or spot your own boat.

Feel free to join some, all .. or none of the activities; it's up to you. Jan, Emma and I will be there most of the week and do most/all of these things.. come up earlier in the week and join us for more if you want!

Next Steps:
As of 11/23, Turkey Run is fully booked for Memorial Weekend, but there are these options:

• Create a reserve America account
• Get notifications when/if sites become available here
• There are 2 other state parks close by that have availability (as of 11/26)
• Shades SP (8 miles away) and Racoon Lake (12 miles away) and well rated in tripadvisor

I added camping, fees and taxes and divided by 7 days to get around $31/night for us. We're in site 224. We'll have our trailer and our dog Emma

Questions:
Feel free to post in the event chat or contact me directly through Meetup for topics I haven't covered here

Disclaimer:
By signing up for and participating in this event, or any other Michigan Adventurers Club event you are acknowledging that you are aware and have made your guests aware of the risks, dangers, and hazards associated with this activity and freely accept all such risks, dangers, and hazards, and fully assume responsibility for your own safety, and further agree to release and discharge the organizers of this event from and against any and all liability arising from your and your guest’s participation in the group activities.

Where:
We'll be staying at the NPS Platte River campground. Beautiful, spacious sites... one of Michigan's most popular campgrounds.

Activities:
This campground is part of Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, with multiple kayaking, hiking and biking opportunities. We'll schedule:

• Casual pace or challenging hikes, spectacular views
• Bike rides to Frankfort or Glen Arbor
• Gravel/mountain bike 2 track ride right out of the campground
• Kayaking the Platte River or Crystal River. We'll have an outfitter/livery option if you can't/don't want to bring your own boat.

Feel free to join some, all .. or none of the activities; it's up to you. Jan, Emma and I will be there most of the week and do most/all of these things.. come up earlier in the week and join us for more if you want!

Next Steps:
**12/29/23 through when the event starts ** A handful of Loop 4 (non-power) sites and a number of walk in sites are available for reservation.

Here are things you can do to get a site:

• Look at sites with a Blue 'A' box on the reservation start date, and reserve one of those that works for you.
• On the webpage for Platte River campground is an option to "Set Availability Alert". You'll be notified if the sites you want (or any) open up
• Nearby is DH Day campground. It's a primitive National Forest campground, about 14 miles away. I looked on 12/29/23 and were over 20 sites including if your arrival date is frida7

Questions:
Feel free to post in the event chat or contact me directly through Meetup for topics I haven't covered here

Disclaimer:
By signing up for and participating in this event, or any other Michigan Adventurers Club event you are acknowledging that you are aware and have made your guests aware of the risks, dangers, and hazards associated with this activity and freely accept all such risks, dangers, and hazards, and fully assume responsibility for your own safety, and further agree to release and discharge the organizers of this event from and against any and all liability arising from your and your guest’s participation in the group activities.