Thrift stores are sometimes like mushrooms.  When Spring arrives, they seem to pop up everywhere.

So it wasn’t a big surprise when I looked to the north side of M-50 in Britton and saw a new second-hand shop in the old farm stand on the west-side outskirts of Downtown Britton.  I stopped in and picked up a nice dress shirt.

The woman who runs the place is just an angel.  She opened the shop to raise money for breast cancer research through the Susan G. Komen organization.  The shop is small, but she has already been able to raise $9,000 to help find a cure.  This is an amazing and wonderful thing.

The store is open on most weekends.  I would recommend that everyone stop in and at least give a few bucks to help out in the fight against a terrible scourge.  Again, the place is on the north side of M-50 on the west side of town in the old fruit stand.

 

On my way back to Monroe this afternoon, I happened to stop in at Lynn’s Barber Shop in Britton for a hair cut.

Lynn Shukait is a very interesting woman.  When she isn’t keeping the residents of Britton looking nice, she is involved with historic re-enactments.  Her specialty is the depiction of Native Americans in our area’s history.

Lynn’s shop is filled with her wonderful Native American art.  She carves wood pieces, animal horns and antlers.  Several paintings also adorn the shop.  Lynn is a native of Monroe County.  She grew up on Seventh Street near the old La-Z-Boy factory.

Lynn did a great job with my hair and the cut gave me an opportunity to hear her views on Monroe’s rocky relationship with its Native American community.  We discussed the possibility that Monroe gives a bit too much attention to General Custer and not quite enough to the many Indians who lived in the area for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans.

And I think that Lynn is probably correct.  Monroe’s history is not limited to General Custer and the War of 1812.

Oh, and if you want a good cut in Britton, stop in at Lynn’s.

 

The Huron River forms half of Monroe County’s northern border.  And there are several parks that follow this shore.  The Dodge Brothers Park in South Rockwood is one of these parks.

The Dodge Brothers Park, as the name indicates was one of many recreational parks that the legendary automotive brothers of the same name purchased for the benefit of Michigan’s residents.  These parks helped to form the core of Southeast Michigan’s modern park system.

Many of these parcels became state parks.  This one was too small and has been turned over to the Village of South Rockwood.  The entire park is 62 acres in size, so it is sizeable enough to hold a small trail loop.  The trail is muddy and not constructed terribly well.  It is wide, but seems to hold water after rains and in wet seasons.

Still, the park has some very nice views of the Huron River.  I’d imagine that it would make for a nice fishing spot or canoe put-in.  In dry periods, it would make for a decent walk.

This park COULD be much nicer.  A little bit of care could return the trails to a more useful state.  Note that the northeastern sections of this park are technically owned by the Huron Clinton Metroparks Authority and leased to the Village on a long-term lease.

See the following link for a basic park map:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/03/dodge-brothers-park-south-rockwood.html

See this link for a map of the Village of South Rockwood’s park system:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/03/village-of-south-rockwood-parks-map.html

See this link for a map of Berlin Township’s Park System Map:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/03/berlin-township-park-inventory.html

 

I didn’t really intend to go on a hike tonight.  I just happened to pull into Adrian’s Island  Park because I wanted to snap a few pictures of some interesting water features.

But then I saw the old railroad bridge and I just had to cross.  And then I looked up the hill and saw the old, Victorian-style Oakwoods Cemetary.  So, I wondered if I could make it up the hill.  And when I got up the hill, I thought, “What a cool cemetary!”  So, I spent the next half hour admiring some very old and historic headstones.

I eventually made my way back down the hill and spent some time walking along the South Branch of the River Raisin.  Island Park is one of those well-worn parks with national-park-style stonework and beautiful old pines.  And an old, broken dam creates some white water rapids.

I had a really good time linking a few routes together.  It is quite amazing the cool walking routes that a person can put together, even in an urban environment.  I might even try to add a mile or two with the Siena Heights campus.

Oakwoods Cemetary Description:

http://www.michmarkers.com/startup.asp?startpage=L2047.htm

Click on the Link Below for the Rough Hiking Route.

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=628A87FDBE3AF2A!116

Cool Bridge: 

Cemetary Road:      

Old Pine:      

I’m not sure that biking along an interstate highway is ever going to be anyone’s idea of perfect natural bliss.  However, the neglected I-275 Bikeway has some positive aspects.  First, it creates a much-needed North-South non-motorized corridor in SE Michigan.  Second, it does connect a variety of parks - Nike, Willow, Oakwoods, Hines Park.

But it does something particularly interesting for Monroe.  It has potential to connect the area to a growing network of non-motorized trails in the Metro Detroit area.  So, you could possibly bike to Plymouth or Ann Arbor or suburban Detroit.  Again, that’s not everyone’s idea of bliss.  But it does create some possibilities for near-in adventure.

I actually have first-hand experience with this trail.  When I was in the Cub Scouts, our pack took a bike ride up the I-275 trail.  For a young guy, it was quite a challenge.  And the proximity to the freeway didn’t faze me at all.

And there is hope that the Bikeway will eventually be reincarnated.  The northern parts are apparently still rideable.  And the Ash-Carleton Recreation Plan (see link along the right side of this website) includes plans to at least explore repairing the path.

The Michigan Mountain Bike Association has also been helping to get the bike path back into use.  And the Michigan Department of Transportation has apparently hired a planner for the trail’s repair.

Check out the links below for more information:

1980s Vintage Trail Brochure with map:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/03/i-275-bikeway.html

MMBA Advocacy Forum Discussing the Trail Revival Plans:

http://www.mmba.org/viewtopic.php?t=41038

Web Page Advocating the Trail Revival:

http://www.michigantrails.org/i275_bikeway.asp

Here is a cleaner version of the official vintage trail map:

http://www.mmba.org/gallery/I275

This is the yahoo group forum for the Friends of the I-275 Bikeway:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/I275bikepath/

Prominent Republicans like Karl Rove, Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain will be speaking in the state during the next several weeks.  Check out the article below:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070314/NEWS06/703140313/1008

 

Maumee Bay State Park is an excellent resort park on the southern shores of Lake Erie.  It is famous for its beach, golf course and luxurious lodge.  There is a developed campground, cabins and a nature center.

The park lists ten miles of trail in the brochure, but this isn’t really a hiking place.  There are two miles of interesting boardwalk that carry the walker through marsh and reed grasses.  At the center point of this boardwalk is an observation tower from which the Detroit Edison power plant in Monroe can be clearly seen.

The rest of the trails are paved pedestrian pathways that link the campground, lodge and nature center.  These are perfectly respectable paths, but someone looking for a truly natural experience would do well to find another park.  The trails are flat, unchallenging and mostly meant for a jogger trying to work off the morning omelette.

Maumee Bay is close to Monroe and it’s a great place to take friends and family who want some of the comforts of home in a natural setting.  It is also an excellent basecamp from which to explore the many parks and preserves that string along Ohio’s Lake Erie shore.  I would recommend a weekend park hop.  A nature lover could dayhike four or five parks and see lots of bald eagles.

Check out the Ohio DNR site for more details:

http://www.ohiodnr.com/parks/parks/maumeebay.htm

My sister and I used to have this little tradition in college.  We’d get to a break or long weekend and turn on the Weather Channel.  We’d see where it was going to be sunny.  Then, we’d get in the car and start driving.

This took on comical proportions when we realized the entire eastern third of the country was going to be rainy.  So, we looked at a map, realized we had never been to Big Bend National Park in Texas, and were in St. Louis on the way to Mexico that night.

It was a lot of fun.  But it meant that I had to be constantly on my toes with the proper guidebooks.

For spur-of-the-moment Michigan trips, I always carried the following in the trunk:

Delorme’s Michigan Atlas & Gazetteer (ISBN#0899332781):  This is a detailed Michigan Atlas.  It shows public land, rural and forest roads and some natural features.  The atlas is organized in a numbered grid patter.  There are other Michigan atlases created by UniversalMap and the Michigan United Conservation Corps, but those run on a county-by-county basis.  The Delorme atlas is the only one that matches the grids used in the Michigan hiking Bible, the….

…Trail Atlas of Michigan by Dennis R. Hansen (ISBN#0930098064): Dennis R. Hansen is the Godfather of Michigan trails.  This is the absolute most complete trail guide to the state.  I actually own about five editions of the book.  And it is interesting to see how it started as a cross-country ski guide.  If you buy one hiking book, this is it.

The Complete City Maps of Michigan (ISBN#0929062000) is another handy book.  On any trip, you’ll drive through some cities.  This book gives detailed city streets that aren’t shown in the Michigan Atlas described above.

Jim DuFresne’s Michigan State Parks (ISBN#0898865441) is one of two excellent guides to Michigan’s state parks.  The other is Michigan State and National Parks by Tom Powers (ISBN#096085889X).  Both have similar information.  This is a pick ‘em, despite the fact that Tom Powers signed my copy of this book.

Natural Michigan (ISBN#0923756132) by Tom Powers is a great guide to nature centers, local parks and preserves in the state.  It does not cover state parks, so it is a natural complement to the above books.

Jim DuFresne’s 50 Hikes in Michigan (ISBN#0881504556) is a good glovebox guide to hiking trails in the state.  If you need a trail guide for the car, this one is pretty good.

Finally, I have to throw in Mary and Don Hunt’s Hunts’ Highlights of Michigan (ISBN#096234995X).  Mary Hunt is an interesting lady who student taught in the Dundee Community Schools.  She has a great sense of the unusual and I’ve always valued her information in this comprehensive book.

There are other interesting books, but this grouping will offer the widest amount of good information in a small space.

While creating my last post about Sterling State Park, I recalled one of my all-time favorite Sterling moments.

It was a windy day and the waves were crashing high into shore.  It was so rough that the fishing pier was taking on lots of water.  But down the beach, I saw a group of people who looked like they were getting ready to head into the surf.

Yup.  I actually watched a group of honest-to-goodness surfers at Sterling.  Most of the time these guys hang out in Cleveland or on Lake Michigan, but Sterling had just the right conditions that day and this group was having a good time.

Check out their website:

http://www.greatlakesurfing.com/

BTW, be aware that they have music attached to the site.

 

Sterling State Park is Monroe County’s flagship park.  It has welcomed beachgoers, fishermen and campers to Lake Erie for generations.  The park has recently undergone a complete rebuild, so it is MUCH nicer than it has been in the past.

That said, Sterling is NOT a true hiking park.  It does have about seven miles of paved trails.  These make for a pleasant walk along the lake, beach and lots of interior marshland.  The trails also provide good access to fishing spots.  Bikes are allowed on all trails.  I do like the views of Lake Erie that are possible from the 0.6 mile fishing pier.

The reason that Sterling is not a hiking park is the fact that there are no dirt trails.  This shouldn’t stop anyone from visiting.  It’s just that Sterling is not the most natural of places.  The Detroit Edison plant dominates the south-facing view.  And a U.S Army Corps of Engineers contaminated disposal facility takes up about a third of the park’s area on the north side.  This place holds contaminated dredge from area shipping and boating channels.  It really needs a renovation like the rest of the park.

Still, it is possible to see lots of first-rate birds in this place, including bald eagles.

The most exciting news about Sterling is that it is in the process of being connected by trail to the City of Monroe and its Riverwalk.  The connection already exists.  You just need to take the Marsh Trail to a small dirt trail that leads into the back marshes.  You can actually see this trail/dike on the park maps.  I’ve also attached a rough map of the route.  Be aware that the current connection requires passage over rail rights of way.  I’m not sure of the legality of this, but lots of people do it.  The city is working hard to make the connection legit.

When water levels are low, it is sometimes possible to improvise some actual hiking routes.  A few years back, I was able to start at the boat ramp and hike on dry land from island to island around the back side of the Army Corps of Engineers site.  In fact, I was able to walk about halfway out into Sandy Creek on dry land.  That’s probably only possible once in a blue moon.  The low levels also exposed the remains of a pier that remains underwater in the beach area.

In the future, I hope that the Army Corps site is filled, capped and opened to park visitors.  I also hope that the trail will be officially connected to Monroe.  It’s a good park, if a bit disappointing to a true nature lover.

See the official park site, with maps, below:

http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/ParksandTrailsInfo.aspx?id=497

Here’s a rough map of the connector trail:

http://maps.live.com/?v=2&cid=628A87FDBE3AF2A!110

I have several additional hike reports that I originally posted on the Great Lakes Hikes Yahoo Group.  They are here:

http://extremesouthmichigan.blogspot.com/2007/06/sterling-state-park-hike-reports.html

Additional Pics from a more recent hike:

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/expatriate/?p=360

These are some neat photos from a user at webshots:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/340744190dVAGFv