Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Cannon_Fodder posted:

They're not getting my white claws. Not now, not ever.

:hmmyes:

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Alright motherfuckers, I told you I'd be back before the calendar year ended, and here we are!

In late October 2023, we went to W.J. Hayes State Park



This was a little one-nighter for us to make up for the lovely lovely camping year we've had so far. Mrs. Lunchables wanted to check out the MSU Hidden Lake Gardens, as they have a canopy walk and it was nearly full fall color[1] and everything. Maps decided it would be easier to just take back roads, so we got to enjoy a little drive through Stockbridge and Napoleon and Grass Lake before we ended up in the big city of Brooklyn, MI. Given the time of year, and that the Mrs. had just seen Halloween 3: Season of the Witch for the first time, we spent a good chunk of the drive talking about how nefarious the Irish were for trying to turn all those kids heads into bugs. The audacity!

Hidden Lake Gardens was cool as hell, and it covers an area of comparable size to Hayes State Park. We wandered through their conservatory where they had three different climates under greenhouses.

Arid


Temperate


And Tropical

And you motherfuckers know how much I love a tropical greenhouse

They had Papayas! (And bananas, but they werent nearly ripe yet)


Most importantly, out the back of the temperate zone were a whole bunch of Bonsai. I had incorrectly thought Bonsai always involved a specific type of tree, but it turns out it applies to any tree that is grown in the style.



Here's a cedar!


And a Hornbeam, with those cool little leaf pods


and a Crab Apple. I might try to do this with a Crab Apple some day.

We were super enamored with all of them, and they have the known or estimated dates of the trees on the little plaques. We were so enamored that we didn't take pictures of the coolest ones, or the one that is at least 200 years old. :negative:

The skywalk was pretty cool though, a big three post, two-span suspension bridge that swayed with each footstep and allowed a hell of a view.


There's also a bunch of trails that you can either walk or drive on throughout the area, taking you through a bunch of actively tended plant types, like Rare Conifers.

They also decorated the park for the season, and all I can say is the choices were a little.... horrifying interesting





This is some hosed up Midsommer via Coraline poo poo right here.

Anyway it rained and was cold the whole night, so we just stayed in the tent and played some card games.



The park's so small I get to show this picture twice!

  • Sites – The sites were tiny. Like very very very small. They had a paved pad for folks with trailers, but boy there wasn't much room for outdoor activities. This might have been one of the few parks where I doubt we could have pulled off two tents. They all had power, and there were some premium ones with water, but a ton were uneven and they were all very very small. Depending on where you were, some sites had inexplicable standing water. Other sites downhill from them didn't. It was odd.


    This is the entirety of our site.

    There is an exception though. You see those sites numbered 80-96? Those were off on their own private little hill with wide sites and thick foliage screening you from the rest of the park. I'd love to come back here with a group and try to get some of those sites, cause they're nothing like the rest of the park.


  • Facilities – Didn't taste the water, but these were very old bathrooms. They appear to have been cleaned, but the ravages of time are showing. Not notably bad, but certainly not worth recommending on shitters alone.

  • Amenities – You know what, we didn't do anything at this park. It also doesn't look like there's much to do outside of the lake anyway though. There's a marked 1 mile trail, but come on, 1 mile? I guess it can be forgiven for how small the footprint of the park is. Either way, no skin off our back, since we were interested in other stuff nearby...

  • The Area – Right next to the bustling metropolis of Brooklyn, there is.... well, not much beyond small towns around here. Onsted's not far, and if you need to, Jackson is just down the road. The biggest draw (to us anyway) is of course the Hidden Lake Gardens. Do not miss the Hidden Lake Gardens.




  • Warnings – Booze it up, no rules on that! Our guess is that, given the swampy area inside the park and the many lakes, it's probably terrible for mosquitoes in the summer. There's not really much to do though. Don't come here expecting too much outside of lake access. DO NOT roll the dice on a random site here: do your research and stay in sites 80-96 only, there are some absolute stinkers.

  • Who is it best for? – I really don't know who this park is for, ya know? The sites are too uneven to really recommend to RV campers, the sites are way too small for tent campers. Unless you can get into sites 80-96, this just seems to be best for folks that wanna party and have access to a lake.

W.J. Hayes State Park: you can safely skip this one.





[1] - Cold rain meant we went from pleasant yellows to straight brown to bare trees in a very short period of time. We were lucky to see what color we did, but that's Michigan Weather for ya.

amenenema
Feb 10, 2003

Awesome write up, thanks! I've driven by the gardens many times and this convinces me to stop in sometime soon.

If you're ever a bit southwest in Tecumseh check out the Ives Road Fen nature preserve - pretty rare wetland ecosystem type with some cool plants and butterflies.

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Ooh, hell yeah, that’s going on the list

mercenarynuker
Sep 10, 2008

amenenema posted:

Awesome write up, thanks! I've driven by the gardens many times and this convinces me to stop in sometime soon.

If you're ever a bit southwest in Tecumseh check out the Ives Road Fen nature preserve - pretty rare wetland ecosystem type with some cool plants and butterflies.

Deffo gonna check this out next nice-ish day I've got. I've also been meaning to get over to Hidden Lake ever since their canopy walk opened, but one thing or another, you know?

My personal theory for Hayes is that it is just one more parking/camping option for MIS/Faster Horses that isn't on the racetrack grounds themselves, in case you want a little bit of separation? I guess?

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



mercenarynuker posted:

Deffo gonna check this out next nice-ish day I've got. I've also been meaning to get over to Hidden Lake ever since their canopy walk opened, but one thing or another, you know?

My personal theory for Hayes is that it is just one more parking/camping option for MIS/Faster Horses that isn't on the racetrack grounds themselves, in case you want a little bit of separation? I guess?

It’s sooooo small. I could understand its use/need given the proximity; but it’s hard to think that the state would go out of their way for such a specific audience. Leave that to private campgrounds

Captain Toasted
Jan 3, 2009
I took your advice and tried out point crescent for the hammock sites. Definitely the best state park I've been to in Michigan and the water was still warm enough to take a dip in early October

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Hell yeah brother. It’s the best drat park

ClapeMoji
Nov 2, 2023
Throwing in my two cents here but if you can, go to Isle Royale and backpack. Hell, just day hiking would rule.

Legitimately one of my favorite places I've been in my 5-6 odd years of backpacking during the summer.

Cannon_Fodder
Jul 17, 2007

"Hey, where did Steve go?"
Design by Kamoc
My wife is hell bent on camping and I'm excited to have a partner in this -unlike previous years.

We've got wilderness State Park, Yankee springs, some stuff in Marquette and a few other spots lined up this summer. Hell yeah

mercenarynuker
Sep 10, 2008

We have other big travel plans this year, so the only camping we'll probably do is at Waterloo. Not as exciting as some other state parks, but it'll be fine, I'm sure

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Isle Royale would have to be a separate trip just due to logistics. This year we’ve got Holly SRA, Waterloo, maybe gonna knock off Van Riper and Craig Lake while I visit my mom. We did a yurt at Muskegon, but I just have not had the motivation to write it up yet.

Cannon_Fodder
Jul 17, 2007

"Hey, where did Steve go?"
Design by Kamoc

Dr. Lunchables posted:

Isle Royale would have to be a separate trip just due to logistics. This year we’ve got Holly SRA, Waterloo, maybe gonna knock off Van Riper and Craig Lake while I visit my mom. We did a yurt at Muskegon, but I just have not had the motivation to write it up yet.

I did the winter sports complex yurt! Was it the same one?

WoodrowSkillson
Feb 24, 2005

*Gestures at 60 years of Lions history*

Dr. Lunchables posted:

Isle Royale would have to be a separate trip just due to logistics. This year we’ve got Holly SRA, Waterloo, maybe gonna knock off Van Riper and Craig Lake while I visit my mom. We did a yurt at Muskegon, but I just have not had the motivation to write it up yet.

IR is amazing, but yeah its a bit of an event getting there. The Seaplane is a must. 45 minutes vs 4-6 hours and extremely cool views of the island. My buddies and I did it for a our first real backpacking trip, and we still talk about going back because now it would be easy mode. Plus we never saw a damned moose despite them walking past our tents at night.

IIRC it is among the least visited parks, but it is the most returned to.

Unrelated but a moose sprinted through our camp at Banff last year so while i have literally heard one galloping 10 feet from me, i still have yet to see one in the wild with my eyes, beyond the rear end of one running into the woods in Glacier NP.

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



I’ve seen more moose in my lifetime than I’d probably need to. There’s a fairly decent cycle of em that walk through the yard back home. Calves and fawns in early spring, young bulls at mid summer. Isle Royale is still a must visit cause I wanna see a tiny hosed up wolf


Cannon_Fodder posted:

I did the winter sports complex yurt! Was it the same one?

The very same one! It was so drat cool, even though some stuff wasn’t open. There was enough snow the weekend we went that it all worked out.

I should put my nose to the grindstone and write it up this weekend though.

WoodrowSkillson
Feb 24, 2005

*Gestures at 60 years of Lions history*

the wolves on IR now are healthy, and strong, and are my friends

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



I just hope there’s enough ice pack that they can intermittently make it back to the mainland and get some new bloodlines in the mix. Island wolves is such a risky proposition in the era of climate change

WoodrowSkillson
Feb 24, 2005

*Gestures at 60 years of Lions history*

Dr. Lunchables posted:

I just hope there’s enough ice pack that they can intermittently make it back to the mainland and get some new bloodlines in the mix. Island wolves is such a risky proposition in the era of climate change

The island is plenty big enough for the wolves to be self sustaining. What hosed them was a dude bringing his dog to the island and spreading Parvo. They never recovered from that, and it was a long slow decline afterwards. I assume if things get dicey they can ship in a few more wolves as well.

One of the coolest things that happened when i was there was at the Daisy Farm campground the 2 people running the Predator/Prey study did a presentation in the evening. They live right across the bay there and gave a little talk and answered questions for a while.

trevorreznik
Apr 22, 2023
It's really hard, but if anyone is planning an IR trip I recommend doing kayaking there. There's a brutal section of portaging you can do via a chain of lakes, which then takes you out to the gorgeous (and dangerous) northern shore. Well worth it but it's also very weather dependent.

WoodrowSkillson
Feb 24, 2005

*Gestures at 60 years of Lions history*

I want to kayak on Siskiwit lake and go to Ryan Island and prove that Moose Boulder exists and that it is the largest island in the largest lake in the largest island in the largest lake in the largest island in the largest lake in the world.

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



It was Parvo? I’ve only read about “diseases.” Either way, they plan on introducing new wolves only if necessary, so there oughta be a healthy population there for a good long time.

Just talked to Mrs. Lunchables and the other parks I forgot about for this year are Proud Lake and Orchard Beach. I think Proud Lake is next month.

amenenema
Feb 10, 2003

Dr. Lunchables posted:

I just hope there’s enough ice pack that they can intermittently make it back to the mainland and get some new bloodlines in the mix. Island wolves is such a risky proposition in the era of climate change

I have bad news for you.

WoodrowSkillson posted:

I want to kayak on Siskiwit lake and go to Ryan Island and prove that Moose Boulder exists and that it is the largest island in the largest lake in the largest island in the largest lake in the largest island in the largest lake in the world.

I also very much want to do this.

Gravitee
Nov 20, 2003

I just put money in the Magic Fingers!

Dr. Lunchables posted:


Just talked to Mrs. Lunchables and the other parks I forgot about for this year are Proud Lake and Orchard Beach. I think Proud Lake is next month.

I live within walking distance of Proud Lake so hmu if you have questions or need a beer/dram/weed delivery.

It's not the greatest state park/rec area but I love being "in the woods" in five minutes.

ClapeMoji
Nov 2, 2023

WoodrowSkillson posted:

IR is amazing, but yeah its a bit of an event getting there. The Seaplane is a must. 45 minutes vs 4-6 hours and extremely cool views of the island. My buddies and I did it for a our first real backpacking trip, and we still talk about going back because now it would be easy mode. Plus we never saw a damned moose despite them walking past our tents at night.

Sorry for the derail in advance.

Seeing a moose up close and in person will unlock a new fear you didn't know you had. The fuckers will sometimes lay in the brush next to the trail and you wouldn't even know they're there until you hear a "you're too close, bro" snort and a boulder with legs stands up and is as tall as you are... At the shoulders.

How much did a sea plane run? I've been to IR twice and yeah being able to get there and back to shore (especially since you want nothing more than to sleep and shower after getting out of the woods) sounds excellent.

WoodrowSkillson
Feb 24, 2005

*Gestures at 60 years of Lions history*

ClapeMoji posted:

Sorry for the derail in advance.

Seeing a moose up close and in person will unlock a new fear you didn't know you had. The fuckers will sometimes lay in the brush next to the trail and you wouldn't even know they're there until you hear a "you're too close, bro" snort and a boulder with legs stands up and is as tall as you are... At the shoulders.

How much did a sea plane run? I've been to IR twice and yeah being able to get there and back to shore (especially since you want nothing more than to sleep and shower after getting out of the woods) sounds excellent.

per person it was ~$350 for the plane, ~$150 for the ferry from houghton. The copper harbor ferry is shorter but is known as the vomit comet cause the faster speed somehow makes the seasickness way worse for a lot of people. the ferry from houghton is a 6 hour ride. The plane is obviously more expensive but we were on the trail and hiking by like 9:30AM on our first day, and back on the mainland at about the same time on the return trip. to my group the extra cost was well worth saving 12 hours on a boat, which would have changed our driving schedule too since we were coming up from SE MI.

trevorreznik
Apr 22, 2023

amenenema posted:

I have bad news for you.

I also very much want to do this.

One of my extended family who lives near Republic has been back to that spot a few times, but I haven't heard of the 'moose boulder.' What is it?

Meese stories:
The guy who's been to Ryan lake once almost hit a moose on m-95 in rutting season. He was driving a geo metro. The bull moose put an antler through his passenger side door and smashed that, then ripped off his bumper before he got away.
I saw a large moose at IR from our campsite on the water, when it shook itself dry after a swim it sounded like a gunshot.
Finally, when i was in the boundary waters as a teen, my dad & I were in a canoe and we chased a swimming moose for a while. Whenever we got close it would accelerate super hard and have its front legs come out of the water. There was no plan for if it turned on us. Similarly, decades prior to that my dad had chased a swimming bear in said boundary waters.

trevorreznik fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Mar 21, 2024

amenenema
Feb 10, 2003

trevorreznik posted:

One of my extended family who lives near Republic has been back to that spot a few times, but I haven't heard of the 'moose boulder.' What is it?

Not sure - I just wanna do the recursive island/lake thing

WoodrowSkillson
Feb 24, 2005

*Gestures at 60 years of Lions history*

trevorreznik posted:

One of my extended family who lives near Republic has been back to that spot a few times, but I haven't heard of the 'moose boulder.' What is it?

Meese stories:
The guy who's been to Ryan lake once almost hit a moose on m-95 in rutting season. He was driving a geo metro. The bull moose put an antler through his passenger side door and smashed that, then ripped off his bumper before he got away.
I saw a large moose at IR from our campsite on the water, when it shook itself dry after a swim it sounded like a gunshot.
Finally, when i was in the boundary waters as a teen, my dad & I were in a canoe and we chased a swimming moose for a while. Whenever we got close it would accelerate super hard and have its front legs come out of the water. There was no plan for if it turned on us. Similarly, decades prior to that my dad had chased a swimming bear in said boundary waters.

Ryan Island is an island in Siskiwit Lake on IR.



On Ryan Island there was supposedly a seasonal pond that featured a large boulder in it. When that seasonal pond was flooded, Moose Boulder becomes the largest island, in the largest lake, in the largest island, in the largest lake, in the largest island, in the largest lake in the world.

trevorreznik
Apr 22, 2023

WoodrowSkillson posted:

Ryan Island is an island in Siskiwit Lake on IR.



On Ryan Island there was supposedly a seasonal pond that featured a large boulder in it. When that seasonal pond was flooded, Moose Boulder becomes the largest island, in the largest lake, in the largest island, in the largest lake, in the largest island, in the largest lake in the world.



Perfect, thanks for the explanation.

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Gravitee posted:

I live within walking distance of Proud Lake so hmu if you have questions or need a beer/dram/weed delivery.

It's not the greatest state park/rec area but I love being "in the woods" in five minutes.

Sounds like you’d need to show up and have a glass of whiskey with us.

Btw, this thread is the perfect place for a moose derail. I worked with a guy in Baraga who crashed his car into a horse, broke both his arms. On the way to the hospital, the ambulance hit a moose.

He wasn’t known as a lucky guy.

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



For our first trip of 2024, and to celebrate the wonderful Mrs. Lunchables' birthday, we went back to Muskegon State Park in mid-February.



Since starting this crazy project in 2016, but really pursuing it in earnest in 2021, we hadn't yet gone back to a park or rec area. With such few winter camping options, it was bound to happen eventually, but I'm really glad this is where we started to re-tread. Mrs. Lunchables had done some looking and some booking and came up with the idea to rent the Yurt at Muskegon State Park, which sits adjacent to their Winter Sports Complex. As it sleeps 8 (so they said) we invited my mom down from the UP and my sister, brother-in-law and niece up from St Louis to spend the weekend with us.

For posterity, it should be noted what a crummy winter we've had here in Michigan over 2023-2024. We had a deep freeze for a week, a handful of snowfalls, and that's about it. Mind you, I am writing with a late March dusting of 6 inches outside, because what the gently caress, why not? Still, most of the winter had been sitting at 40 or above, meaning no snow, no ice, no skating, no skiing, no fun of any kind. My mom had gotten my sister's family a set of new snowshoes for christmas, and we had also gotten ourselves a pair a few years back, so we were all set to go 'shoeing around in terms of hardware. What was missing was any appropriate weather and of course the requisite snowfall.

Regular readers will know that weather has not often been kind to us on our camping trips. It is Michigan, after all, and we power through. This trip, however, kinda hinged on having snow; it was in fact a necessity for us to take advantage of any of the things the Winter Sports Complex had available. This time, my dear goon, the weather worked out perfectly in our favor! The west side of the LP had gotten 6 to 8 inches from Wednesday to Thursday, and the weather stayed cold enough that none of it melted the entire weekend. It didn't snow for the travel days, either, so it was a real blessing.



We showed up to our yurt at the same time, all three vehicles coming from different directions. The timing was spot-on, because there was a little bit of a distance to haul our gear and water between the vehicles and the yurt. Many hands make short work, and we started setup by getting the stove going post-haste. The week before the trip, we had all shared a hearty chuckle over a travel blog detailing how poorly someone else's yurt trip went. It seemed to come down to an unfamiliarity with a wood stove. Since all of us save Mrs. Lunchables are Yoopers, we laughed at the idea of this setting us back, since we'd lit and maintained many woodstoves over the years, both in saunas and in homes. The stove would be lit and the yurt warm in a matter of minutes!

The stove was a goddamn nightmare, with a non-functional damper, a hard 90° stovepipe that exited the wall completely parallel to the ground, and a box that was wider than deep, meaning that if the chimney wasn't also heated, the air would draw down the stovepipe and into the oven, pushing smoke out the door or choking out the box with the door closed. It took us a good 45 minutes of fiddling and tending to get the stove going, but it finally happened. We all reflected on those poor Chicagoan FIBs trying to get the stove lit in the dark without lanterns or lights and decided we had judged too harshly.



The yurt is basically just a big hot tent, with wooden supports and canvas walls. There's no insulation, so the stove needed to be fed pretty consistently to keep the temperatures even. The yurt rental did come with free unlimited firewood though, as well as a wagon to transport it from the storage shed just outside. They also provided a giant box of wood shavings to get the fire going, which was kinda neat. There's no water or power, and the closest bathroom is a bog standard rustic campground chemical toilet, but we made do. My niece has been in scouts for years, and my sister is of course my sister, so they all had camping gear in a similar fashion as our own, with lightweight chairs and jetboils and the fun little french-press coffee mug. My mom is always game for whatever, so she was gung-ho about doing any and all of it. She'd gladly sleep in the mud with us if we asked her to without a complaint.

Friday night, after getting the yurt set up and eating dinner, we went skating. The winter sports complex has a big L shaped rink that they made by taking snow and panking[1] it down on the ground, then flooding the top. They had used stored snow for this, due to the aforementioned "winter" we had so far, but it unfortunately made for an uneven, kinda lovely skating surface. They flooded it each night after closing, though, and the ice got much better as the weekend progressed. Beyond just a skating rink, the Winter Sports Complex also offers cross country skiing, luge runs, snowshoe trails, a lighted skating trail, a fire garden, and what looked like an as-yet unopened ice climbing station.


My brother-in-law grew up playing hockey, and was by far the best skater of our group. I.... did not.


I didn't have a great pic showing the size of the rink, so had to look elsewhere. This image courtesy of Adventure Mom Blog.

They had skate rentals, as well as hockey gear, skating aids and ice bikes available for a few bucks. There were a bunch of pond hockey goals set up, and kids were playing and skating all over the place. It was well lit, and the Complex headquarters had hot chocolate and coffee for sale. They played music on a big PA and really made the whole setup incredibly friendly, both for the folks learning to skate as well as experienced skaters.

Normally they'd have the Skating Trail open, a 1/4 mile lit path with surfaced ice meandering through the woods, and directly accessible from the ice rink. With the weather we'd had, we were lucky to even get the rink open, but man the skating trail would have been the coolest. Who doesn't want to go on a skating path through the trees, enjoying a hot chocolate or holding the hand of your loved one(s)?

There's also a modest sledding hill right next to the rink, with sleds available to everyone for free. Most of the activities at the Complex cost a few bucks for day use, so it was nice to see something available to all regardless of money. Of course I, an adult man, went sledding. When's the last time you did? It's still fun.



Finally, after we were skated-out, we hit up the Fire Gardens. What the hell is a fire garden? It's apparently a big maze-like area of split, seasoned wood that junctures off into little alcoves, within which there are fire pits and sometimes a picnic table. They had another PA out here and a table set up to sell beer, wine, shots of Fireball (yuck) and pop. Since we had tons of beers in the yurt, we just filled our pockets with em and brought them out to the fire. I was a little wary at first, but it turns out this is allowed and encouraged. We shared a fire with some strangers and chatted them up, offering some of our rare Yuenglings that my sister had smuggled into the state for us, and enjoyed the evening, the warmth, and the company.




I thought it best to edit out my Mom's face, because nobody should need to be associated with the garbage I post on this site without their consent

The night was uneventful, though the stove was small enough that it had to be fed anytime someone got up to pee. We stayed warm and slept well.

On Saturday, we geared up for our snowshoeing trip. We had plans to do the Lost Lake 5k trail, as outlined below.


But first I had to have some cake. Mrs. Lunchables' birthday cake, to be precise. What kind of snowshoeing hike would it be without some trusty cake?


We decided to do the 5k trail clockwise, since we had no idea of what to expect. God drat that was the absolutely wrong choice. The trail, you see, is about 2/3 completely flat and uneventful. The trip east and then south just takes you adjacent to the cross country ski trails, with few hills or terrain options.




But then we hit Lost Lake, and the entire rest of the trip was intensely vertical, going from valleys to ridgelines to valleys again, finally bringing us up to the Blockhouse overlooking lake Michigan.


Here we are, winded at the Blockhouse. A guy there with his daughters and dog, Buddy (who joined our picture) took this for us, with Lake Michigan in the background.

There was a section on top of a ridge where you could see Lake Muskegon on one side and faintly make out Lake Michigan on the other. It was incredibly intense, and we were all wiped by the time we had made it back.

If we had gone the other way, the hills and ridges would have been the first thing we hit, allowing us to cool down for the last 2/3 of the loop. You live, you learn.


This was easily the smallest hill we dealt with.

We made it back to the yurt, changed out of our sweaty clothes, and headed to dinner at the Red Rooster Tavern, a perfectly cromulent bar/restaurant. They had the Red Wings on tv, so all was well.

That night, none of us stayed up past 9 pm.

On Sunday, we said our goodbyes, packed up our gear, and commented on how nice the whole trip had been. We were very lucky to have the weather we did, and even luckier to have family that likes to do the type of poo poo we do. We walked away with high opinions of the Muskegon Winter Sports Complex, and made soft plans about coming back to learn how to luge.


... what's that? The normal review? Oh, poo poo, I almost forgot.


The Yurt isn't even on this map
  • Sites – Well, we didn't stay in the actual campground, so I can't offer much here. I guess we're gonna have to go back in the summer some time so we can actually review Muskegon State Park.

    The yurt was very very adequate, though the stove definitely sucked. I would warn you to bring extra chairs along, because there are only two (massive) wooden chairs and a single table for a place that's meant to hold 8. (There's no way you'd wanna stay here with more than six people. Don't let them lie to you.)

  • Facilities – As mentioned above, there was a vault toilet about 100 yards outside of the yurt, and that was clean and convenient, but you wanna know a little tip? I just waited until the Complex opened up at 9 am and used their bathroom. Warm toilet, warm water for washing your hands, and they had a wifi hookup so I could do my Wordle while having my morning constitutional.

  • Amenities – Hoo buddy, this place has a Winter Sports Complex. Dunno how you're gonna find out about it though, cause only a fool would do a 12k word writeup on a sports complex.


    The ski trails were well groomed and gorgeous. They're lit beautifully, making night skiing even more attractive.

    There are other offerings, not just in the winter. From the Pure Michigan website, "The year-round Muskegon Luge Adventure Sports Park boasts an Olympian-designed luge track, an ice-skating trail, a sledding hill, cross-country ski trails, a 1,300-foot dual zip line, a one-of-a-kind summer luge track, an archery range and much more. The park now has a track chair for visitors to borrow. They easily handle trails, snow, sand and even up to 4 inches of water, allowing users to explore areas of the parks where traditional wheelchairs might not."
    The trails are a massive network covering all sorts of terrain.


  • The Area – Hot dog! I get to re-use this image!


    The park is on the North side of Muskegon Lake, and is a massive chunk of property. That said, it's super easy to get to from the freeway. Muskegon itself is a nice town, and probably doesn't get the respect it's due. Head out there some time and see for yourself.



  • Warnings – Dogs are welcome, as evidenced by Buddy, and there are no restrictions on alcohol. There is very limited cell service, however. Using the wifi while taking a dump can alleviate this problem, though.

  • Who is it best for? – This is another one of those "drat, this place rocks for everybody!" type parks. Except mountain bikers and horse riders, that is. No trails marked for those uses explicitly. It's open year-round so you can go check it out whenever you'd wanna, and has enough to do that you'd never feel shafted for going in one season vs the other.

Muskegon State Park: You'd be a fool to not check this one out.
AND ALSO
Muskegon Luge/Winter Sports Complex: One of the coolest thing's I've ever explored.


No park sign this time, we had too much fun and forgot

[1] Pank (/pæŋk/) verb - To compress snow, usually via the back of a shovel or boots, for the purpose of walking or driving. A Yooper word, born out of necessity. "Go pank down a path to the door so your ma doesn't get snow in her boots."

Dr. Lunchables fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Mar 23, 2024

trevorreznik
Apr 22, 2023
That is really cool. Winter camping can be very hard with the early sunset, so having everything lit up like that is great.

Gravitee
Nov 20, 2003

I just put money in the Magic Fingers!
Great write up as usual. The first picture of the yurt is beautiful. I've stayed at a yurt at Pinckney Rec area and they are a nice mixture of tent camping vs. cabin camping. You have inspired me that I really should explore camping in the winter more.

Also I assume you say sow-na and not saw-na like a proper yooper...?

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Oh yeah, and I will correct people when they say it down here.

One day I’ll build my own in the back yard, but no idea when that’s gonna be.

SmuglyDismissed
Nov 27, 2007
IGNORE ME!!!
The luge there really is a lot of fun! We got lucky with a small group during the only really good week this year and managed 8-10 runs during the session.

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



trevorreznik posted:

That is really cool. Winter camping can be very hard with the early sunset, so having everything lit up like that is great.

Yeah, the whole place was lit up, but not like… grotesquely so. The lights they used were soft enough to not drown you. It all felt very intimate, very “postcard” and Hallmark channel, if that makes any sense.

The ski trails also had blue lights posted every so often so you could presumably stay on trail even in driving snow.

My sister took the pictures of the outside and inside of the yurt. She clearly paid attention in photography class, because nothing I do comes out like that. I might need to invite her to more trips just to get some high class pictures to post.

Also, this little bastard made it incredibly hard to write and format. I wasn’t paying attention to him, ya know? So that means I had to have claws in my shoulder while I typed.

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



SmuglyDismissed posted:

The luge there really is a lot of fun! We got lucky with a small group during the only really good week this year and managed 8-10 runs during the session.

We were bummed that it was closed, but it was fully understandable, given the weather. I feel like you’d need a solid week at the complex alone if you wanted to try everything.

Cat Ass Trophy
Jul 24, 2007
I can do twice the work in half the time

Dr. Lunchables posted:

We were bummed that it was closed, but it was fully understandable, given the weather. I feel like you’d need a solid week at the complex alone if you wanted to try everything.

That may have been your best write up so far. But I kept waiting for the part where you all were getting set to go to the ER after hitting the luge. Sadly, that was not to be.

I can only imagine it is not what I am picturing. They don't actually send someone with no luge experience down an iced track with the potential to reach speed nearing 50 mph, do they?

And is is really cool that the Sports Park has a big adaptive activities section. I am a big believer that EVERYONE should have the chance to wreck themselves in the outdoors. This coming from a guy who just broke his hip on a backpacking trip.

Cat Ass Trophy fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Mar 23, 2024

Cat Ass Trophy
Jul 24, 2007
I can do twice the work in half the time
Oops. Replied to myself instead of edit.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Dr. Lunchables
Dec 27, 2012

IRL DEBUFFED KOBOLD



Thank you for the kind words! The write ups have just gotten longer and longer, despite my original intention of following a format and keeping it all on topic. drat my verbosity!

I have no idea how the luge setup works. They’ve got multiple runs, so I’d have to guess you start on the small tracks and work your way up.

SmuglyDismissed would be the one here with any real answers though.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply