Sunday morning church and afternoon hike!

Oh ya, this stuff happened on Sunday so I must ask, so why is my pack so slow!

We're at Good Shepherd.
I've been here and socialized many, many times.

Come on!  I don't have all day ya know.

Oh good, lil' Scarlett and Dave teamed up for some
good scratching. Lorraine made sure they didn't stop.

Kids were throwing confetti....I didn't find it very tasty.

Ya, more team rubbing going on here.

Jean! She says I can come to church and see her any time. I will!

Later, we hiked in Churning Rapids.
I was glad to get some cooling dips in all my
favorite creeks.

Yet more NCT fun!

Oh ya, I was out doing trail work again and camped in the Ottawa last night.   Then we cleared more of the North Country Trail on the same section seen in some past posts.

We got in at dusk, so photos start in the morning. 
It got down to about 40 overnight.

Camp breakfast is not complete without Neuske's.

With the days getting shorter, lanterns are coming out again.

MMM, pancakes! And our garden blue berries.

Our intrepid crew for the day: Linda, Josh, me, Arly
and of course Sandy took the photo.

C'mon Josh, let's go!  He's been a BIG help here.

Ya Sandy, lets get that brush tossed off.

It's a good thing they have me to direct them. We had lots to do!

Lookin' better.

I thought this burl was very interesting.

Arly kept everybody busy cutting down brush.

The handy pole saw got this one off the trail.

Lunch! This is the tree Arly had just cut with the saw.

We spied a porky den. No one was home, fortunately.

After Arly trimmed overhead limbs, we came behind with loppers.

Lotsa little trees and branches got lopped, to clear the sight lines.

Ya Linda, as long as you're down here you may as well pet me.

OK, I know you have to get back to work.

Josh then came through to finish up with the whacker.

Made it to the beaver dam! We had a second lunch here. 
This is such a pretty spot!

Then, we brushed back the old grade leading up to
the beaver dam.

I was so glad to spend the day in the woods! 
Spent 9 hours out here today, so we were all tired.

Last music on the menu!

Today was the last of Music on Menu that Portage Lake Library was doing for the summer.  I'm so glad Arly took me!

Today was a bluegrass group Sparrowtree from Marquette.

Sam broke a string during a song.
Troy kept right on playing.

These guys were quite good!
I hope to see them again.

Ya I love the library.  No one ever touches me ya know!

Villi Maki clearing all done!

Me and Josh finally got back out to finish up the Villi Maki trail today.

They had raking and whacking of the edges left to do, like seen here.

If they don't cut these shoots now, they'll grow
up and become a real problem next summer.

All gone!  With this heavy string machine.

Oh that looks much better.

Maybe more cyclists are riding Villi Maki now?
I love cyclists!

We made it to the bridge!

We cleared the bridge area up because we
hope to replace it this fall.  Would you like to help?

This trail is really looking nice.

Three proud trail grunts.

On the way out.

All done!

Sunday trail head clearing on the NCT!

On Sunday, we jumped in the bread box car to travel around to clear several head heads along the North Country Trail! Starting from our favorite Gardner Rd camping area, we headed east.

Arly made fast work of this leg.
 If you started hiking at Gardner Rd going east,
 this is where the NCT pops out onto Mud Creek Rd.

Next we drove a few hundred yards,
across the East Branch of the Ontonagon.  It was a jungle!

As everywhere - the brush is prolific.

Done! A little whacking and lopping made this area easily visible.

Next we headed to FR 1100 parking lot.

While hiking this summer, we'd noticed this area quite grown-in.

We also cleared the trail entrances, and near the
hiker signs on the road so they can easily be seen.

After getting more fuel (and a nice cold ice cream treat)
 in Mass City, we headed to the parking area off of FH 16.

Lots and lots of pruning was done here before we could whack the
 weeds down.   You really need a pole-saw to get this job done.

Now, there is adequate parking for quite a few cars,
and a turn-around area too.  This took about 3 hours to clear.
Maybe we can camp here this fall!

Next we cleared the crossings along the road.
This is looking to the east.
See Sandy's head among the brush? It was tall!
How do you clear your road crossing without a pole-saw
and a HD whacker?

After - trail and sign (back in the shadows) are easily visible.

Then, the trail heading west.

Done! Hikers no longer have to wade through the brush and grass.

We want to make sure hikers can easily find this beautiful trail.

To celebrate, we stopped in to say hi at the Rousseau Bar!

Me and Rocco greeted all the friendly patrons.
It's never far to the Rousseau Bar...and,
they are Trail Mutt Approved!