North Country Trail-A Brief Guide

The North Country Trail is one of the most impressive success stories in America over the past 40 years. It is the story of what is best in America- the love of nature, the desire to help citizens enjoy our nation’s natural beauty, citizen initiative and advocacy , and government acting as a bridge between the various partners.

It is a nearly 5,000 mile system of trails that wanders through New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

Sadly, many residents of these states do not even know it exists. I am on a mission to help change that!

For the North Country Trail has been many things to me over the course of my adult life-a healer, a catalyst, a source of discomfort, a dream, a myth, a sense of connectedness to nature and people I only meet briefly or who I will never meet at all. Our family has ridden mountain bikes over root gnarled sections in the Upper Peninsula, eyes glued to low hanging branches searching for the mountain lions that the ranger said was inhabiting this section. We have walked along the nicely paved trail in Downtown Petoskey, eating ice cream and watching the sailboats bob in the bay. We have been attacked by a swarm of mosquitos at a trailhead in the central UP and laughed and screamed as we raced to the car. It was a comfort during the pandemic when we were stir crazy and just had to do something to leave the home and confront our fears and anxieties. And we have been changed each and every time.

The North Country Trail is in some ways, the most American of all trails-winding through small towns, farm lands, forests, hills, rivers, and urban settings. It is the story of our growth as a nation.

To be fair, because it covers so much ground it does not have the consistent “awe” inspiring views and deep nature experiences as its more famous cousins- the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Northwest Trail, but it more than makes up for it in its authenticity, accessibility, and integration into the communities it touches.

I recently set out on my first hike of the 2022 season, with the goal of completing 100 miles on the trail this year, in the Hike 100 Challenge. The challenge itself speaks of the low-key, communal qualities of the NCTA-you log your own miles, there is no race, you don’t have to verify, you can walk the same miles over and over if that is easiest for you-they simply want you to get out and enjoy nature on the North Country Trail.

Each part of the trial is segmented into regions who volunteer to take care of the trail, in partnership with the NCTA and National Park Service. My hike was in the Chief Noonday Chapter of the North Country Trail, in Calhoun County East in Michigan’s lower peninsula.

I had no plan, no maps, no true beginning point, no end point, when I left home in metro Detroit for a day trip on the trail. I knew I just needed to get out on the trail

I walked for all the same reasons we all walk. To lose the world and find myself.

I started in Victory Park in Albion, Michigan, a town that sprung up in south central Michigan in the 1830’s following centuries of being called home by the Potawatomi tribe of indigenous people. It was located at the flowing of the north and south forks of the Kalamazoo River and being a home to several mills. The beginning of the hike is a walk through this history. Walking along the Kalamazoo River from Victory Park you are also walking on the Albion River Trail, a paved section of the trail suitable for biking and walking that leads you to the downtown of Albion itself.

I walked down the main street, Superior Street and couldn’t pass up the chance to grab a quick bite to eat and cup of coffee at Foundry Bakehouse and Deli. I tend to look for some sort of sign from the universe that serves as an inspiration or blessing and it was within moments that the message was received. In addition, the affable hosts, pleasant surroundings, delicious egg sandwich and robust coffee, I heard a familiar tune on the speaker.

Foundry Bakehouse and Deli in Albion, Michigan on the North Country Trail

Music is an integral part of my life and I am always so grateful when a store pays attention to this important detail which for me can really enhance or distract from my experience.

It was “Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World” by U2. For me, U2 is one of those bands that has a deep emotional resonance since seeing them perform via small 19” TV at Live AId in the hot summer of 1985. Their earnest and soaring anthems connect with my heart and although the band’s activism is often criticized, I appreciate that they are trying to use the bizarre nature of celebrity to give voice to marginalized communities who are in need of a champion.

The recent events in world politics and in American celebrity culture have left me in a funk similar to Ishmael’s bleak November of the soul, I find myself driven to music and nature in the same way Ishmael was driven to the sea.

“How far you are you gonna go/before you lose your way back home?/You’ve been trying to throw your arms around the world.” From U2

Because in a sense isn’t that why we wander from home in the first place?

To throw our arms around the world as we stumble through this life, seeking a home, leaving it, and returning?

It is the hero’s journey writ small, and it is the journey we are all on, whether we are aware of it or not.

Satisfied in belly and soul, I departed the cafe and continued on the North Country Trail. It extends through town and then turns along the river. It passes along a neighborhood street and near reminders of Albion’s heyday as a manufacturing hub in this part of Michigan.

North Country Trail Log Book

Then you depart the town and extend to the next part of the North Country Trail, a county road heading towards another small town of Homer, Michigan, with farmland and farm houses, crows and a barking dog in the distance your only companions.

I made it to just past a lovely Centennial Farm, a well maintained homestead that has been in the same family for over 100 years. Another reminder of the steadfast nature of our midwestern heritage and of the indefatigable resilience of its people.

Centennial Farm on the North Country Trail between Albion and Homer in south central Michigan.

A reminder of the North Country Trail itself. Created by dreamers, doers, connecting small segments of trail piece by piece, patiently, tediously, yet following a vision which is as large as America itself.

I doubled back that day returning with a lighter heart, a connection to the grass and gravel beneath my feet that made me feel part of the great earth, the steel gray April sky and a sense that I was being made whole with each step I took.

Written by Jim Miller

Instagram @jmillerwords

Trail Name: “Bright Hat”