Whenever @mrsbozz and I go on a camping trip, one of the things that we really enjoy doing is going for a walk each morning. Sometimes it takes us down wooded dirt paths, and other times we simply walk around the "loops" of the campground. When our dog Jovi was with us, she would always accompany us on these morning walks.
It feels a bit emptier walking without her now, but it also gives us a little more freedom. Towards the end she wasn't able to go very far or we had to stop quite frequently for her. I'd do it again in a heartbeat to have her back, but it's also nice just being able to throw on our shoes and go.
In fact, Friday and Saturday this past weekend, we clocked in over two miles each day which honestly blew my mind a bit because it didn't really feel like that.
North Higgins Lake State Park sits along the north shore of Higgins Lake (surprise surprise). Higgins Lake is the 10th largest lake in Michigan. The park itself boasts 449 acres and used to be the home of the largest seeding nursery in the world.
A nursery still exists on the property, but it is no longer the largest in the world.
Given the size of the lake, you can imagine that Higgins Lake is popular with water sports enthusiasts. This is just a small look at the boat launch area of the park at North Higgins, there is also a South Higgins Lake State Park that @mrsbozz and I have never stayed at. I would imagine it has a similarly large boat launch area.
From what we have seen on line, the camping sites at the southern park are much smaller and less wooded. It looks more like a parking lot than a campground, something that appeals to neither of us. We want to be out in nature thank you very much!
This is another quick look at the boat launch area. As you can see, it can accomodate two or three boats at one time. If you have ever found yourself watching some of those "boat launch" videos on Youtube, you probably know how intense the boat launch can be when people are impatient. If you haven't watched any of them, go check them out. Some of them are quite funny, but they probably won't leave you feeling any better about humanity after the fact!
@mrsbozz enjoys doing the audiobook thing while she walks. That means I either walk along next to her in silence, or I take my own earbuds and I listen to something else. This weekend it was the 80's channel on my Sirius/XM app. It worked out really well. We have a whole hand signal pattern down so we know what direction the other thinks we should go next.
The park also has a paved path that takes you along the edge of the two camping sections of the park. We usually stay in the west loop, but there is also an east loop that we walked through for the first time this past weekend. Usually when we visit in the fall they have the east loop closed down already.
The path actually extends about two miles down the road and ends at a local gas station/party store/ice cream shop. We got passed by quite a few people walking, running, and riding their bikes up and down this path. On Friday the Michigan DNR (Department of Natural Resources) workers were mowing along the edge of the path and blowing the grass clippings off of it.
Just the other side of the path that ran along our campsite is private property with a small collection of cottages and homes that people own. I have a feeling many of the locals use this path quite frequently. I know I would.
I know he has been busy recovering from his surgery lately, but I am including this post as a #wednesdaywalk post for the initiative started by @tattoodjay. I hope he is recovering well!
As we were approaching our campsite along the trail on the first day I noticed these quite nasty looking plants sticking out along the path. Needless to say, we found a different way to get back to our site. I didn't try touching one of the thorns to see how rigid they were. They almost look like they might have been new enough to still be pliable, but I didn't want to risk finding out.
This coming weekend @mrsbozz and I are visiting another campground and I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of new and exciting things we can discover on our walks there.
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