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Great Sierra Loop
Hi Eric, I am writing to you because my group are very interested in HCP trail. I have a few questions about it. Did you write down the distances that you did for each day? I am coming up with 18 miles per day for those four days that backpacked. Would you say if we needed to bail out is there a place we can station a couple of cars? On your Day 1 track you stated that a camp registration was attached to a tree. Is this something that we need to do or someone did it intentionally?
ReplyDeleteHCP looks enjoyable and my ground of 6-8 like remote areas.
If you can provide any other feedback that would be great.
Thank you
Tracey
Thanks Tracey. Sorry, I didn't write down the distances. My first day was short probably less than 10 miles, the next two days were probably in the mid 20s and last day was maybe 10-15 miles. It's been a while so those are my best guess. There are many bailout points. There are several campgrounds near the trail and also forest road crossings. The camp registration card is a Michigan DNR policy for dispersed camping. The idea is when you camp, you post a registration card at your campsite and then leave it there when you leave. DNR staff will apparently come and gather it later. This was the first time I saw a card that had been posted and left.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a few years, but I remember it being a surprisingly nice trail. I remember Dog Lake was mostly a swamp and not a good water source. If you can, try to stay at the shelter at Canada Creek. Some places were a little overgrown. If I did it again, I would probably stay on the HCP instead of the detour I took to Clear Lake State Park. It was crowded and I had trouble finding the HCP again. I also enjoyed camping on Rattlesnake Hill by the bench.
It was hot in the summer and swimming in the lakes was refreshing. Make sure to take tick precautions. Hopefully you will be able to see some elk! The trail trail goes through some logging areas but when I did it, most of the areas were starting to rebound.