Fort Custer Cemetery to Verona Park

This was originally posted on the NCT Friends Yahoo Group Site

It describes my hike on January 1, 2010

Before we can get to my New Year's Day

Hike, maybe I can bring you up to date

on what happened the day before.

I hiked part of the Highway near the Restaurant

looking for my spot messenger, then I drove up and

down it a few times, including one time

where it drove slow on the shoulder of the

road with my emergency blinkers on, and

I called the Spot Messenger Service

to see if they could somehow locate it.

None of this worked.

There are a couple surprising things about

this incident. First of all, why didn't I

or Ron see the device when we went out to

the cars. I placed the Messenger right by

my driver's door, so I would be sure to see it.

Ron and I had been talking about spotting the

van at Lake Baw Beese, so maybe that distracted

us.

Secondly, when I was driving down the road looking

for it, I kind of halfway expected to see

it on the road smashed to smithereens.

That didn't happen. I guess it's just gonna

be a mystery

So on New Year's Eve Evening, I decided

to move on. I decided that on New Year's Day

I would hike where I had left off

on Tuesday. So I drove back up to the Battle Creek

area. I stopped at the Marshall Comfort Inn to see

if I could get a room, but due to their proximity

to the Firekeeper's Casino and the fact that it was

New year's Eve, they were filled. But she did

get me a room at the Comfort Inn at Capitol Ave

and I-94 in Battle Creek.

I went over there and the clerk when I checked

in asked me if I was planning to take the shuttle to the Casino.

I said maybe later. So, I went to my room, got cleaned up,

took a little nap and then went to the hotel's guest

computer and wrote my trip report. Since I hadn't eaten

yet, I told the clerk I would take the shuttle to the Casino.

I arrived at the Casino around 9:30 pm. I'm not much of a gambler,

but I had a good meal and celebrated New Year's.

I woke up New Year's Day at 10:30 am, and I was annoyed that

I had missed the Hotel's complimentary breakfast. I packed up

and headed out. After eating lunch, I made it out to the VA Hospital

and started hiking at 1 pm. A really late start.

I decided to take the River Road route, because it's the way that's

shown on the NCT Map. There is another route that Ron and I talked about

that connects with the NCT at Brady Road. But I didn't go that way.

River Rd is the most direct route, but it's not very scenic. There is a

Railroad Track on one side of the road and an Electric Line on the other side.

Then you make it down to the Sewage Treatment plant. It looked like a

well designed facility, but I don't think it qualifies as a Man Made Wonder

on the NCT such as the Mackinac Bridge. After the Plant, we finally get off

River Road and onto the Linear Park. This is a wide paved bike path that

goes along the Kalamazoo River through Battle Creek.

Soon you see a sign reading Downtown Battle Creek 5.3 miles. At this point

the path turns from being next to the street and goes into some woods.

And you actually get to see the Kalamazoo River for the first time.

You travel through these nice woods for a long time. On the lefthand side

there is the river and on the righthand side there are some big mounds of

dirt and then some houses. The mounds of dirt must be for flood control.

There are a few picnic tables along the way, Also, a few footbridges crossing

creeks that flow into the river, Before I reached the Hwy 37 Bridge, I saw

a deer on the Trail.

The NCT and Linear Park cross the River on the Hwy 37 bridge, then

it loops around under the bridge so you don't have to cross the street.

I am now on the north side of the river, and I've been heading east

the whole time. Now the trail heads down through a shoreline park

that goes for a long distance. In the park is an NCT Trail Kiosk which

is really nicely done. Up until this point, I had not seen any NCT markings

or signs. The NCT and Linear Park goes under several Street Bridges, similar to

the hwy 37 Bridge. The Path is not cleared of snow, but from the tracks

I saw that several people had walked it, there were some bicycle tracks

and even a ski track.

Eventually, the NCT and Linear Park goes into an older neighborhood

where there are backyards on the left side of the Trail and the river

on the right side of the trail. This is the type of neighborhood where people

have dog pens and junk in their backyards. Then the Trail goes past some

older Commercial buildings and then it is in Downtown Battle Creek.

There is a spot where the River splits.

The Downtown Portion is really well done. The trail goes through

some park land next to the river. The Kellogg Company headquarters

is across the river and there are a series of foot bridges crossing the

river. There is also some type of Cereal Museum on the Trail Side

of the river. It has a really whimsical design. The Snow is cleared

from the trail in the downtown portion.

The Trail continues to go under street Bridges next to the river.

There are excellent views of the taller buildings of Battle Creek.

Then the trail goes next to a building that looks like it

is an old train station. But it's totally renovated, and there

is a beautiful riverwalk area with balconies over the river.

Soon you reach the Kellogg House Property which I don't know

too much about. Perhaps it's where the Kelloggs originally

lived. But on the property, there is an inspiring sculpture

called the Underground Railroad Sculpture. This is a

very well done sculpture depicting several slaves on

their way to freedom.

Plus, on the Kellogg Property, there are several festive

light displays featuring the 12 days of Christmas.

It was still light out, so the lights were not turned on.

I continued on. Less than a block away from the sculpture

there is a hotel called the Hometown Inn. It didn't look like the

priciest hotel around, but it looked kept up.

The NCT and Linear Park run behind some City and County buildings

then into a older commercial building area. The River is to the left

of the Trail. I found a sign explaining the Battle Creek River

Restoration Project. That's when I figured out that I wasn't

traveling along the Kalamazoo River any more. It must have

went the other way when the river split up in Downtown

Battle Creek.

I think there's something funny about a River being called

the Battle Creek River. It's like calling a lake the Walden

Pond Lake.

At any rate, I walked along the river seeing A power

substation and power lines. Finally, it was getting

a little dark and I made it up to a bridge. I was hoping it would

be the Emmet street Bridge, where I had decided to

hike to, but it wasn't. It was the Union Street Bridge.

Instead, the Emmett Street Bridge would be down the trail

another mile to mile and a half. I decided to go for the gusto

even though it was getting dark.

I continued down the Trail and encountered some boardwalks

which were along Wagner Street next to the River. Then the trail

went into a park where there is a nice kiosk about the NCT.

The trail continues on along Wagner Street then ducks into

some woods next to the River. I could see the Emmett Street

bridge ahead. I didn't take too many photos at this time

because it was dark.

I made it up to the Emmett Street Bridge. I was afraid

that I was in the middle of the boonies with no

businesses around, but when I looked down Emmett

Street I saw a Walgreens and some other businesses.

I walked up to the Walgreens and saw several other

businesses. I looked down the cross street and saw

a bar. That's gonna be the official endpoint of my hike.

The Bar is called the Idol Hour Bar and Grill. It's good that

it is a grill, because I was hungry. I went in and got a few looks

from the bar patrons. But it was my type of bar, good food

and good beer. I ordered the All You Can Eat Perch Special.

I enjoy the meal and watched a bowl game. On one of the

TVs the Weatherman came on with a severe winter storm

alert. It could snow up to 18 inches in western Michigan

along the shore of Lake Michigan.

I figured it was time for me to get back to Wisconsin

before this storm hit. After my good meal and a beer

I asked the Bartender to call a cab for me. The cab

ride back to the VA Hospital cost me around $20. That's

about what I was expecting. Then I hit the road

On the way back I was debating whether I should

take Hwy 131 down from Kalamazoo, then take

90, or just take 94 through Benton Harbor. It

wasn't snowing at all yet, so I decided to take the

Benton Harbor Route. This was a big mistake.

If I would have taken 131 it would have kept me

away from the lake effect snow.

It was snowing fiercely around Benton Harbor, but

I continued on, following a semi. We got down to

10 mph in some places. It was bad.

I figured that I would pull off at Michigan City and

stay for the night. But a funny thing happened. About

5 miles before I got to Michigan City it stopped snowing.

I made it back to Madison around 2 am. No more snow

at all.

I had a really nice winter hike. I believe I hiked around

45 NCT miles. I took over 1000 photos.

Regards from me, Todd McMahon AKA Tman