Poto! Poto! Poto!

You guessed it; I rode the Potawatomi trail today. It seems that this year I have not made it out there as often as other years. I might be getting too used to not driving anywhere for my rides. Anyway, I loaded up the bike and headed out.

I put up a post on Poto about three years ago. Take a look if you like.

How about a little background? Pinckney Recreation Area (PRA) is about 11,000 acres, making it the fourth largest Michigan state park, and the second largest in the lower peninsula. First place goes to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness, second is Tahquamenon Falls, and third goes to Pinckney's neighbor, Waterloo. PRA got its start with George Reeves moving to the area in 1830 and purchasing a sawmill and about 1000 acres on Hell Creek in 1841. Over time he added gristmill, distillery, and tavern. The Reeves family sold the property to some investors in 1924. The investors increased the size of the millpond by increasing the size of the dam, creating Hiland Lake, which became a popular resort and vacation destination. Michigan state government set up funding in 1944 for creating state parks, including PRA. Through the 1940's and 1950's more land was acquired, to create the patchwork of property we have today that is PRA.

And a little background on the Potawatomi Trail itself. Mr. Eby seems to have thoroughly researched it so I will let his sign tell the story. You can find it at the top of "The Boy Scout Hill," right where the trail from Camp Munhacke joins in.

 

This year marks 20 years that I have been riding Poto. I still remember feeling a little faint after my first full lap. I passed two people riding a tandem and then had to ride way too hard to stay ahead of them.

The trail has changed quite a bit over the past 20 years and had many rerouted sections. Today I checked out some of those long-lost trails, along with a few other offshoots. I keep thinking that some of these old trails will eventually fade away, but there seems to be just enough traffic on them to keep them alive.

The trail above is pretty faint, but you can see the tread going straight away in the picture. It makes a sharp switchback and leads to where my bike is leaning. It's a great trail; challenging and scenic, but also probably not very sustainable if it received all of Poto's traffic.

Another rerouted section. To the right is a healthy patch of poison ivy. Even poison ivy can have nice fall colors!

In all, I rode 26 miles today. A mile and a quarter on pavement, maybe two miles of dirt road, and the rest singletrack. Not a bad way to spend part of Sunday.