Yes...the campsite was ideal. It was exactly what I was hoping for.
Yes, I joined GLFWDA shortly before the trip. Im not sure if/when Id head back to Drummond. Ill keep my ears opened for the word of a trip though.
My Drummond Island adventure
- Thread starter opie
- Start date
Yes...the campsite was ideal. It was exactly what I was hoping for.
Yes, I joined GLFWDA shortly before the trip. Im not sure if/when Id head back to Drummond. Ill keep my ears opened for the word of a trip though.
It was only the one trail I wanted to stay off. To be honest...to me the destination isnt the trail...its where the trail ends up. Thats why I hated the "tight twisties" trail. I was also surprised it wasnt marked as such. Since everyone calls it "tight twisties" I thought for sure itd be marked as such. Oh well...no big loss.
Next time Im going to the north and south ends of the island.
Yes, Ive seen that. I also bought one of the maps at the visitors center. Pretty much a paper version of the online one you linked too.
The trail Im talking about starts west of Marble Head and heads south, then turns right towards marker 26 on through marker 25 and right towards marker 18 at which time it becomes a logging road and than gravel county.
I didnt all to much mind the trail up towards Glen Cove...But like I mentioned earlier...the trail isnt the destination for me...its where the trail leads. The view from our campsite is exactly what Im talking about.
Im not a hardcore offroader. I prefer to take it easy and not get myself into otherwise precarious situations. Granted...I broke a serious rule in that I was wheeling alone....but thats exactly why I was going to avoid the very trail I found myself on.
Its neither here nor there at this point. I think my dissapointment was a witches brew of the weather, the mosquitos, and the fear my son was having about being out in the middle of nowhere. Maybe a little pretension on my end as well....first time in a new place...
We all have good and bad camping trips...Ive had far more good than bad...this just happened to be a bad one.
I wasn't to impressed with Drummond the last time I was out there. The only thing I can say about it was it was bumpy, I had to be in 4low just to go slow enough so I wouldn't beat myself to death or the Jeep for that matter. It is somewhat scenic though but I can think of tons more places that are better for scenery with better wheeling. For me a huge part of the trip is the wheeling, I like a hard trail with a great payout at the end, makes it all worth while for me! I can say Turtle Ridge is pretty nice though if you like to wheel.
Mac Island, I love it!
11 Chicago to Mac Island races, oohohoo the memories, load that island with a few thousand racers after they spend 2-4 days on the water being wet, cold, sleep deprived and competetive, well, good times! :elkgrin:
Glad you had fun!
Brian
11 Chicago to Mac Island races, oohohoo the memories, load that island with a few thousand racers after they spend 2-4 days on the water being wet, cold, sleep deprived and competetive, well, good times! :elkgrin:
Glad you had fun!
Brian
I think the island it self and the scenery is awesome. When we got to Glens Cove, the rain let up for a minute and the sun came out. There appeared the most perfect rainbow that started and ended on the northeast and southwest sides of the cove. First one Andrew has ever seen and the first time Ive ever seen one so clearly.
Theres lots to do.... We just ran out of patience.
Mackinac Island is definetly a destination. Its like stepping back in time when you get away from the shops.
opie, you can't let that beat you down like this. maybe we'll just have to have an island-bridge-island tour in the future.
Not beat down...well go back. But with a better idea of the island.
T.Low
Expedition Leader
Dude, running solo changes everything. We just did 5 days, 4nites on the Sunshine Coast. While we did indeed have an awesome trip, we had originally planned on going with another van, a Sportsmobile. But he had to bag out 20 minutes into the trip.
It changed the routes we took. We ended up turning back at a washout on an off camber hill that I would have taken if we were with the NWOS crew. And we stopped 100 ft shy of the tip of "Lands End" on Sarah Point trail. If I went down that steep loose, boulder ridden, rocky hill and couldn't get back up to get out...eek.
Solo is a different game entirely.
It changed the routes we took. We ended up turning back at a washout on an off camber hill that I would have taken if we were with the NWOS crew. And we stopped 100 ft shy of the tip of "Lands End" on Sarah Point trail. If I went down that steep loose, boulder ridden, rocky hill and couldn't get back up to get out...eek.
Solo is a different game entirely.
Rattler
Thornton Melon's Kid
opie,
Great pics opie! I am glad you and your son had some time together. Sorry you had such a bad experience on the island though. Being I gave you that GPS route too doesn't help. Did you follow that track through the part that is flooded by the lake? I know there is a deeper hole on T&T about halfway too. The route from Glen Cove to the Stairsteps/Marblehead isn't bad at all though, just rocky. Marblehead isn't a far hike from there but I am sure you didn't want to do that in the rain. There is a nice trail across from the DI Resort that is pretty good too (meaning not "hardcore") we marked as an ORV Route back in May.
I am not that familiar with camping on the island seeing we wimped out and stayed at the DI Hotel. I know that rock can be REAL frustrating trying to put stakes in. I ran into that at High Rock Bay (hmm, another reason for that RTT)!
If a run in early spring is planned, it will be wet. When we were there in May there was still a lot of water on some trails. My front grill had a waterline halfway up it.
I had to watch my bear talk on the UPOA because my wife's nephew that was along would have been frreaking out the whole trip had he known they were around where we were.
I ExPo wants to have at a trip to there, I will tell Thorton Melon. He knows the island pretty good.:smiley_drive:
Great pics opie! I am glad you and your son had some time together. Sorry you had such a bad experience on the island though. Being I gave you that GPS route too doesn't help. Did you follow that track through the part that is flooded by the lake? I know there is a deeper hole on T&T about halfway too. The route from Glen Cove to the Stairsteps/Marblehead isn't bad at all though, just rocky. Marblehead isn't a far hike from there but I am sure you didn't want to do that in the rain. There is a nice trail across from the DI Resort that is pretty good too (meaning not "hardcore") we marked as an ORV Route back in May.
I am not that familiar with camping on the island seeing we wimped out and stayed at the DI Hotel. I know that rock can be REAL frustrating trying to put stakes in. I ran into that at High Rock Bay (hmm, another reason for that RTT)!
If a run in early spring is planned, it will be wet. When we were there in May there was still a lot of water on some trails. My front grill had a waterline halfway up it.
I had to watch my bear talk on the UPOA because my wife's nephew that was along would have been frreaking out the whole trip had he known they were around where we were.
I ExPo wants to have at a trip to there, I will tell Thorton Melon. He knows the island pretty good.:smiley_drive:
My 255 wouldnt show the tracks...So I just went by the map I bought at the visitors center. It had them all on it.
One of the holes I hit about midway on the TT trail had water up over the hood. I was riding the side though so it was only the passenger side. Thank God for a few of the sidetracks around the deeper/rutted holes. Tight...but better than the alternative!!
Im not feeling as dissapointed now...I think it was the rain...I despise camping in the rain.
I think, for the families sake, Im going to invest in a used pop-up this winter. With a few suspension and storage modifications I can have a pretty sweet off road camper. Might even be able to get the wife out then.