Marl Lake

As I posted, getting up to Roscommon on Tuesday was miserable but I made it. I spent the rest of the day loafing around. It was still wet and rainy outside and I just figured I would take it easy and see what Wed morning would bring. The weather forecast was for some snow.

The next morning I took a drive into town for breakfast and stopped at the Canoe Resort to see the conditions on the river. I did not plan to make a run as I had to be home on Thursday to take my mother to the doctor for some tests.

Tom at the livery said that the river was clear and we spent a little time talking. He said he had made a hike over at Marl Lake and it was really a great trail. I have written posts about kayaking Marl Lake but didn’t realize there was a hiking trail in the area.

I went into town and ate and thought about it. What the heck, I might as well get a bit of exercise and it was a beautiful day. The rain had changed to snow and it was not too cold.

I went home and thinking it was probably a short hike, I have no idea why I thought that, I dug out my snowmobile suit and boots. The boots are not made for hiking but I figured I was gonna have an easy day of it and wanted to stay warm

I put on my gear and grabbed my toque and gloves and hopped in the truck.

I drove to the boat launch, where I was told the trail started. I went to the trail head and looked at the map. Dang I thought, the trail ran over half way around the dang lake! The lake was shallow but rather large and this was gonna be more of a hike than I figured. I looked at the trail, the sky and the lake and figured, What the heck, and headed out. Like a dumbass I did not have any water but rarely took any anyway.

The trail was just great. It ran along the lake for quite a ways, with a bit of brush between the lake and trail. I could see the lake easily, with the wind blowing up wisps of snow but I was protected from the wind.

I walked quite a ways and saw a bench that was set on the lake shore. I walked to it and looked out at the lake. I looked across and realized I had come farther than I had realized because the boat launch was directly across the lake from me. The boat launch where my truck was. Oh well this was going to be a good hike I figured. I set off again, finally coming to my first trail marker, with map. Hummm?? I was at marker two and there were eight! Oh well I wanted to see the whole trail and only had to keep walking. The wind was really blowing the trees but I was well protected down in the trees.

The trail was nice and wide but it seemed to be getting a bit narrower. I was getting into a bit of a cedar swamp and that dang thing was running like a snake. There was water under the snow and ice and I had to be careful where I was walking, as I did not want to break through. There were places I had to start reading the path ahead so I could jump from clump to clump in places. No big deal as I had been in such places many times.

The trail finally left the lakeshore and headed back into the swamp. It was still a good trail but was getting harder to follow all the time. It was only one man wide by this time and it got so I had read it a ways ahead, as nobody had been on it for a while, at least not as far as I had gotten and it was pretty well hidden. If you read it ahead you can pretty well follow but if you just tried to watch in front of you, it could just disappear! And it did on occasion. The DNR mark the trails with small rectangles but they must be on a tight budget, not many to be seen.

I finally got to the Cut River, which is where the trail started turning back. On the way back it went up to high ground and the trail was a bit longer. I had been on the trail for an hour and a half by that time and had worked up a bit of a sweat. I had to watch that! I unzipped my suit and took off the toque to let myself cool a bit as I walked. I had a long way to go it seemed and had to pace myself and not get overheated.

The walking was not too difficult but it seemed to be endless. I had not realized how long a walk it was and not I was paying for my inattention. I was getting tired and still had a long way to go, it the maps at the markers were right.

Well I had one heck of a hike. Two hours and forty-two minutes, slogging through the fresh snow and wearing the worse cloths I could have. Those snowmobile boots seemed to weigh twenty lbs each by the time I got back to the truck.

It was a beautiful day and a great hike and I will do it again but I will take water and be dressed for it.

The trail is only a few miles from Mike Quinns place.