Manistee National Forest -- 2000
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Our attempt of the 23-mile loop Manistee River Trail in Winter was a preparation for a subsequent Winter expedition the following year.
"A 23-mile (37 km) loop trail can be formed by two connector trails at the southern and northern termini connecting the Manistee River Trail to the North Country National Scenic Trail. The loop trail can be accessed from the Marilla and Upper Branch Trailheads for the North Country National Scenic Trail and the Red Bridge and Seaton Creek accesses for the Manistee River Trail." --Wikipedia
We began on Friday morning at the southernmost point, the Red Bridge Access trailhead. Very quickly, we encountered difficulty, first in navigating the trail in the dense snowfall, then ascending the steep west bank. It was very tiring. By the afternoon, we were pretty tired and elected to setup camp. At dusk, we attempted to start a campfire, but the wet wood made that very difficult and was unsuccessful. Later at dinnertime, we had difficulty starting the white gas stove. We had a lot of difficulty priming the stove to vaporize the fuel. Eventually, we got it started and made dinner. It quickly got cold, and we headed into the tent. It was very warm in the tent, but that would later become a problem. Being novice to Winter camping, we failed to properly vent the tent, so moisture was dramatically freezing within the tent and failing upon us in our sleeping bags. It wasn't a very comfortable night.
Having been cold, wet, and tired over the previous 24 hours, we elected to quit. We camped back out over the same direction. By evening, we were back in Chicago. Overall, trips like this helped us learn how to Winter camp.