MLive says: “An outdoor lover's dream, Yankee Springs Recreation Area offers lakes, streams, trails, bogs, marshes and more. No matter the season, you can find an activity here. Or you can just observe the beautiful scenery. We especially recommend a visit to Devil's Soup Bowl, made up of glacially carved depressions in the earth that create interesting formations. Other highlights within the large recreation area include Graves Hill Scenic Overlook and the Pines.”
October 24, 2019
Funnily enough, I tried to visit Yankee Springs back in June, on the same day I visited Allegan County. I set out for a hike on the exact same trail that I hiked on October 24, and about fifty yards down the trail, my foot slid in some mud and I ended up with a tree root puncturing my left foot. Needless to say, I didn’t get much hiking done after that, as I spent the afternoon in an urgent care facility in Hastings having wood splinters pulled out of my foot. It was extremely painful, but makes for a really hilarious story and cautionary tale about not hiking in Chacos!
I am happy to report, though, that on October 24 I wore my hiking boots, therefore making it through a successful afternoon of hiking Yankee Springs Recreational Area without any injuries.
It was a remarkably bright and sunny Thursday afternoon, after a remarkably rainy couple of days. I took a half day at work and headed toward Gun Lake around 12 noon for some sunshine-forest therapy.
Per MLive’s suggestion, I decided to explore Devil’s Soup Bowl and Graves Hill. I started on the Long Lake Trail, which is a pretty quick route to both locations. The trail starts right by the Long Lake Outdoor Center, which is a good spot to set your Google Maps to in order to find the trail head. It runs parallel to the Hall Lake Trail for a while, as well, giving you some options after you get started on your hike.
The trail was gorgeous, following the lakeshore for quite a ways before really sending you out to the woods. I was lucky to run into two very nice dogs on my hike, a fellow photographer, and lots of interesting birds. I think I saw some birds I have never seen before in my life on this hike - they were small and quick though, so I didn’t have a chance at trying to ID them during or after my hike.
I eventually found Devil’s Soup Bowl, and it was a bit different than my expectations. I was kind of hoping it was a big stinky pool in a massive indentation in the Earth - I was partially correct. It is a massive indentation in the Earth, but it is full of extremely dense vegetation. I don’t know if you’re supposed to go in it, but I definitely tried to hike into it and stopped about 20 yards down because there was no clear path into the bowl, and I didn’t want to deal with trying to get back out of it. It plummets about 100 feet down on a very steep grade. The cool thing about this spot is when you stand at the top, you’re eye level with trees growing down the slope!
After the failed Soup Bowl descent, I made my way to Graves Hill. It’s supposed to be an overlook, but this spot is also covered in dense vegetation. Personally, I wasn’t disappointed because I’d rather have diverse trees and plants growing than a clear cut for an overlook any day. There is a possibility I was supposed to hike into the woods a bit to find the overlook, but it didn’t look like that was the case…
I kept on with my hike after that, and didn’t find out for quite a long time that I took a wrong turn. I continued following Long Lake trail markers, but they led me away from my original trail head and toward another trail system. It wasn’t a perfect loop, as I had thought when I started. I wasn’t even upset, though, because the hike was so gorgeous and eventually brought me to a boardwalk system through the woods, and a random meadow (where I received lots of chigger bites on my back - I found those that evening after a hot shower).
I fell in love with the different way leaves fall to the ground, with colors, and with shapes. I found myself totally entranced by a wilted fern leaf and the patterns of bark while I walked through the woods.
I finally came to a trail head and decided to walk back on the road, as I had to be back home by a certain time and was worried the trail back to my starting point would take too long. I walked along the road for about a mile, and found some beautiful views there as well.
While my hike was very beautiful and I was feeling grateful for the afternoon I was able to spend outside, I also had an experience that I have often while hiking…picking up litter. By the time I’d made it through my hike and back to my car, I’d collected three armfuls of garbage, which I had to drop off in random bins I found at trail heads or businesses along the road. I love wild places, and my one request to all of humanity is this: leave them wild, as you found them; if you can’t do that, stay home. I refuse to let the world suffocate in your carelessness.
