More Photos Below!Gallery
Last weekend we rented the Pinckney Yurt. It was a dandy getaway. $60 a night. It’s on state land and is rentable by the public.
It seemed nicer than any motel room to me!
It’s on a hill overlooking a river, forest and marsh, with a lake beyond, and a hilly trail wrapping to each side. It’s located along the famous Poto (Potawatamie) trail—ranked 61st most popular bike trail in the US.
It’s about 12 feet across in size, with a propane heater, windows, skylight, deck, firepit, picnic table. Table, chairs, rugs and bunks inside. With a water pump and stove you can use, you just bring a small propane can for it. It was built just a couple years ago.
You can reserve the yurt online. Here’s a description page:
www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10365_24196-160005–,00.html
It’s less than an hour away from us. I’ve really been appreciating our big local parks recently. They’re nearby yet they’re quite wild and dramatic, with diverse terrain and scenery. I also realized that they’re connected to each other. A friend explained that the farmland ended in a line of glacial features, of hills and lakes. The people of the state turned this region into basically a line of 6-8 large state parks stretching about 50 miles, from near Jackson (Waterloo) to near Flint (Holly). I’m impressed!
Within the Pinckney is an amazing chain of lakes connected by small waterways—the yurt is situated on one of these.
In winter, you don’t want to have to sleep on the top bunk—it’s somewhat insulated but it gets hot and cold all night as the heater cycles on. Leaving the skylight ajar seemed to help a bit. Also, you might want to bring a canoe even in winter. The small river next to the yurt stays open and flowing and is awful inviting. It also appears to be how you’d access the lake beyond for skating and ice-fishing. Hmmm…maybe there’d be a way to get from boat to ice safely. The local lake ice was 8″ thick.
Next time we’ll go in the spring. And bring a canoe! I bet the colors, greenery, birds and marsh-life are astounding. We natives have no fear of bugs—a little attire and a little spray do the trick.
We went ice-fishing (no bites, probably because it was mid-day) and ice-skating on a wild lake (no houses) a mile away. It was sunny and spring-like during the day.
There are many lakes and trails in this area. Halfmoon Lake, where the yurt is, doesn’t have many houses in sight. The night sky is very black, showing off the stars just fine. Coyotes howled in response to the cranes cackling (?) their own good nights.
My favorite thing that happened was when I took the supersled down the twisting trail. The sled would follow the turns and stay in the groove like a luge for a quarter mile if you laid in it still. On my only perfect run, Daisy was running behind me the whole time. It was so neat having her panting right at my head height. She tried to pass me in a turn once and I gently pushed her back. It was like being with a race-horse in action. She’s old but she ran just fine with the sled, even when it hit the fastest section and rocketed along. She had a great time.
But I note that there are no pets allowed at the yurt.
Several hikers, runners and skiers went by each day, all doing the 10 mile loop! Some seemed totally “everyday” people, not especially well prepared or in shape, yet they were all cheery…and about at their halfway point.
The locals made only a little noise. A single “winter jetski” was on the lake, spreading its chainsaw racket for a mile as it circled for an hour. There were a few large explosions—special fireworks for a special evening. A half hour of large-caliber gunfire. But the noise actually wasn’t bad. It’s just a part of country life.
Lush life.
Lucy loves ice-skating.
Family hike.
