Having lived in the Midwest most of my life, I have come to be familiar with others’ perceptions of the region where I live. Some of these are true, like we do eat a lot of ranch dressing, and by “a lot” I mean “have you ever put it on pizza because if not have you even lived?” But some of these are not accurate, like, it’s not all flat and covered in corn (unless you’re in Indiana, and if you are, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
Case in point: did you KNOW that there are MOUNTAINS in MICHIGAN? Because, friends, there ARE.
No, if you’re in Michigan, you’re not going to stumble across craggy snow-capped peaks the likes of which you’d see in Colorado, but according to this website there are 302 mountains in Michigan, and Mt. Nebo is #294 when ranked by height. It comes in at a little under 700 feet in elevation (the highest, Mt. Arvon, is ~2000 feet in elevation, and I decided when I learned of its existence while perusing that website I am going to walk up it).
Last weekend I went camping with my husband and my best friend at Wilderness State Park, which I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a good northern Michigan camping spot. We tossed around the idea of a hike on one of our days at camp, and while we were looking for a route, I saw that we could hike up Mt. Nebo, which we didn’t even know existed until that moment, and so we definitely had to do that.
The trails were very nice and well-maintained, and the climb, though steep for a few minutes, wasn’t bad. I’m sure the view would’ve been really something in late fall or winter when the leaves were off the trees, but Lake Michigan was still visible through all the leaves and since there are ruins on top (of what used to be an observation tower) I’m assuming the view is pretty great when unobstructed.
If a chance to climb a mountain comes along, I feel like you should take it. Especially if said climb won’t require a pickaxe. I mean, everybody’s got to draw the line somewhere.
jamelah.net 