A while back I had asked here for suggestions on a new pack to replace my hand-me-down Kelty Redwing 44 that I've been using for years. I really like the pack and it serves most of my needs well, but it's too short in the torso so the hipbelt isn't really functional and all the weight is borne by my shoulders.

I tried as many bags as I could get my hands on (which isn't actually that many here in Indiana), even driving 2.5 hours down to Indy to visit REI. I decided I don't like the Osprey suspension system, and I couldn't find the Gregory pack in the size that I wanted. I checked out a few ultralight-style options online, and had one that I was really interested in but didn't like that there was no way to actually try it without buying it.

I stopped by Cabela’s in Noblesville when we were down there to go to REI, and ended up trying on this "Ascend" store brand pack. It checks all of my boxes, fit well, and coincidentally was quite a bit cheaper than the other options so I decided to give it a shot.


Overall, I was pleased with the pack. It fits all my stuff, held up OK at least on this short trip (based solely on initial impressions I'll be shocked if it lasts as long as my Kelty, though), had decent organization, and most of all having a hip belt that actually sits on my hips was an absolute game changer. I had no shoulder soreness at all at the end of the hike. It even has a nice system for storing trekking poles, which came in handy since I had a dog leash in one hand. I see that working great for fishing rods, too, which I wished I'd brought on this trip.

The one negative I have is the hipbelt pockets are smaller than they could/should be. This seems like an issue with most packs, and the pockets on this pack were actually bigger than the ones on some of the name brand packs that I tried. My phone doesn't fit, and forget about a paper map. Because they're a little bit curved though I can cram a 642 into them...just barely. I tried my 640 Pro because .357 > .38+P, but the extra 1/8" of barrel won't let me get it in there...that's how tight it is.

Anyway...on to the hike. I've been wanting to do the Manistee River Loop hike for a few years, but something always ended up happening to prevent us from going. This year my wife and younger kids are gone in Florida, my oldest stayed home with me and wanted to go do a hike somewhere, and the weather forecast looked good, so we decided to go for it. The one wrench in the plan was that since there was nobody else home to watch the dog we had to take him with us. He walks great so I wasn't worried about that part, but we've never tent camped with him before....more on that later.

The Manistee River Trail is actually a 20-ish mile loop. The MRT goes up the east side of the river and then you can cross a bridge and hike back down the North Country Trail in the opposite direction to get back to your car. It's a 4 hour drive to get up there from our house, and we got there about 10:30am. My original plan was to start walking north on the NCT, cross the river and come back on the MRT, but we got kinda turned around at the trailhead and about half a mile in realized that we were walking towards the MRT instead. We decided "what the heck, it's a loop" so we just kept going.



It was about 40 degrees out...about perfect hiking weather. It is gun season for deer and there's hunting in the area, but we only saw two hunters the whole trip (and no deer). The trail has some ups and downs but nothing too steep or too long, and once you're on it it's pretty well marked. Being fall there are a lot of leaves down, so it was sometimes hard to see the trail and could get slippery at times. I kicked a lot of buried roots over the course of two days. There are a number of water crossings on the MRT side, all of which have some kind of bridge setup to help you across...the most substantial being the one at Slagle Creek.



There's established campsites periodically along the MRT side, and you're supposed to limit your camping to those. On the NCT side you can camp anywhere as long as you're 200 feet from the water. The NCT is set back away from the river, while the MRT runs right along it, and offers some great views. I had been told that you were always up and away from the river, but that's not really true. I wish I'd brought my pole along because there were several places that I could have fished.



We called this spot "Michigan's Horseshoe Bend"



There's also some fun little side creeks and waterfalls cutting through the clay and cascading down to the river:



My son's shoes were killing his feet, so at one point he took them off and iced his feet in the creek:




We got to the suspension bridge across the Manistee River, aka the “Mini Mac” (a reference to the Mackinaw Bridge which is only about 2 hours away) about 2:30pm. They were already getting prepped for winter apparently, and had blocked it off to keep snowmobilers off of it. We didn’t have snowmobiles, so we went across. I saw trout down there, which made me mad again that I’d left my pole. When we got to the other side, we talked for a bit and decided that rather than continue the loop we’d turn around and go back down the MCT. We’d seen a few really nice campsites on the way up, were enjoying the view of the river, and had the place entirely to ourselves. We’d also heard quite a few shots coming from the other side, so figured hunting was more prevalent over there, and decided it made more sense to stay on the MCT side.



We hiked back to site 2A which had a great view of the river, a lot of fresh oak leaves for a soft tent pad, and some dry cedar dead fall down below for firewood.





We got a nice fire going, heated up the pre-cooked hamburger in foil that I’d made and frozen before the trip, and got treated to a nice view of the sunset about 6:00.



We stayed up with the fire for a couple of hours, but finally decided it was time to go to bed. That’s when things got stupid.

I had the dog, and he was tired enough by that point that he was ready for bed too. As is his norm, he curled up at my feet. Well, more like on my feet. When you’re sleeping on the ground you end up rolling a lot more than usual, and it’s hard to do this with a 50lb dog lying on your legs. You also can’t spread them and let him fall between your ankles when you’re in a sleeping bag. My feet started losing circulation, and as a result started getting really cold. The dog also started getting cold and shivering. So I brought him up with me and got him to crawl inside the bag. Which worked ok, and his added warmth was even welcome, but then I couldn’t zip the bag shut, so the dog side of me was warm and the other side was freezing.

It got colder and colder overnight, to the point that my water bottle froze and the inside of the tent was covered with frozen condensation. I had my insulin and the water filter inside the bag with us, too, to keep them from freezing, so there was all kinds of stuff going on in there. It was like sleeping in a freezer. Every time I rolled it would disturb the dog and he’d wake up and move around before crawling back inside the sleeping bag. If somebody touched the side of the tent, ice crystals would rain down on us. I kinda covered the opening in the sleeping bag with my jacket to keep the heat in, but that was very much an imperfect solution. I had plenty of layers so it wasn’t dangerous, but it was far from comfortable and sleep only happened in about 30 minute spurts all night long. At one point I distinctly remember dreaming of hiking out, driving home, and spending the rest of the night by the fire in my living room, lol. I’m not sure how cold it actually got, but it had to be at least low 20s.

We got up at sunrise and packed up camp. It was a pretty cold hike out, but the sun came out and the views were as good as the day before. We got to the car about noon, and were home by 5:00pm. There was still ice in my tent and on the top of my hoodie when I took them out of the car and hung them up to air out.

Overall, it was a fun trip on a nice trail and a good time with my son and the dog. I’d do it again…preferably when it’s a bit warmer so I don’t have to bundle with the dog, and I’d take a fishing pole. I’m pretty happy with the Ascend backpack, too. Hopefully I’ll get to use it for a few more trips this coming spring. Unless we go south, this was probably our last one for the year.

Beautiful pictures!

Outstanding pics!

Thanks guys. Michigan makes it easy...just an absolutely beautiful state.

Very scenic, fun and great exercise as well.

Somehow, I missed this, beautiful pictures and a good write up. Love that you had the dog along. I liked the detail you put in to finding the right pack, it does make q difference.

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Originally posted by UTsig:
Somehow, I missed this, beautiful pictures and a good write up. Love that you had the dog along. I liked the detail you put in to finding the right pack, it does make q difference.

Yeah, the pack has been good. I got some new camera gear this winter that I'm wanting to try out with it, and some new shoes, so we may be going back up there later next month, or possibly to Zaleski State Forest in Ohio with my brother. My son is turning 18 this Spring and has grand plans for a backpacking trip out west with a buddy on their own this summer, so we'll probably bring him along too. I've got my own plans for WY, Alaska, and possibly Spain again as well later this year, so it's nice to have some shorter options close to home to spend some time on the trail and test out gear before we commit to taking it out for a week or more.

I asked for and got the same pack for Christmas. I have not used it yet but am really wanting to do some more backpacking after not having done any overnight hiking in about 20 years. Nothing crazy, just want a few 1- and 2- nighters in the N Ga mountains. Glad it's working well for you.

quote:

Nothing crazy, just want a few 1- and 2- nighters in the N Ga mountains

Beautiful area, but that's where I did my first ever hiking trip and it almost ruined backpacking for me forever, lol. It was like 20 years ago, I had a borrowed external frame pack from the 80s loaded to upwards of 40lbs (including a bag of apples and one of those big coleman propane tanks for a camp stove). We did the approach trail from Amicolola Falls at the beginning of the AT, and those 600+ stairs at the very beginning just about killed me before we even started.

It got cloudy and started raining, so by the time we got up Springer mountain there were no views. When we got to the shelter it was full so we "slept" in the crawlspace with the bugs and rodents. I bailed the next day, and didn't hike again for almost 10 years.

Being in shape, having decent gear, and a bit of knowledge about what to bring (or maybe more importantly, NOT bring) makes all the difference!

Looks like you guys had a great trip, the part about the dog in the sleeping bag had me chuckling, we had similar experiences with the GSD years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

quote:

Nothing crazy, just want a few 1- and 2- nighters in the N Ga mountains

Beautiful area, but that's where I did my first ever hiking trip and it almost ruined backpacking for me forever, lol. It was like 20 years ago, I had a borrowed external frame pack from the 80s loaded to upwards of 40lbs (including a bag of apples and one of those big coleman propane tanks for a camp stove). We did the approach trail from Amicolola Falls at the beginning of the AT, and those 600+ stairs at the very beginning just about killed me before we even started.

It got cloudy and started raining, so by the time we got up Springer mountain there were no views. When we got to the shelter it was full so we "slept" in the crawlspace with the bugs and rodents. I bailed the next day, and didn't hike again for almost 10 years.

Being in shape, having decent gear, and a bit of knowledge about what to bring (or maybe more importantly, NOT bring) makes all the difference!

Amicolola is no joke even without a pack. Same for hiking back up out of Tallulah Gorge or Cloudland Canyon.

Being out of it for awhile, I know the gear has improved. I don't have a lightweight sleeping bag currently but I do have a tent that would work for 2 people. I can't sleep worth a crap in a hammock. That and a jet stove should get me out there.

I'm not a hammock fan, either. Something about being suspended from skinny little ropes is unsettling, and it's hard to get in and out of quickly. Plus I hiked quite a few places where there's no place to hang one.

Sleeping bags can be had pretty cheap...I think I got my 20 degree kelty on sale for $50 and it has served me well. If you're hiking in summer in GA you won't even need one that heavy. I took a 50 degree bag on the Camino that weighed about a pound and took up very little space in my pack...I think my wife found it somewhere for like $30. If you start hiking a bunch you're going to end up with a bag for each temperature range, because it sucks to haul extra bulk and weight that you don't need. Synthetic is cheaper and dries out better if it gets wet, but down is warmer by weight.