A Holiday Sale And A Journey To Death Valley

Posted on December 6th, 2012

Editor’s Note: Tis the season … to scramble around for last minute stocking stuffers. We’re here to help. MichiganTrailMaps.com is having its first holiday sale. Order a book and we’ll throw in one of our new trail maps, a $4.95 value! Order any book from our e-shop and fill in the “Name of F… read more

Elk Rapids: Michigan’s Retro Bike Paradise!

Posted on July 13th, 2012

Editor’s Note: It’s been too hot to hike so Jim DuFresne has been hanging around his cottage in Elk Rapids the past week, trying to stay cool, and filed this blog for MichiganTrailMaps.com. For more on the Ride Around Torch see the Cherry Capital Cycling club web site. On Sunday there wil… read more

Selling A Book and Taking On Amazon

Posted on February 28th, 2012

Jim DuFresne It was a Sunday when the new MichiganTrailMaps.com e-shop was launched and then those of us who had worked tirelessly for three months to build it … waited. Patiently. What else could we do? The first order is always the hardest and as Sunday rolled into Monday and Monday rolled into Tue… read more

In Search of Snow and a Groomed Trail

Posted on January 30th, 2012

Editor’s Note: Jim DuFresne wrote and filed this blog for MichiganTrailMaps.com on Friday morning, Jan. 27. That evening five inches of snow had fallen on most of Emmit County and on Saturday Mother Nature added two more. There is good Nordic skiing from Gaylord through most of the northern half o… read more

Time To Give Back To Trails

Posted on January 7th, 2012

Editor’s Note: This blog entry by Jim DuFresne was suppose to appear just before Christmas but technical difficulties prevented us from posting it until now. By Jim DuFresne Jim DuFresne This is the time of the year when we often pause to reflect, remember and give thanks. Despite thes… read more

Driving Father Jack’s Buick

Posted on November 8th, 2011

I’m driving a new car. No, let me re-phrase that; I’m driving a newer car. I picked up a Saturn Vue that is three-years old and has 43,000 miles on it. It’s high tech. For the first time I can use my IPod in my vehicle. It has remote start for those mornings when the windows are all frosted up and during… read more

Pondering Life & Death on the Trail

Posted on September 21st, 2011

On the day of Greg Hokans’ funeral I was hiking in Emmet County, recording trails for MichiganTrailMaps.com and enjoying a beautiful September day in northern Michigan. At the Elk Rapids Library that evening, my Internet connection when I’m in this corner of the state, somebody emailed me con… read more

Lessons From Alaska’s Chilkoot Trail

Posted on July 12th, 2011

You’ll learn a lot hiking the Chilkoot Trail. You get a history lesson on the Chilkoot and a sense of the feverous attraction gold can have on men. You learn a little about personal perseverance as you struggle over the Chilkoot Pass on a rainy morning when the clouds are so low and so thick you have to p… read more

Riding The Alaska State Ferries To Adventure

Posted on June 22nd, 2011

Editor’s Note: Jim DuFresne, the main contributor to MichiganTrailMaps.com, just filed his second blog entry from his summer of wanderlust in the Last Frontier. We really hope he comes back some day. I’m eating lunch at my favorite restaurant in Alaska. The food is good – I’m having a halib… read more

Reaching the Top of an Alaskan Mountain

Posted on June 9th, 2011

Editor’s Note: Jim DuFresne, the main contributor to MichiganTrailMaps.com, made it to Alaska and sent in his first blog entry. In Los Angeles, you cruise the Sunset Strip; in Paris, you stroll the Champs-Elyse’es; and in Anchorage, you climb Flattop Mountain. This is the first mountain… read more

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