#TrailTuesday: Exploring Bald Mountain's Rugged Blue, White and Orange Loops

Welcome back to our #TrailTuesday Series! This edition explores the glistening lakes, vast marshes, and wooded ridge lines of Bald Mountain State Recreation Area's Blue, White, and Orange Loops. Join us as we conquer one of the Detroit region's "Black Diamond" trails on our first visit to Bald Mountain in Oakland Charter Township, Michigan!

Some days it's easy to be an "Outdoorist."

The cloudless weather sits at an idyllic 60-something degrees. The trail is dry, clear, and teeming with wildlife. Depending on the time of year, you'll be surrounded by blossoming spring buds or vibrant fall colors. As #pure as Pure Michigan can get.

And then...some days you'll be hiking in peak "stick season." Muddy, cloudy, rainy, unbecoming stick season. For the uninitiated/unfamiliar with Noah Kahan's discography, stick season runs parallel with late fall and early spring. Its telltale signs include no leaves, no snow, and no flowers. Just...sticks. Monotone, damp, uninviting sticks.

Here's the irony about stick season recreation though: it is, without a doubt, the most important time of the year for Metro Detroiters to hit the trail. Especially with our region's shorter days this time of year, clinical studies unfortunately show that mental health conditions plummet in the offseason months. Additionally, a significant portion of our population simply cannot afford to lose out on months of physical, outdoor recreation due to our region's high rates of preventable health conditions.

A critical benefit of hiking during stick season also includes the simple act of accomplishing a difficult, rewarding task. By choosing not to wait out poor weather on the couch - opting instead to subject yourself to southeast Michigan's raw elements - you will unleash the floodgates of resiliency benefits that correlate directly with such feats. In fact, leading research shows that the more difficult the task, the more profoundly you will experience the neurological benefits associated with challenging your status quo.

The Expedition Detroit team packed this mindset with us on our recent visit to Bald Mountain State Recreation Area in Rochester, Michigan. We picked one of our region's more challenging trails, on a pouring, muddy January afternoon, at a destination that we had yet to visit. Our goal was to recreate in the least hospitable conditions possible. The virtually nonexistent number of fellow hikers solidified that we were on the right track.

"Perfect," I said audibly at the empty East Graham Lake trailhead. "Now the adventure really begins."

MEET BALD MOUNTAIN STATE RECREATION AREA

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