Day 114, Wednesday July 25, 2018, Germfast MI, Welcome rain, Sandhill Cranes on the road

The SANDHILL CRANES were  beautiful along the roadside east of Munising , There were females with young, (very small) and adults with adolescents, a total of nine in all. They seemed to be in a 20 mile stretch on highway M28, feeding in the trimmed roadsides . That was a treat.

 The drive to Germfask was a relatively short trip , some 75 miles, so we were able to arrive just after noon and set up camp early. It felt good to have some time to relax early in the afternoon.

This is a campground that had a CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp from 1935 to 1945 at the end of the war. Many projects emanated from this camp and the only evidence that we can see  of it being  here is a very long cement sidewalk that might have been the walk in front of old barracks  where the men were housed. Research tells that it was also used during WW2  as a POW camp (Prisoner of War).

Taken from the files, this is the Germfask CCC camp in the 1930's.

It is certainly isolated and any prisoner would have had a very difficult time escaping from here especially in the winter. It is surrounded by swamps and heavy forest and the only road is the one that leads to the camp in both directions, north and south.

Our friends from church, the Mays (Steve and Deb) came up to visit us for two days while we were here. They stopped at Hartwick Pines to visit that camp also used in CCC days as well as WW2. There is a museum there that depicts the lumbering days of the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s when “Pine was King”. Virgin Pine (original) are still standing in a grove there. THose trees originated before the Civil War (1860)

A logging wheel that would be able to carry one log .They were huge.

So, this is a short blog as the rains came right after dinner (we ate at a local restarant here in Germfask) called “Jolly Inn”) . We ate a variety of items consisting of a Philly Hoagie, salads, pork ribs and Prime Rib. The only other photo tonight is the one of the trailer in the park. We did see a NORTHERN FLICKER  fly over after dinner.

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