NCT 50 Miler - Hodenpyl Dam to Spring Lake Campground - June 2025
Summary
In June of 2025, we ran 50 miles along the North Country Trail (NCT) in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. This was the furthest single-day effort either of us had accomplished and was a significant milestone in the world of ultra running.
AllTrails
The majority of our 50 miles overlapped with the following three AllTrails routes. We started early, running out of Hodenpyl Dam and ended at Spring Lake State Forest Campground.
AllTrails Route 1, AllTrails Route 2, Alltrails Route 3
Where
Hodenpyl Dam and Spring Lake State Forest Campground are landmarks along the North Country Trail in Michigan’s Northern Lower Peninsula. The closest major town to this area is Cadillac.
Logistics
Given this was another point-to-point adventure, we needed to spend extra time planning out logistics. The two biggest factors in addition to being point-to-point were finding a stretch along the NCT with parking that resulted in a 50 mile distance, and finding a stretch with ample water sources given we were doing this in June, one of Michigan’s warmest months.
Through some research on the North Country Trail Association’s website, we were able to narrow down our options to three distinct routes, and ultimately landed on what you see here, largely based on proximity to water throughout the day, and pre/post run logistics. We stayed the remainder of the weekend at Interlochen State Park, which resulted in 30 minutes pre and 1 hour post event driving.
Hiking / Trail Running
The day prior we needed to drop one car off at Spring Lake State Forest Campground, to be our ending destination for the event. We strategically left a cooler in that vehicle to have cold drinks waiting for us after a long day on trail. Thankfully, the NCT runs right through this Campground and there is overnight parking that is free (assuming you have your permit on your license plate).
From there, we drove to Interlochen State Park to set up our base camp for the long weekend. We chose to grab a pre-race dinner at Hofbrau Steak House & American Grille in Interlochen to make things easy and stay close to camp. We enjoyed wings and jambalaya, while thinking about what was to come the following day.
That night, we talked through last minute adjustments to our timeline. We considered starting running without sleeping as early as 10PM. As one can imagine, there are a lot of nerves and thoughts that pass through hours before taking on a big challenge like this.Ultimately, we agreed that starting around 2:30 would be the happy medium, considering it offered us 1.5 hours extra early start, but afforded us 4.5 hours of sleep instead of pulling an all-nighter.
Once we heard the alarms on our phones, we knew it was real. Thankfully we had been here before, after having done the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 40 miler and were able to grab all of our needed gear in just a few minutes. From there, we needed to hop in our car and make the 30 minute drive to our starting line, Hodenpyl Dam.
Photo from our trailhead at our 2:30 start
Starting out at 2:30AM, was both exciting and daunting. It was great to be back out for an all-day adventure, but also presented the reality of the day ahead. Within a few minutes, I ran into my first mistake: not having charged my headlamp ahead of time. Thankfully, I was carrying two and was able to charge the other one while using my backup. This mistake would not be the most costly of the day!
Given there was not much to see for the first 2-3 hours, we really put our heads down and focused on covering miles. It also was the coolest part of the day, so was refreshing to see us chip away at our 50 mile goal early. Thankfully, this stretch was not very technical, relatively open, and had campgrounds as milestones along the way.
Upon passing through this first section of the day, we started to embark on a much more remote experience. Leaving the Hodenpyl Dam area really meant leaving society behind as well. We saw 1 person all day throughout our adventure, but the upcoming trail sections truly felt remote from here!
Our first real photo of the day, as we pivoted away from the Hodenpyl Dam into the backcountry.
Thankfully the NCT is relatively easy to follow, given its blue squares and knowing this route would follow the manistee river for the majority of the day. This made for easy logistics and minimal stops to ensure we weren't off trail or getting lost. One aspect we hadn’t accounted for was the level of ticks we’d contend with throughout the day. We had heard the tick density across Michigan is continuing to increase, given our on average warmer winters, however this was certainly an exception to our norm. For perspective, throughout all of the outdoor hiking, running and mountain biking I’ve done in the last decade, I’ve had about 3-5 ticks on me in my life. This day alone, I had somewhere between 30-40! Tick type identification is an important skill/habit to acquire when spending lots of time outdoors. In our case, although a nuisance, the types of ticks we were encountering were not the ticks typical of carrying Lyme disease.
After brushing off the first wave of ticks, we got back to business. The early start was really working in our favor, as we were able to knock out mile after mile with relative ease. When embarking on a long-distance adventure like this, it’s easy to “break down the day” into sizable chunks. For us, this meant establishing mini wins like 20 miles, 25 miles (halfway point), 40 miles, etc. We used to joke that having 10 miles in by 10 was a nice metric when doing some hiking or backpacking trips, and found it funny that this time around, we hit 28 miles by 10AM!
Taking a minute to take in the view, reflecting on what we had done by 10AM so far!
This joke came quickly to serve as a reminder for what we were up against. The first 20-30 miles of the adventure flew by with little to no unforeseen circumstances. We had slowed down throughout the day having to self-support, filter our own water, and take time for bathroom breaks, but we had accounted for this based on what we had learned throughout our 40 miler the year prior. Unfortunately, this is where I made the biggest mistake of the day. At around the 28 mile mark, I felt my shoes and feet causing me some issues. It seemed like my feet were slipping more in my shoes and I wanted to avoid any blistering. We still had 20-ish miles to go, and I knew they would not be as fast as the others, so I wanted to address this problem. Instinctively, I tightened up my shoe laces to offer more support and reduce friction between my shoes and my feet. I’d later regret this decision as my feet were beginning to swell, and this would only exacerbate the issue.
2-3 hours later, with around 15 miles to go, I started to feel the outcome of my bad decision. My left foot was starting to generate pain on the outer edge. I have had experience with foot pain and overuse injuries in the past, but this was still a bit unique relative to my past experiences. By this time, the pain was starting to impact my running form and mental state a bit. It’s at this point I entered the “pain cave” for the day. I knew that this was unlikely to get much better throughout the day, there were still several hours remaining, and there was really no good plan B if things got worse. I’d say this was probably the biggest “test” I’ve faced in ultra running so far!
Fortunately, not being alone made for good company, even in hard times. We were able to distract ourselves by playing mini games throughout the remaining miles. We built run/walk strategies and started to count the miles as we approached the last 10 to go! It was at this point we made a pivot from our original plan. With about 10 to go, we intersected with the NCT/Fife Lake loop southern terminus. We reviewed the logistics and decided to take the Fife Lake section knowing this would get us closer to finishing at 50 miles and be within a quarter mile of our car vs. a potential added 1.5 miles of walking. This may not seem like a big deal to someone reading this, but 1.5 miles after 50 miles sounds extremely daunting, especially in the shape we were in at this point!
Our last water source for the day, at the southern terminus of the Fife Lake / NCT Loop
Taking the Fife Lake loop was a great decision. The terrain was soft and flowy and offered great support when we needed it most. We continued our run/walk strategy throughout this last section, and as we approached “less than 5 miles to go”, we actually improved our spirits, motivation, and energy. Within 2-3 miles to go, we could start to hear the buzz of the highways nearby, which further motivated us knowing we were getting “close”. We both were lifted up by the thought of being done soon, to the point we agreed we’d run the entire last mile and a half, knocking out a “swift” 12:00 final mile!
We finished the 50 miles in eyesight of the entrance to our State Forest Campground. Excitement ran through us knowing we accomplished yet another challenge in the backcountry! The remaining quarter mile walk was tolerable, especially knowing cold drinks awaited us at our car, and nothing felt better than sitting down and resting, knowing our challenge was behind us!
A lot of steps go into 50 miles!
Conclusion
There was a great sense of accomplishment in having completed our next big challenge in the world of ultra running. We also learned a bit more through this experience, what we’re chasing after. 50 miles was a true physical and mental test. We agreed if we never go further, we’ve really lived what it means to do these kinds of adventures, and honed into what distance we enjoy most and what we value when pursuing these types of goals. Finding our limits was a valuable takeaway from this one, as at the end of the day, we’re really only doing this for us and for the enjoyment of the outdoors! Who knows what the future brings, but in the meantime, we can both say we know what 50 Miles feels like!
Photos
All photos were taken with my phone at the time, the iPhone 12 Pro
