This cache celebrates Ralph Mezel who passed away in 2015 and for whom this trail is named. This northern section of trails, Lost, Ralph’s and Found were not accessible from Murray Lake, without veering into potential head on traffic, until 2010 when the Michigan Mountain Biking Association (MMBA) built the bridge over the creek near the Rustic Campground. These would have been rebel trails before local riders began working with the Park Service. Ralph was one of those rebels. He began cutting challenging single-track trail from Bauer Rd. to connect his home in Pine Creek Ridge with the Murray Lake Trail.
In 2014 a tornado cut through the far end of Lost Loop. Ralph was already quite ill with stomach cancer, but he and friends were out the next day clearing trail so that the section now known as Tornado Ally would be clear for riders in 3 days.
Those in Ralph’s cohort were known for their Century Ride which included all the trails at Brighton Recreation, Island Lake, and Highland Recreation in one day. Given that a Century Ride begins with the first mile, this cache is near the 1-mile marker of Ralph’s ride.
The cache is a repurposed spice container, that won’t quite fit a pen so please BYOP and sign the log.