A Tour of the NCT North of 76th St

A group of people met today to hike on the NCT. Quite a group showed up- 15 people. This wasn't an official SPW hike, so I didn't feel constrained to try to connect with others. What I wanted to do was hike fast, and I did so. This meant I didn't spend much time with hardly anyone. If you were there and felt I wasn't friendly, I apologize.

It started out at freezing, but was up to 44° before I finished.

I thought I'd just give you a little tour of the trail because there's not much green stuff yet. Very soon after you leave the trailhead on 76th St (Lake County), you join an old railroad bed for just over a half mile. That is the former Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad that was completed to Ludington in 1874.

In about another mile, you enter a fenced corridor that people mostly hate and do not understand. Actually, it's a good thing. The trail passes through about a quarter mile of property belonging to the Pere Marquette Rod and Gun Club. The pathway is fenced because, as a hunt club, there is the possibility of shooting there at any time of year. Keeping hikers on the path is a real safety issue. And the trail needs a way to connect two sections of National Forest. We are thankful for the safe passage. Even though the fence is broken down in quite a few places, please stay in the corridor.

In another 3/4 mile, you'll come to a small creek that has no name. There are two wooden bridges across this. There's also a fair amount of corduroy turnpike that was installed at least 15 years ago made from cedar logs. It could use some work, but it's held up pretty well. That creek flows down the bluff to the Pere Marquette River.

Just a short walk farther, you'll see an old road bench angling down toward the river. This is indeed part of an old road that connected with Gleason's Landing Campground. Now, there is no bridge. You'd have to swim the river to get there from the trail! (Or have someone with a watercraft to transport you.) This is a good landmark because it's just about 2 miles from the trailhead.

But I was going farther today. In another 3/4 mile the trail crosses a "ditch" on a small plank bridge. On Avenza, this shows as a significant creek. Ha! I have never, ever, in 28 years seen any water in it.

Several of the hikers had set a goal of 7 miles total, and that sounded good to me too. That meant our turnaround point was the north end of the turnpike our chapter built two years ago. I last hiked there from the other direction with Monica (link below).

After a little snack, I headed back and passed the hikers who were still outbound. I caught up with Miki and Eamon and stayed with them a little while. Miki is doing great! She hiked 6 miles today. And it's Eamon's third birthday.

This is the longest hike I've done this season yet. I'm not too sore or stiff, but I am tired. I got some other things done today, but not a lot.

Miles walked in 2026: 115.9
NCT Hike 100 Challenge 2026:24.6

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI. 76th St TH north for 3.5 miles and back.

See 100 Miles for Monica

Philadelphia Flower Show 2026 - Miniatures I

You know I love the miniature entries in the Standard Flower Show at Philadelphia. But it's very hard to get good pictures through the plexiglas. And you can't take extra time to try to get a good shot because there is a long line to see them and you have to keep moving. Anyway...

This group is described as "A Moment in Time, a setting for an event somewhere in the world, prehistoric to 1900"

The white ribbon went to "The Dawn of Independence" by a high school. They said, "Step inside the room where it happened on July 4, 1776."

The judges liked the details but said the plant material obscured some of those details." I would add that there wasn't very much plant material.

There were two yellow ribbons. This one is "Memento Mori," by a father-daughter pair. "The eve of Pompeii's inescapable doom."

The judges said the background was expertly done but that there were too many components and it lacked focus.

The other yellow went to "The End of an Era," by a single individual. "During the late Cretaceous in a lush sub-tropical forest."

The judges liked the plant material but said the waterfall was poorly done."

There were also two red ribbons. One went to "Marco Polo's Silk Road Journey," by a single individual. "It's 1295. Marco Polo's caravan is returning to Vinice on the Silk Road from the court of Kubla Kahn."

The judges said the angled buildings created depth, but they didn't like the eagle (which isn't in the picture).

The other red went to "Sparks Fly in Ben Franklin's Garden," by two individuals. "A bright idea is aboout to strike, sparking a scientific revolution."

The judges really liked the lighting, but said the gazebo overwhelms the exhibit.

What you can't tell is that the daylight alternated with dark blue flashes like lightning. It was well done.

And the blue ribbon went to "Philadelphia's Centennial Exhibit Opening Day 1876," by two individuals. "The exotic plants, nourished by skillful cultivation inspire wonder and delight."

The judges said, "Exceptional plant material and exquisite craftmanship... Spectacular!"

I'm sharing two pictures of this one.

And it also had an upper level. There were 31 different species of plants used. Without a doubt, this one deserved first place.

I worked on all my projects today, had bell practice, and went to the grocery store. It rained hard outside with lights and booms!

See PFS 2026- Phoenix Rising

Crocus, Past and Present

When I first began my rock garden around 1995, I had a little more money, a big dream, and a fair amount of naivete. I planted a lot of things that just weren't destined to thrive on my sunny dry hill.

But one of the more reasonable expectations was for a lot of bulbs. However, the small rodents felt that I had simply filled their candy dish. Very few remain. Here are three that bloomed for a few years. The pictures are grainy because I only had a few shots that were very small and I tried to blow them up.

This one is called 'Blue Ice.' It was a favorite because of the blue outside and the white inside. Picture is from 2003.

I'm pretty sure these are 'Blue Ice,' still coming up in 2009. And I think I have a picture of a bud from 2013. I may have had one come up in 2024, but if so, it migrated downhill, so I'm not certain it's a 'Blue Ice.'



Here's another called 'Firefly' that I last saw in 2003. It was lavender with a yellow throat.

Here'a another from 2003. This is called 'Tricolor.' They are lilac, white and yellow. Haven't seen one since then.

One that has survived, at least minimally, is 'Zwanenburg Bronze.' I think one bloomed last year, and I see one this year. I like that they have a deeper color that shows up well on the hill. I'd be really happy to see this spread a bit. You know, crocus are known to do that, but mine can't seem to get with the program.

Last year, I reported finding a pale yellow crocus in the lawn down where the old house was. I think this has to be a remnant of some my mother gave me, maybe in the 1980s. I dug it up and moved it to the rock garden. Here it is! It's had two blooms this year.

And surprise! Three white crocus have now come up in the lawn down by that old garden. I've marked them so I can move them up here too.

In other news: I edited, I took apart the big puzzle, I started the taxes, I did my road loop (the temp was in the 60s and I couldn't stay inside all day!), I worked on a couple of projects.

Miles walked in 2026: 108.9

Road walk- 3 miles.

See So Early! Too Early?

100, Not 100

Took advantage of the beautiful weather to get in a little hike today. Went to the all-too-familiar Timber Creek trailhead on the NCT. Closest to my house.

It's way too early for any signs of spring. Best I can do is some signs of wildlife. At least one pileated woodpecker has been going nuts. Several dead or dying trees were totally shredded. I'm identifying the culprit by this distinctive pattern in one of the trees.

Evidence of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker presence with these parllel lines of holes in a piece of bark. Also a woodpecker. I saw a Downy woodpecker but got no picture. Only other wildlife was a squirrel.

The trail was almost completely clear of snow. There was some yet in the bottom of the "bowl" the trail passes.

I did find one fungus on a stick. It's probably amber jelly roll, Exidia recisa.

My goal was to walk 6 miles- on my way to increasing the mileage this spring. This is just proof that I made it to 8th St, the three-mile mark before I turned around.

So, this puts me over 100 miles for the year, but not 100 on the NCT. No worries; I'll get there.

Miles walked in 2026: 105.9
Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 17.6

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI. Timber Creek north to 8th St and back. 6 miles

BONUS SECTION: Today is Palm Sunday, my most favorite Sunday of the Christian calendar. I had a YouTube playlist with a lot of music specific for the day, but guess what? It's gone, of course. Very strange. My Christmas list is there, but this one and Easter are gone. I managed to recreate most of this one.

If you too like Palm Sunday and the Triumphal Entry, here's the link (I hope) to my list. Palm Sunday Music. There are 17 songs (one is repeated because I like both recordings, although neither is the one I had in the old playlist).

See 1.4 Miles, Two Counties

Anton Seder Puzzle Finished!

The 2000-piece puzzle is finished and not a moment too soon. I need that table to do the taxes, and I sure need to get cracking on that project! The puzzle was a gift from Omer. Very nice, Om! Puzzle, botany, hard enough to be a challenge.

This is an art work by the German artist Anton Seder (1850-1916). His work is considered Art Nouveau. I had not previously heard of him. Most of his work seems to be detailed panels of naturalistic themes. Here's the whole puzzle although the colors look richer in real life. It seems to be unnamed.

In general the theme of this piece is botany. It's stuffed with plants, some of them with Latin labels.

This is more like 50 or more tiny puzzles. I quit trying to count all the different spaces. Some are as small as 1x2 inches. There are about 10 of what I'd call major sections. Thus, this became a giant sorting puzzle. Ask yourself, "Is this maroon piece with strawberries on the edge like this maroon piece with gold leaves?" Once you got all the similar pieces together, it wasn't too hard to assemble them. Then you just needed to connect the sections.

Here is one of my favorite panels with a woodland scene.

Most were more stylized plants like these three parallel panels with lilies.

I liked this one a lot with the Prussian blue background and daisies.

This one was the hardest. There was so much tiny detail that even sorted it was hard to find the connections.

It won't get to stay up long because, as I said, I need the table.

I edited, I worked on some projects, I finished the puzzle.

See Leaving the Puzzle Behind