It was hot today. The official word is that it didn't hit 90 degrees, but my internal thermometer was right up there and I wilted. Even my perpetually chilly dog was warm enough! So here's one more "refreshing" story from my Upper Peninsula hike.
Pictured above is the beaver dam that has created a pond from Little Bear Creek. It's a lovely setting. The dam is that line of sticks and mud on the whole right edge of the picture. The only trick is that you have to walk the dam to follow the trail. The chances of not dunking at least one foot on that crossing were pretty low. But it didn't matter, I was already wet to the knees...
The small bridge across the creek that I had just crossed sunk as soon as I walked out on it! I might have cared, but I was less than 3 miles from the car. I just wanted to get away from the mosquitoes!
I had completely dried out by the time I got to the car, but look at the funny scum that stuck to my boots. The color isn't good in the picture; it's actually a green like the patina on old copper.
So, you ask, what is the good part here? Look what I got a picture of in the middle of the dam. I didn't see the beaver, but I got a great picture of his/her footprint to add to my track collection!
I did a lot of posts with tracks last winter. Here are some of them:
See Our Common Mustelid
See Wimpy Dog and Porky Paws
See Fox Spoor
See Maggie's Bad Day
7 comments:
That looks like it was FUN!! Now it was 94 here today so whats all the fuss about approaching 90? It must be humidity, right?
HA!! My word verification is FUNICA!
Here come your post with tracks again, great!!!
Love the footprint! Thanks for sharing your walk with is!
In my opinion right now, mosquitoes are the worst. Even so, I'd love to see a beaver dam up close. The picture of the pond is great. That's my kind of place. I love the beaver tracks too.
Oh, I like when you do footprints!
Julia! I don't do 90s. (if I could just enforce that rule with the atmosphere) But, yes, it's the humidity.
Hi Walk in the Woods- I bet you see lots of prints on your forays!
Ratty- The beavers are pretty active along most of the NCT. But most of the places where you hike are managed more to keep the beavers and the trails separated. They can really devastate trails. But they are awesome! Can you see how the dam drops off to the right? It was about 4 feet high.
Lin- I'd love to do even more, but they can be harder to find in the summer!
Rainfield! How did I miss you? I would like to include more summer tracks, but they are much easier to find in snow!
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