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Saturday, November 12, 2011

Hiking at Pine Valley Pathway


I had a whole lot of things I needed to get done today, but because the weather was supposed to be nice I really wanted to go hiking. So, I spent the morning scrambling like crazy, to be able to get enough done that I could head to the woods after lunch.

My big goal was to visit Pine Valley Pathway, in the Pere Marquette State Forest near Luther. I'm pretty sure I was there once about 20 years ago, but had completely forgotten that it was fairly close by.

These trails are for hiking and skiing. This shot looks just like a thousand others in the brown woods, but they are all great when I get to walk them.

dog in brown woods

I love to look for the little secret details that are still beautiful. Here are some raspberry leaves, turned toward the sun. Yes, the sun came out! It was in the high 50s, and I was hiking in shirtsleeves.

raspberry leaves

The trails wander through some gentle hills. I think I would be able to ski even the one marked difficult. At the southern end, the trail turns past a small wetland. You can see open water out there in the cattails.

cattail marsh at Pine Valley Pathway

I just like this:

stump with oak leaf

We hiked about 7 miles, and made it home before dark to get the clothes off the line. Then I made Butternut- Garbanzo Bean Soup. It's quite good.

I think you'll see more of Pine Valley Pathway tomorrow.



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9 comments:

rainfield61 said...

That's another great day.

Have a nice Sunday.

Duxbury Ramblers said...

Another wonderful walk - love the mini pond :)

Karen and Gerard said...

That looks like our woods right now with all the golden brown leaves covering the ground and the bare trees.

john bain said...

The weather is very similar here. A lovely sunny day, in the 50's. Perfect for a walk.

Secondary Roads said...

What a great day. That soups must have been fabulous. That's a great way to top off a great day. :)

Ann said...

Pine Valley Pathway, I even like the name. I like that shot of the leaf in the tree stump too

Lin said...

Beautiful! We had warm weather here today too. The wind was crazy though--blowing all the leaves all over the neighborhood....and Hobbes trying to catch them all.

Those paths are gonna be covered in snow in no time. :(

Sharkbytes said...

rainfield- it was worth all the hurrying to finish my work in the morning

carol- that one was "free" - it wasn't on the map

karen- yup! all the eastern woods look pretty much like that right now

john- yes, I think those temps are ideal for hiking

chuck- it is the first time I've tried that recipe, and I like it a lot. The beans help make it really filling

Ann- the saw marks on the stump make such an interesting pattern

Lin- wind here today too. The snow means I can get out the snowshoes :-)

RNSANE said...

I often race through chores to do something fun. Your hikding day sounded wonderful. And so did that soup - I love soup and will have to try your recipe one of these days.