Not Quite Spring, but No Snow

  Today, Loren and I did the same hike we did at the beginning of January (link below). However, it was much easier today with almost no snow on the trail. We started at 5 Mile Road and went south to cross the Big Sable River on the Vince Smith bridge. The boardwalk is the approach to the bridge through the floodplain wetland. You can see the bridge in the distance.

There is always a beautiful picture to be had of the Big Sable River.

The river and bridge are the best features of this stretch. From the river you climb about 100 feet to the top of a wide ridge and then drop back down again to 3 Mile Road, and just past that McCarthy Creek and Lake (beyond where we walked). So this section should also be remembered as one with a big climb and downhill no matter which direction you hike. Here is Loren starting down the slope in a valley toward 3 Mile Road.

I was trying hard to find things that weren't just brown and gray. You may recall that March is my least favorite month of the year. Well, I found a puddle of bright yellow-green moss on a stump.

The symmetric pattern of the bark flowing around the roots of this tree is intriguing.

Moss and lichen in a repeating pattern. I found this oddly appealing.

And a true hint of spring- also good with comparison to a year ago- Trailing Arbutus. Tiny tight buds. I compared them with the picture from a year ago, and they are just a little bit tighter than those. However, this is also 15 miles farther north, and spring "travels" about 15 miles a day. And we are still 4 days earlier than my pictures from last year. So, perhaps, everything is about on a par with 2020.

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI, 5 Mile Rd to 3 Mile Rd and back 7.5 miles total

North Country Trail miles in 2021 = 109

In other news: When I got home, I settled in and did some more editing, and also started reading a good book.

See 5 Mile to 3 Mile