A Walk at the Conservation Park

  I really couldn't talk myself into a roadwalk today. The sun was hot and pavement didn't appeal. I had to go to the grocery store anyway, so Cathy and I went to the relatively new Pere Marquette Conservation Park for a walk. It's not much farther of a drive.

If you are local and keeping track, you know that there are huge plans for this property which will make it a recreation mecca. Meanwhile, I think the first thing that's happening is a fishing access on the north side of the river. We were on the south side, and over here, not much has changed yet. The "trails" are old graveled "haul roads," from when this was Dow Chemical property.

Still, they are mostly OK to walk. There was a reasonable amount of shade. This particular location was inviting.

There are views of the south side of Pere Marquette Lake, and the clear air and sun made for beautiful water. The buildings across the way are Oxychem, which used to be Dow. The property for this park, 300 acres, was all purchased from them.

I don't get very excited by deer. They are everywhere. But this lady put on a nice pose, so hey...

There was just a little breeze, but it was enough for this sailboat to be moving along at a steady pace. This is again Pere Marquette Lake.

This is a feature that I enjoy. The bare space at the bottom of this hill is part of what was once the grade of the Mason and Oceana Railroad. It was built for lumber and passenger service, but it never connected with any of the major lines. It ran from Buttersville (the village on this side of Pere Marquette Lake, across from Ludington), through Riverton, Wiley, Crystal Valley, and Walkerville. It's farthest extent was a place long gone called variously, Maple, Maple Range, and Beaver. There were 35 miles of track at its longest. As the lumber era came to an end, so did the railroad. There is a possible plan to make the section of the grade through the park into a multi-use trail.

Now for today's botany. The two single trees in that first picture are Horsechestnuts, Aesculus hippocastanum. There are six leaflets in the palmate leaf. (the sixth one is at the top left, a bit more wilted than the others). Lots of fruits on the ground. There is a spiny nut pod, and then the smooth brown seed inside. I popped a couple out of their shells, and they are right off the tip of the lower right leaflet. You can easily tell Horsechestnut from Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra). B-U-C-K has 4 letters and 5 leaflets. H-O-R-S-E has 5 letters and 6 leaflets. There are usually 1 or 2 shiny brown nuts with the characteristic light spot in each pod.

When I got home from the walk and the store, I made a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. It just sounded good. And it was. Spent the rest of my time doing dumb stuff that needed to be done. I didn't get to sleep until 4 am- just kept working on a project and didn't want to stop. Consequently, there may be an early bedtime tonight.

Miles walked in 2024: 468.6

Pere Marquette Conservation Park, Ludington, MI. 2.8 miles

See Pere Marquette Conservation Park