I've Got the Hiking Itch

 
No, that's not hiker's itch, it's HIKING ITCH. You know, that insatiable desire to go out and walk, preferably on my favorite North Country Trail. So, that's just what I did. I went in the morning before it was supposed to rain.

This is Jenks Creek. There's plenty of water in it in the spring, and without all the understory, you can really see how it wanders through the landscape.



I loved this landscape. The entire thing is on one side of a fallen tree, but couldn't you just go exploring there if you were small?



Connected with Sterling Marsh where I was a few days ago. The ice is all gone. See that line in the water far out there?



There are ducks making that line in the water. I shot a couple of pictures, but couldn't see what they were until I got them on the computer. Ring-neck Ducks! This is a male.



This picture isn't as good, but there is a female with them, so I'll show you.



And a little Brown Creeper working its way up a tree. They can walk down headfirst!



The world is still very brown and gray, but it's beginning to liven up a little bit. Today warmed up very nicely- into the 50s. And the rain didn't show up until later than expected, so I could have gone and painted blazes, but I didn't know that ahead of time. Supposed to get cold again tomorrow.

Hike 100 Challenge 2020 is at 41 miles.

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI, Jenks Rd parking to north of 76th St and back. 5+ miles

In other news: I got groceries, and didn't have any trouble finding what I needed.

See Rediscovering Jenks Creek

Spirit of the Woods Hike - April 2016

 
Wow! 21 people (and 3 dogs) showed up for the hike today. Only one group cancelled out because of the snow. As it turned out the weather was great and the woods were beautiful. The predicted wind didn't kick up till after I was safely home, and the temperature was just above freezing.



We hiked the North Country Trail from 76th St to 96th St, which is the section through Sterling Marsh. The water was high, and we really appreciated the boardwalks. There were still some soggy spots, but before the boardwalks you never would have been able to walk this section in spring without getting totally wet feet.

You've seen Jenks Creek in summer. It was really pretty today with the fresh and clingy snow.



The busiest hiker, by far, was and always is Lily the beagle. She is a beagle's beagle and has to explore every hole and log and nook and cranny. However, I actually managed to catch her without her nose poked into somewhere.



At this time of year, Sterling Marsh is really a pond. This piece has some open water all year, but you'll only see it like this in spring. This is the location of the interesting curled reeds.



We've had a number of new people at our recent hikes, which is a lot of fun. It's great to make new friends who enjoy hiking. With such a large group we quickly broke into smaller confabs. I ended up in the rear because the group took off gung-ho while I was still putting my tripod away. That was fine. I chatted with Bob and Patti (Lily's humans), which was nice because I don't see them too often. We caught up with these guys who were getting acquainted.



I had to try an artsy shot, right? The shallow water made great reflections.


Miles toward the 100-mile challenge added, 4.1. Good times? Immeasurable. Ability to stay awake any longer when I got home? None.

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Jenks Creek Again

 
I had just one case to do today, so I took Maggie and we went for a little hike afterwards. We followed the section of North Country Trail that parallels Jenks Creek. I've taken you there before, a couple of years ago. See Rediscovering Jenks Creek

We need rain really badly. There was hardly any water in the creek. It wasn't even flowing, really, so I didn't bother to take a picture. Here's the trail bridge. Maggie seems to be inspecting the decking.



Although the day was starting to really heat up, the woods was shady and cooler than the open areas. I was glad we went today since the next few days are supposed to be brutally hot.



We walked as far as Sterling Marsh. If that sounds familiar, it's the general area where our trail club built the big boardwalk over the past few years. That's the next section south from where I went today. The north end of the marsh has open water, and it's where Jenks Creek arises. It's a beautiful place, and eventually we'll be creating accessible trail to this point for birdwatching or just soaking in the peace.



Much to my surprise, I saw several unexpected plants, so I'll be sharing those tomorrow. Good stuff!

We walked just under three miles. Pretty short, but long enough, since the humidity was starting to rise.

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Rediscovering Jenks Creek

 



Today was our trail club's regular monthly hike. We just managed to sneak it in before gun deer season which starts tomorrow. Most hikers choose to leave the woods to the hunters for those weeks. Too many accidents happen.

But after the group broke up, I chose to hike an extra two miles. This is a section of trail that I've hiked at least 3 other times. But I had completely forgotten how it follows the lovely little Jenks Creek here. Most people don't even know it's there at all. See the road crossing? Just a guardrail. Modern road building certainly makes it easy for travelers to be completely unaware of landscape features, especially small ones like creeks.



Following the trail, there are places where you can get a clear view of the creek. It may be more noticeable in the woods this fall because we had such a wet October and has flowing water. Here it looks like a definite stream bed, but in many places it is braided and becomes swampy in its small floodplain.



This is a very typical look at the creek bed. There was actually quite a bit of motion to the water. I always like how the tape grass seems to flow like green water in the current. The streams in these woods look so brown because of all the tannins from the oak leaves.



You know that I just find textures and patterns fascinating. So the final three pictures are just sunlight on the water at various places along the stream.



Any little trickle of water can become a wonderful palette for the impressionistic brush of sun and shadow.



I hope you enjoyed the little journey along Jenks Creek with me. This afternoon, thanks to the clearing reported yesterday, I mowed all my trails in back of my house, getting them ready for snow. The skiing is much better when I get the weeds and berry canes cleared. It was hard to think about snow under the blue skies today, but it IS mid-November!

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