Snowy Riverside Walk

 I am determined to do a little bit that will help inprove my stamina. I went for a short walk today at Scottville Riverside Park. I was hoping some of the paths would be plowed but nothing was. I managed to walk around for about 15 minutes, but the snow was crusted and uneven, so I settled for that.

This is the view up the Pere Marquette River that I often take while at the park. The pictures are gray and fuzzy because it decided to start to snow fairly hard after lunch.

I took all of these pictures from the same viewing platform. That's how close all these features were to each other. Sloppy, loose ice floes were gliding down near the center of the river.

Near the bank, some of that slushy ice was being swirled against the edge. It ended up looking like clouds or a reflection of clouds in the water.

Just upstream from these, where the river makes a sharp bend, the current has cut scallops into the icy bank. This seems odd to me, that the scallops point into the river.

Again, I managed 90 total minutes of work computer time before my eye began to hurt. But I seem to be able to look at words on paper for a little extra time. I did more light work tasks that don't require much of my eyes. (Things like cleaning the bathroom- exciting, right?) Medicine is down to the eyedrops and 5 ibuprofen a day. (I will keep trying to cut it, but right now, the 5 is borderline). And I'm still sleeping with an icepack on my face. I think it is helping to promote the healing of the neuralgia.

File this under the heading of "good to knoe." I learned that you can only borrow 8 books a month through Hoopla. I've got a couple more free audiobook options, but the selections aren't as good. I was in the middle of a series I really like, but I'll have to wait till March to listen to more.

See P is for Pere Marquette River

Just a Few Scottville Pictures

  I walked down to Riverside Park today. The trail I used to walk there has fallen into complete disrepair, but there is still a small loop. They do have a new sign.

This huge glacial erratic rock used to be in town, but it was moved down here a number of years ago.

Someone's late garden has pure pink gladiolas, and one of the hostas with large white flowers.

Growing in the "wild" was this Trumpet Vine (or Cow-Itch vine!), Campsis radicans. It's very showy, and it's native.

In other news, I worked on required things in the morning, and walked and gardened in the afternoon. This is really the schedule of a perfect day in my opinion. I'm trying to make it the general plan of my "normal" life.

Miles walked in 2024: 411.2

See Walking Tour du Ludington

Old Engine Club Grounds

  I was out and about today, so I decided to take a short walk at the West Michigan Old Engine Club grounds in Scottville, thinking the footing would be better on the gravel roads. Ha! It was oozy-slimy. But I went around the loop anyway.

I like how they repurposed an old gas station sign.

The big attraction at the park to me is the Pere Marquette River. I've showed you this same view numerous times over the years, but I never get tired of it.

Sometimes the trees against the sky are attractive, even without leaves.

In other news: I worked a little bit on all my current projects, went to the library and the bank, and did grocery shopping. I'm calling this a highly productive day.

See Summer Morning at the Park

Summer Morning at the Park

  Another boiling hot day here. The best thing I accomplished was meeting the Scottville City Manager at Scottville Riverside Park to talk about trail restoration and to look at one section together.

It was already standing-still-sweating hot at 9:30, but the river was very pretty. The new City Manager is a hometown boy who has come back to the area. He's excited about the park, and although he's being pulled in a hundred directions at once, he's planned an initial work day already. We had a good walk and talk.

There is a wide stretch of wetland in back of the beginning part of the trail. Naturally, it's wetter in the early part of the season. Lots of beautiful blue flag, Iris versicolor, there. This is a native wild iris. Good plant to have. It's not unusual, but very pretty. Bad news is there is a ton of poison ivy.

Got a couple of poor pictures of another new dragonfly. I think this is a Gray Petaltail. It's the only large one in my book that is so uniformly dark with no markings on the wings. They are completely clear. That said, I'm a total amateur on the dragonfly ID.

To help confirm that, look at this picture. You can't even see the wings against the asphalt! The shadow of its body looks unobstructed.

Best find of the day? A whole patch of Indian Cucumber Root which I also showed you last week. You may recall this is a high-quality plant. And... got a nice picture of the tiny flower!

I had lots of plans, and most of them didn't happen. But I didn't just blow the day off, despite the heat. I edited. I did a couple of errands, I worked on the data book. I'm posting early in hopes that after my Zoom event this evening, I'll feel cool enough to get outside and do a couple of things. It could happen. It's certainly not happening in the middle of the 90-degree days.

See Lopping, No Loping

More Spring

  This seems to be an amazingly colorful spring. Maybe it's just lasting longer because the weather has stayed cool, holding the leaves in bud longer.

Cathy and I took a walk today at Scottville Riverside Park. We weren't trying for any big distance- actually we were trying to follow the cross-country race course that winds through the park. This picture is just along one of the old berms from the treatment ponds. I like the line of white-barked aspens on the left.

This ornamental crabapple sure is pretty.

There is a backlog of spring pictures from earlier in the week. Along the trail, I ran into a few small goldthread, Coptis trifolia. Although it grows in almost every county in Michigan, it's a little surprising to see it along the trail in the Manistee NF, because it likes damper conditions than most of the dry sandy ground along the trail. This isn't a great specimen; it usually grows in thick patches, often mixed with moss. The leaves to the right of the flower, and dead center, bottom are the ones for this plant. Interestingly enough, the white is not the petals, but the sepals. The actual petals are the yellow. It gets its name because it has fine, thread-like roots that are bright yellow.

Finally, I love sassafras in the spring. OK, I love it in any season. If you are driving along and see bright yellow-green buds reaching for the sunlight on up-curving twigs, it's probably sassafras.

The flower buds are just beginning to open.

In other news: I edited in the morning. Walked in the afternoon and remembered to go to bell choir practice. Plan to work on the Newaygo County Data Book some more this evening.

Scottville Riverside Park, Scottville, MI. Cross Country course and more. 3.7 miles

See Sassafras!

Mrs. Phoebe Gets Cozy

  This year, Mrs. Phoebe did more than visit the deck.

Why does she keep looking up?

Because she built a nest on top of the light box. No peeps emanating yet.

There was also a trip to Riverside Park for an interview. Spring is coming along nicely now! Compare to the same view in March at the link below.

In other news: Marie left early in the morning, and I went back to bed for a while. The trailer door did not leak. I chained myself to my computer and edited all day.

See Phoebe Rules the Back Yard See Hello River, My Old Friend

Scottville Riverside Park- The Sad Truth

  I think maybe the last time I tried to hike this trail was in 2015, and it had been pretty much abandoned then. You can imagine it has not improved on its own. But the water is really low right now, and I thought maybe I could find my way through. A bridge on the far side washed out, and that has made it an impossible walk most of the year (unless one likes wading) ever since.

Meanwhile- a definite sign of spring. Skunk Cabbage.

I won't give you the full blow-by-blow, but a sampling. The trail near the campground is partly in decent shape. This bit of infrastructure was built by the city maybe 15 years ago. It's holding up OK, but the loop on the far side of this bridge can barely be found any more.

Once you get through that section, the trail goes along the edge of the Old Engine Club grounds. That is kept mowed, so that part of the trail is fine, although there is only one remaining marker post so that people would have a clue where to go.

The next section is where it gets really dicey. Yes, this is the trail. This would need a lot of solid work to clean up, but it could be done.

Because the water was so low, I was able to get beyond the missing bridge, and come to the edge of the Pere Marquette River. Not much green yet, but always peaceful in this stretch.

I almost always find some nice reflection picture along here. Today, it was a mossy log

There is a large bottomland hardwood swamp between the old water treatment pond locations and the river. I've never seen it this dry. This is usually covered with water. I hiked all through it today in places you can't usually access without wading in muck.

Long story shortish... I got back to the edge of one of the old treatment ponds (now dry) and then cut across to the Engine Club area. Managed to dunk my feet on that part of the adventure, but not my butt, so it was fine. Then I went to the other end and hiked around the other direction, skipping that really messed up area I worked my way through earlier. The thing is, there is another place that is almost always covered with water, preventing hikers from closing the loop. It was completely dry today. This section of the trail is badly obscured with Japanese Barberry. Invasive, thorny, miserable. Needs to be removed.

On my trip around in this direction, there were some observers in addition to me. The earth "wall" behind her is the berm for one of the treatment ponds.

Anyway, it was a fun adventure- maybe 2.5 miles. The original loop was 1.5. I did that and then an abbreviated second time around in the other direction.

I keep forgetting to tell you the signs of spring that I didn't get pictures of: peepers, chorus frogs, a muskrat, the pheobe came to my deck today, sandhill cranes, turkey vultures... they are all showing up!

In other news: I attended a couple of virtual Easter services, listened to my Easter music playlist, and did a bunch of editing.

See Trail Lost

Hello, River, My Old Friend

  Made a stop at the Scottville Riverside Park today to see if the Pere Marquette River was beginning to look spring-like. I think so. Pretty much ice free. Blue sky = blue water.

The Red Osier Dogwood is starting to color up. That's typical for March.

And here's a nice pattern picture. This was a reflection of some trees in the river.

It's really all other news: I painted for 6 hours again today and did a little bit of editing. I'm tired, but it's all good.

See P is for Pere Marquette River

Riverside Ice

 
Had to get gas today, and decided to go a little farther and take a walk at Scottville Riverside Park. This used to be one of my favorite short walks near home, but the city has defintely abandoned the trail. I wasn't sure I'd get very far, but the view of the Pere Marquette River from the parking lot is always pretty.



I looked to see if you could get across to the trail, where the water is often too deep, but it was passable, so I kept going.

The best finds were interesting bits of ice. This one, with the help of its reflection, looks like a large water strider leaping to escape.



A translucent topographic map.



Reflections are always worth a second look.



And my favorite, a display of crystal chimes waiting for the river to play a tune.



Want to see that closer?



I was able to follow the river to the place where there is no longer a bridge. But the water must be low. I was able to get across the swampy area and climb around above the drainage creek. I tried to follow the rest of the trail "backwards," but encountered a really messy downed tree across another bridge. I guess even that section isn't being maintained at all. The city put in a disc golf course, and no longer does anything with the trail. Makes me sad, but then again, I haven't run to town to volunteer to do the maintenance.

So I took one of the service roads back through the Old Engine Club grounds, and returned to my car. A nice walk. Since the "trail" is very much over-run by poison ivy in the summer, this was a good time of year to check it out.

In other news: I repotted a plant and wrote two chapters. OK, the second one is not quite done, but I will finish it before I let myself read.

	See same view different season
if you like this blog, click the +1   or