Troutarama and the NCT

Our Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA has a new position called Communications Coordinator, and one of the duties of that person is to work on outreach opportunities to tell more people about the trail. Taylor's first big effort was to get us in the Troutarama Parade in Baldwin. She is in the yellow shirt.

The parade was a decent length and a lot of people turn out for this. (It's a four-day event with all kinds of activities)

We handed out candy and flyers about the trail.

I've shown you this once before, but this is the statue commemorating that Baldwin was where brown trout were first released in the United States in 1884.

The statue now has a very nice garden with a couple of benches around it.

And coneflowers

The parade got me some walking, and then I had to go right past the trail on the way home, so I stopped and got in some more miles.

It was a little cooler and a little less smokey. There is a lovely breeze that made life tolerable. Still, not much else happened. I didn't sleep well last night and had trouble getting up this morning.

Miles walked in 2026: 219.1
Hike 100 Challenge: 80
Onekama Challenge: 31

In Baldwin for the parade and to get to my car- 2 miles. NCT, Lake County, MI, Timber Creek to Wingleton Rd and back 4 miles.

See The Rest of Yesterday

Nagonaba Trail

 I'm in Paradise-- Michigan, that is. My author friend Jean and I came up together for the Wild Blueberry Festival, and she needed to make a business stop on the way in Northport. Well, if you live in Michigan, you know that Northport is not "on the way" to anywhere. It's almost at the end of the Leelanau Peninsula, a finger of land that juts into Lake Michigan west of Traverse City, forming the Grand Traverse Bay. But it's more on the way than making a separate trip.

I knew Jean had about an hour of work to do, so I had researched if there was some place to take a little walk, and had discovered that they have a small trail system, the Nagonaba Trail. I figured I'd check it out.

It turned out to be a delightful little place to explore. First off, I walked up to the Scenic Overlook on Braman Hill. You can drive up there, but Jean dropped me off at the parking area. I figured I'd explore as much as I had time for, so I walked up because someone said the view was worth it. From the overlook, you get a view of Grand Traverse Bay. It was a nice vista

I've been trying to find out what Nagonaba means but no luck so far. There is also a Nagonaba Street in Northport, so it may have been a name. I called the museum, but didn't get a human.

The trail is mostly natural surface, nicely maintained. It's multiuse, but not torn up by bicycles.

One section was boardwalk through a wetland, and there was Cardinal Flower blooming. The first I've seen this year.

Imagine my surprise when I took one of the branch trails to get back to meet Jean and discovered there is a big frog sculpture near Northport Creek!

I didn't have time to explore quite all of the trail system. There was another nice boardwalk that I would have liked to follow, but I was out of time. As it was, I walked 3.4 miles, and I give the trail system 4 out of 5 stars. It was nicely marked with several maps posted. The park had rec facilities (tennis, pickleball, basketball, toddler playground, skateboard park and clean restrooms). Most of the trail was nicely shaded, and there were occasional benches.

We are set up, with our canopies tied down tight against storms that are supposed to come tonight. We are staying with fellow vendors from Ludington, Steve and Brenda. Bill and Shirley, also vendors from Ludington joined us for dinner.

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 362.0.

Nabogama Trail, Northport, MI, various sections and streets, 3.4 miles

See An Adventure Day

Bernie's Very Bad, Very Good Day, and More

Today was non-stop, but the important things happened. Bernie was here all day. We spent the morning talking about things he should know concerning the trail in Vermont and the Adirondacks.

The reason for the title is that the afternoon was very good in that Bernie got some much needed dental work done. The bad part is that he has to deal with the pain of that and antibiotics on the trail, etc. Because you know he's not going to take any more time off. Hopefully, the pain of the dental work will be much less than the pain he's already been dealing with on the trail. He called every dentist in the county, and did find one that would see him.

While he was doing that, I took a little walk in Ludington. There is a little urban loop that goes along the marina and the channel. Here's the marina.

The Badger, the carferry, is sadly sitting in port. The rest of the sailing season is cancelled. The "apron," which is part of the dock, not the boat, collapsed and the removal and rebuilding is going to take months. Without that part, vehicles can not be loaded onto the ferry. You can see a crane already working behind her.

Kayakers were taking advantage of the protection of the breakwall to enjoy some time on Lake Michigan.

This is a relatively new addition to the Mason County Sculpture Trail. This is an actual propeller from the Badger that was damaged in ice. The date is not given, but it was many years ago when the ferries sailed year-round. You can see the big chunk missing from one of the blades.

When Bernie was released, we went shopping so he could get medication and supplies. We arrived home in time for a downpour! It only lasted for about a half hour. Southwest salad and corn bread for dinner.

One of the strangest and most humorous events from Loretta's arrival is that we have twin cars. Supposedly hers is 2012 and mine is 2013, but we can only find a couple of minor differences. The body and lights are exactly the same. They are the same color. Usually there are at least changes in the taillights from year to year. But unless one of us has a faulty title, they are not the same year. We both have NCT stickers. It's really weird. We've each gone out and momentarily thought we were in the wrong car!

So that's a total mish-mash of stuff from today. But that's how the day was. Bernie thinks he's going to be good-to-go to hike a full day tomorrow!

See Long Distance Hikers

The Elephant in the Room

  The elephant was literally in the room today. Or at least on the same street. Today and tomorrow are the Lakeshore Arts Festival in Muskegon. This is a huge outdoor festival.

The real elephant was the rain. There were a few moments here and there of no rain. OK, maybe only less rain. It really didn't seem to deter people from coming.

Over the course of a few years, Jean Davis has managed to negotiate for a nice space for the Michigan Authors group. A few cancelled because of the weather, but most of us showed up. We just used lots of plastic bags to keep the books covered.

However, it was supposed to run until 5pm. Around two, the rain became heavier, and the word came around that due to the threat of severe weather they were closing the show down immediately. We did get completely soaked trying to tear down in the really heavy rain that did not let up.

Now I'm spending the night with Jean. I'm sorry to tell you that I didn't take pictures of her very cute chickens and ducks. But she also has a really nice flower garden and I have a couple of pictures of that from the bedroom window.

Tomorrow's weather looks to be slightly better. That would be good. We will be open from 10-3.

See Lakeshore Arts Festival 2019

Hart Montague Rail Trail - Whitehall

  Today was the second day of the vendor event. It didn't start till 11:00 so I went early enough to take my walk before. Today I went south, toward Whitehall. Here's the appealing trail picture of the day

As you get closer to town there is more art. This is a fun one of sunflowers

Of course, a village on a lake that is connected to Lake Michigan is going to have a marina, and they are always good for a picture or two.

I made it to one of the larger community gardens maintained by the garden club before I had to turn around. There is this butterfly with stained glass wings!

And the garden has lovely plantings.

I'm not positive which Oenothera this is, but it's one of the evening primroses. There are a number of garden cultivars. THe flowers were almost 3" across.

And here's my mystery plant. At least it was a mystery, but I think I have it figured out. It's one of the Beardtongues, a Penstemon. Since most of them prefer dry prairie environments, but this one was in a wetland, that helps narrow things down. The insides of the flowers aren't particularly striped, but I think it is Foxglove Beardtongue, Penstemon digitalis.

In other news: It was beastly hot and humid. That took a lot out of me, but now it's cooling down and I'm finishing up getting ready to leave tomorrow. I did average sales today, but combined with yesterday, I did well!

Hart Montague Rail Trail, Muskegon Co, MI, through downtown and back 3+ miles

See Rail Trail at White Lake

Hart Montague Rail Trail at White Lake

  The vendor event went really well today, and the park we were at is right beside the Hart-Montague Rail Trail. So after we were done for the day, I went for a little walk. For a rail trail, it's pretty nice. There isn't a lot of it that is right out in the blazing sun, but this piece is particularly pretty.

I'm not a big fan of Canada Geese, but I'll admit they are handsome birds. The event and the trail are right along White Lake. The geese are literally ON White Lake.

This is a planted rose bush, but it's a variety that has blossoms more like wild roses. And the color is stunning. I did not play with this photo at all.

Another rather ordinary bird, a Redwing Blackbird, but he was showing off for me.

There are a lot of art installations along this trail in Whitehall, and I was very curious about this one, which was slightly off the trail, but you could walk to it. I thought there would be an interpretive sign, or at least the name of the artist. Most of the art pieces have a sign. Maybe this one is new. I don't remember it. Anyway, no sign. But I couldn't figure it out from a distance.

When I got right up to it, I learned that it's pretty cool. There are constructions of natural elements made with old tools or mechanical parts on the three legs. This part is cattails. The heads of the cattails are old springs.

In other news: I did well at the event, and it continues through tomorrow, so I'll be back there in the morning.

Hart Montague Rail Trail, Muskegon County, MI, 3+ miles north side of Whitehall

See Holiday Bike Ride

Philadelphia - Longer Riverwalk

 
We walked Rachel to work again this morning and bought groceries on the way home. Good weight-bearing exercise, haha. Then I wrote another chapter of The Lonely Donkey.

After lunch, the weather was gorgeous- just what I needed to perk me up (it's going to be hard to come home to 30 degrees)- and Marie and I took a much longer walk. In fact, David suggested we walk as far as we wanted and then he could pick us up so we didn't have to do a return walk.

Marie and I started by going back down to the Schuylkill River. We walked past where we did the other day. This far north, it's less urban and there is plenty of park space.



The nearby universities all have rowing clubs, and they were out practicing today. By the time we were finished walking, the river was covered with them.



I always seem to forget how much farther south Philadelphia is from where I live. This mockingbird was just checking out the scenery.



Philadelphia is filled with sculptures. I didn't take too many pictures today because I was intent on hiking. But I caught a few. I think I've seen pictures of this one and it's companion piece. This is "Settling of the Eastern Seaboard." You could keep a blog alive for a long, long time just covering all the sculptures.



Most of the time we were walking between the river and Fairmount Park. This is a 2000-acre park with portions on both sides of the river. It was really interesting to see former entrances, places where one could presumably park and then walk up the hill into the park, when the traffic on the road at the base of the hill was much less. I liked this one. I think you could still walk up into the park here.



Of course, I'm always trying to capture a really perfect water ripple pattern picture. I do like this one a lot.



The layers of bridges are fascinating. This was my best picture.



And finally, after David retrieved us, we cooked dinner. Marie had suggested stuffed zucchini boats. They were SO yummy! David brought home ice cream, too, so we had a great meal!



Talk about a perfect day with friends. The girls are doing their homework, and we hope to play a card game after that. We've managed one each evening. These are good times!

Oh, yeah. We walked about 9 miles today. We can feel it- not quite in shape for that yet, but we sure will be soon.

See Philadelphia Riverwalk