Baker Sanctuary

  The vendor event went really well, and I found a place to take a short hike just a few miles from there on the way back to Chuck and Sylvia's. This is the Baker Sanctuary, through a prairie area and near a marsh. The trails were wide mowed paths This is a nice prairie landscape. Lots of asters and goldenrod The best find was trumpeter swans in the marsh. But what is that gray lump? It's a juvenile swan! Only two miles, but just a perfect way to stretch my legs. This is just north of Marshall, Michigan. One more day for the event.

See Twelve More Miles

Teeny Said, "Let's Do it Again"

 
Modestine is a fine name, but it's not gonna last. Her nickname is "Teeny." But, I'm happy to be able to tell you that she likes the exact same kind of weather I do. So when I told her that today was going to be cool with bright sunshine all day, she just begged until I said, "Yes, we can go out."

Omer was helpful, and spotted me so I only had to walk in one direction. I ended at (just past it at the next road) the same place as yesterday, McCarthy Lake, but this time I came from the other direction. It never disappoints.



Spring is taking its sweet ol' time showing up here. Nothing seems to be greening up at all. However, one of the nice things about being able to see a long way through the woods is that I can feel how I'm really moving through the landscape. Instead of just walking through constant trees, I can see the ridges, and feel how the trail lies on them.



This stump covered with moss and lichen shocked me at first. When I was farther away it almost looked like some strange dried-out cactus.



A reflection in McCarthy Lake.



There is a pair of trumpeter swans on McCarthy Lake. I got one good picture of one of them.



McCarthy Creek looks like a solid little stream, but it completely dries up in late summer.



And, look who I ran into again: Kurt and Connie. This is at least the second time this year. Other than that, I saw 5 mountain bikers, a few motorcycles on the motorized trail, and a family with little kids who were taking a different trail. We all kept our distance. It was a beautiful Sunday, and I'm glad to see people getting outside.



How did we do? I put 3 more pounds in Teeny, and we both did fine with them. Not up to full weight yet, though. Miles hiked: 9.25. Call it 9. Hike 100 Challenge 2020 is at 98 miles.

In other news: I "went to church" at two different services. My camera does seem to be dead. I got out an old one that still works.

North Country Trail, Lake County, MI, Timber Creek to 3-Mile Rd.

See Modestine's First Hike

NCTA Celebration - Saturday

 
We did a 10.5 mile hike today. The weather was finally warmer so it was quite pleasant as the day went on even though the beginning was pretty chilly.



We stared at Sand Lake. We took a spur to the North Country Trail, so 9 miles of the hike was on the NCT.



Trumpeter Swans!



This is a piece of trail I haven't seen before because it's been rerouted since I hiked it. There is now a nice stretch along the Boardman River.



Leftovers from winter. I was surprised that porcupines or something haven't taken the antlers.



Even though nothing is green yet, I liked this valley space.



At least the sun came out enough that the hepatica opened.



In the evening, I did a very short recognition of those who have earned Long Distance Hiker patches on the NCT this year.


And then the keynote speaker was Mirna Valerio, who gave a motivational speech about breaking stereotypes and running.



One more hike tomorrow. Must to to sleep now.

Hike 100 Challenge= 28 miles

North Country Trail, Sand Lake (plus spur) to Muncie Lake, 10.5 miles, Michigan

	See Celebration - Friday
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Granola (Rhubarb) and Good Times

 
I started the day by making some rhubarb granola to take for gifts to people I'm staying with this week. Already had a ton of recipe requests on Facebook. I made this one up to try it, but I'll put the recipe at the end. It got done just in time for me to leave the house. Let me say that this one is not bad, but I think it could be tweaked a bit.



There were a couple of errands to do on my way. First, I dropped off an extra backpack I don't need any more to the Girl Scouts in Ravenna. It was a pack I didn't like much, but they should be able to get some use from it.

Then I needed to get something from my friends Bruce and Linda. Bruce used to be the Executive Director for the North Country Trail Association. Now he's retired.



So, seeing the people was cool, but I finally got to meet the most important member of the family. Bruce's big project since retirement is training dear Miss Carson. Well, no great photos of her. She was too busy being a puppy. She's a sweetie!



Then I went for a short hike on a little piece of NCT near Lowell. It starts off right along the Flat River, and follows some small town streets.



Reached some woods. They smelled all damp and ferny after last night's rain.



Caught a swan in flight on the way back.



Now I'm at the house of other friends for the night. Will tell all tomorrow.

Hike 100 Challenge- I'm up to 24 miles.

North Country Trail north from Lowell Main Street for 2 miles and return

Rhubarb Granola- Try #1
This tastes fine, but not very rhubarb-y. I think I'd use more rhubarb next time.

3 cups rolled oats
1 c. cracked wheat
1 c. grapenuts
a bunch of dried strawberry bits (I threw in enough till it looked colorful- two dehydrator trays full)
2 c. almond slices
1 1/2 c. stewed rhubarb (see instructions below)


The biggest issue with dehydrating rhubarb (which is pretty much what you're doing here) is that the lengthwise fibers in the stalks get tough and make a yukky texture. So to make a fine-textured stewed rhubarb cut the stalks into 1/8 inch crosswise pieces- no need to cut in the other direction. Cook with only a tiny bit of water because the fruit will generate plenty of juice. Sweeten to taste. I added a little bit of Stevia, but I don't like sweet granola, so not much.

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl and spread evenly on cookie sheets with an edge, or cake pans. Bake at 275 degrees F for an hour or so, stirring several times. I think this batch went an hour and 10 minutes. If you increase the stewed rhubarb, it might be even longer. You want the granola to begin to crisp up, but not get too brown. It will continue to brown a bit after you remove from the oven, so if you don't remove it you'll have REALLY brown granola.

It did come out with a nice mixture of clumps and finer pieces, but I would like more rhubarb flavor.

	See Celebration 2017- Bruce Retires
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Being Good AND Having Fun

 
I managed to leverage a task that needed to be done with a series of fun events.

The recycling that we can't do close to home needed to be delivered, and that's also where we buy trash bags for pickup. We were completely out of bags. So, I drove up to the landfill and took care of all that. Then I visited four nearby sites that needed updating for GetOffTheCouch.info. Actually, two of them need to be added.

First I stopped at Hoags Lake. It's just a pretty little Forest Service spot where one can picnic or fish. All info was still correct.



Then I stopped at Canfield Lake. It's not much of a lake and didn't have true public access until a couple of years ago. (Just a local party site). Now the DNR has added some parking and it's "official." There was a guy there playing frisbee with his dog. The dog was named Prince, and he was friendly. He let me throw his frisbee for him.



There's often a swan or two there. Today was no exception. Just a mute swan, but they are always pretty. And I like the horizontal ripples with the vertical reeds.



My serious goal of the day was to hike all the trails at Magoon Creek Nature Area and make good notes. It's complex because there is a whole booklet of interpretive info. There are only about 1.5 miles of trail, but I managed to make it 3.5 by the time I walked every part of every loop and got correct info. It's particularly nice because there are several ecosystems even though the area is small, and there are some good hills.

Here's where Magoon Creek empties into Lake Michigan.



Just one more quick stop at Sundling Park. It's pretty much just a narrow access to the Lake Michigan beach, but Filer Township has done a nice job of landscaping that strip so you can enjoy shade and have a cooler place to picnic or rest, as well as climb down to the beach.



The lilacs are in full bloom and I think I'm getting high just taking in the scent. I drove home with the window open and it was wonderful!



In other news: I tried to get all those pages updated after I got home, but there is something wrong with the FTP. It was working FINE two days ago. I'll have to figure that out. All in all, a mighty fine day. A perfect fit into my master plan for my life. See a very early blog post I Could Do This for a Living.

	See Spirit of the Woods at Magoon Creek See A Lilac Year
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Pentwater River Residents

 
Driving over the Pentwater River today, I could see some birds off in the distance. I wondered if there was anything interesting, so I stopped.



I zoomed in and it was just a bunch of Canada geese. Disappointing. But wait. There is something else out there. It's one of our native swans, the trumpeter or the tundra. Which one?



I think I've finally learned what to pay attention to. That said, these pictures are grainy because I had to zoom all the way out, including the digital zoom, which reduces picture quality. Both native swans have black bills and a straight profile from forehead to tip of beak. But the key difference, from a distance, is whether the black face patch connects to the eye. On this swan it definitely does. That makes it a trumpeter, Cygnus buccinator.



Every other time I thought I had a close shot of a trumpeter, it was a tundra swan. You can follow the link below, and even though those pictures are grainy too, you can clearly see a yellow spot that separates the eye from the black cheek.

You can also see a nice black V on the forehead.



The swan didn't really care what I thought, or what the geese thought. It was much more interested in completing some grooming.



I think my next swan goal needs to be to get close enough to get some decent pictures.

	See Tundra Swan
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W.K Kellogg's Legacy

 
Friday, at the NCTA conference, I chose to go on a tour of several facilities that bear the Kellogg name. The conference was held near Battle Creek, "Cereal City," where Post, Kellogg and Ralston all make cereals. Post and Kellogg were the first two, and the men and their companies were huge rivals.

Our first stop was the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. The emphasis is on swans and ducks, with a number of rescued birds of prey which can never be released, but are kept for education.

Several families of trumpeter swans nested, and these were the youngest cygnets, a late brood.



It was very interesting because although these are not exactly tame birds, they are very comfortable with human presence. I'd never been so close to any swans except the mute swans, which have pretty nasty dispositions. People are allowed to buy corn and feed the trumpeters. We were told that a couple of the birds will eat from hands if they are in the mood. I had to try that! What fun!



They also keep some black Australian swans. I may have seen some before at a zoo, but never so close. I like how ruffle-y their wings look.



After the bird sanctuary, we hiked a couple of miles to the Agricultural Station. It's connected with Michigan State University. The item of interest there is a robotic milking parlor. The cows come in to the barn on their own because they are fed measured amounts of grain. While they are getting this treat a robot washes their udders, and plays laser tag with the teats until it can connect. It was rather strange to watch. Meanwhile the computer reads the cow's ear tag so it knows how much milk that cow usually produces on each quadrant, the quality, how much to feed her, and other data.

We could only see the business part of the operation. Maybe that was to prevent the cows from seeing all the people and getting upset. So far, there aren't many of these systems in the U.S. They are very expensive.



Our final stop for the day was the Kellogg summer manor house. It was impressive, and our guide knew lots of interesting stories about the family.



We got back to the resort in plenty of time for me to get cleaned up and get my head together, because I was the keynote speaker. That evening, I gave my program about my completion of hiking the NCT. This was the quintessentially perfect audience- people who love the same trail I do, and put in tremendous amounts of time to build and maintain it. Talk about a "high" for me!

Today was reality. I pulled a muscle in my back this morning. My desktop computer isn't done yet (went for a memory upgrade). I have a huge pile of assignments for the week due on Friday, blah, blah, blah. Nevertheless, the conference was awesome.

	See Kayaking on November 21
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