Loda Lake- Spirit of the Woods Hike- June

It was a multi-purpose hike day for National Trails Day- the first Saturday in June!

The Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA started with a 3.2-mile hike, some of which was on the NCT, and some was on a spur.

The spur took us to Loda Lake.

Some of you will know that Loda Lake is a wildflower sanctuary- the only one in the entire National Forest system in the country.

We were treated to a tour by the Forest Service Botanist, Carolyn Henne. This isn't a great picture, but it does show us looking at plants beside the trail while she talks about them.

I always learn things when I'm there because the plants are always in slightly different stages of their life cycles.

One of the best pictures of the day is poison sumac. You can see the bundles of leaves and the unripe berries forming on separate stems.

The Prairie Smoke is looking great. They have planted a variety of native plants in a sort of showcase garden.

Also blooming in that garden was a lot of Hairy Beardtongue, Penstemon hirsutus. I believe the butterfly is a Pipestone Swallowtail.

Best personal find of the day was some round-leaved sundew, a carniverous plant. There were also pitcher plants on site.

After that tour, we all went to Pete and Julie's cottage where they fixed burgers and brats, and we all chipped in with a potluck. This was followed by our annual meeting.

I saw lots more plants, but these are the best pictures. Long day, but all great.

Miles walked in 2026: 180.3
NCT Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 59.8

NCT in Newaygo County 1.8 miles. Birch Grove Trail 1.4 miles, Loda Lake 1.7 miles

See Practically Perfect in Every Way

Big Boy!

Life is always full of choices, right? I can't do nearly all the things I'd like to in this summer of the 250th Anniversary of the USA. But here's what I did choose.

The Big Boy engine is the largest steam engine ever built. 25 of the engines were built between 1941 and 1946. Eight still exist, and one is running, the 4014. It was purchased by the Union Pacific in 2017 and refurbished for the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad connection.

How big is big? It's 133 feet long. It's articulated (has a joint in the middle so it can negotiate curves in the rail). The drive wheels are 4 inches higher than I am tall (65 inches). It weighs 1.2 million pounds.

It's on a transcontinental tour, and this is the closest place I could see it. Me and about 2000 other people. It was pretty amazing how many people showed up on a corner in the middle of Indiana wheat fields to watch it!

There was a good police and safety personnel presence. Good thing- I can not believe how stupid people were acting.

I'll let the video speak for itself. I should have taken the tripod, but it's not bad for handheld. After the whistle blows, if it sounds like a kid crying... it is. That whistle was viscerally loud when you were right beside it. They warned parents to cover their kids' ears, but I guess someone didn't. (And yes, there are some helper diesel engines for dynamic braking and safety.)



Train personnel waved to us, and I was pleased to see there was at least one female staffer. She seemed excited that so many people came to see the train.

This is a quintessential and beautiful Indiana sight in the summer. And it's on the road where we saw the train.

I got there 75 minutes early and had to walk about a half mile. People who arrived later than that had to walk as much as a mile from where they could park. There were a drone and a helicopter, and at least two small planes in the sky.

Pretty darned awesome. I've now seen the two biggest steam engines ever made. Link below has a pic of the Yellowstone (not running) in a museum in Duluth. It is a tiny bit smaller, but it had more power and traction to haul iron ore on the Duluth, Mesabi, and Iron Range line in Minnesota. Its driving wheels are only an inch higher than I am tall.

Drove in torrential white-out rain coming home, but at least we weren't waiting for the train in that!

I would have LOVED to see this train cross the Letchworth Gorge Bridge in New York, but I understand the park already has so many people who have reserved entrance that it's already totally closed to more people on that day, June 11. It's also going to be in Philadelphia for the 4th of July celebration. Wouldn't that be something! But I'm content that I got to see it in action somewhere.

Miles walked in 2026: 174.8

See the Yellowstone engine

Look Where I Am!

It's been WAY too long since I've had a chance to see Ester!

And see the white flowers behind us? New plant for me, and actually a new plant fact that I had no idea about. This is Clematis recta, a shrubby clematis that is not a climbing vine. I didn't even know there was such a thing.

Here is a cluster of the flowers, closer. It has a lovely sweet scent. It's a garden plant, not native.

We went out to eat at Ester's favorite restaurant. It's way out in the country, but it has a pretty good clientele because of the quality and the atmosphere. Here's our food. I had Hawaiian chicken and Ester had sirloin.

They have this landscaped pond with little waterfalls outside the windows. I've showed you this before. But the other times we've been have been earlier in the year, so not quite as pretty as today.

There are purple martin houses and hummingbird feeders. Also, an oriole came in to get a snack while we were there.

I'm going a little bit farther south tomorrow. Stay tuned. A very fun day. It's been about 5 years since we've managed to get together.

See Not a Day Over 70

Mostly Current Colors

Another post with combinations of color.

This is the two purples in the driveway bed. The iris are mostly done now, but what a show! The other purple is Meadow Sage.

In the rock garden, The Dianthus 'Kahori' is in the lower left, Bloody Cranesbill at the top, and the Creeping Thyme is starting to bloom purple at the lower right.

This one was a few days ago. The Moss Phlox is just about done now, but this is phlox with the Variegated Vinca in front of it.

This is also in the rock garden, and it's more about texture than color, but it's part of why I love the Pasqueflower so much. It starts blooming in early April, and now in June we still have the showy seed heads.

And I'm going to share one more shot with a Poppy in it. This one does a better job of showing the various colors of foliage behind the Poppy and the Fleeceflower. I like that there are enough interesting plants to have a depth of field to the color.

It turned out to be a rather unproductive day. Just never got moving, really. I finished cleaning the edges of the front flower bed and watered it. Edited. Mostly read a book.

Tomorrow, I need to be out the door by 8:30 in the morning. Stay tuned!

See Fresh Color

Poppy Day

This is the most successful year yet for the Oriental Poppies!

The first red-orange ones opened on May 28.

Most of the other buds opened a couple of days ago. Usually we get a heavy rain or wind so that the flowers don't last. This year, they are holding on wonderfully.

And today, the event I was hoping for actually happened. There are red and salmon pink ones open at the same time!

Here are the pink ones alone.

And, hey. On my plant buying search the other day I found one that is supposed to be white. I don't think I even knew there were white ones. So that came home with me.

And just for kicks, a whole bunch of them have naturalized along Freesoil Road. Probably not a good thing, but it sure was pretty.

I walked to the library and did more of all the usual stuff.

Miles walked in 2026: 173.8

See Salmon