54 Weeks Later

  I did this same hike (plus a little more) 54 weeks ago. Today, Cathy hiked with me, and we did 9 miles. I loved the spring colors beginning to show along the Manistee River.

This view at the power line is always nice because it's unobstructed.

You can really see the trees coloring up in this one.

One of the neatest features along here is the glacial esker the trail follows for about a quarter mile. Very pointed and steep-sided.

Growing right on the side of it is Hoary Puccoon, Lithospermum canescens. (It might be Hairy Puccoon, but I think I can now tell them apart.) Had to do something of a gymnastic act to get this picture.

A little farther and we were at the beaver pond. It's pretty, but the beavers are playing havoc with the trail, of course.

Then into Leitch Bayou, still along the Manistee River, but now down closer to the water. It was a windy, windy day. Oddly enough the hike 54 weeks ago was also very windy. Sometimes, we really had to struggle against the wind, and in other places we hardly felt it. But the day warmed enough that I was hiking in shirt sleeves by the end.

A really big tree that had fallen across the trail had these interesting beetle galleries.

All together, we saw about 10 different wild flowers. Here is one more. Gaywings, Polygala paucifolia.

North Country Trail miles for 2021 is at 246. Cathy is at 45 miles.

North Country Trail, Manistee County, MI, Highbridge Rd. to Sawdust Hole and back, 9 miles.

In other news: I had a zoom meeting before we left, but haven't done anything significant after I got home.

See A Test Along the Manistee