Berry Nice Hike

  I needed to run down to Hart today, so Cathy went with me and then we took a little hike on the Hart-Montague Rail Trail. It's paved and flat, but it is nicely shaded, and it was really easy to get to from where I needed to go.

It seems surprisingly early to find blackberries ripe in mid July. I always associate them with August. But we found enough ripe ones that both of us had a nice snack

And then we also found black raspberries, which I've always called blackcaps. There were fewer of these, but we each had a small handful. These were more in line with the timing I would have expected. They were just about finished.

Best plant find of the day is a beautiful Narrowleaf Meadowsweet, Spiraea alba. I thought maybe it was Steeplebush. That would have been a really nice find, but the undersides of the leaves and the stems aren't hairy.

Cathy and I walked out and back from Hart for a total of 5.2 miles. I got home just as the rain hit!

In other news: I edited. I wrote a chapter. I did my errand in Hart.

Oceana County, MI, Hart Montague Rail Trail, Polk Road to Taylor Road and back 5.2 miles

See Narrowleaf Meadowsweet