Full Summer Hike

  Loren (and Koa) and I took a hike today. We went through Dead Horse Marsh, now looking green for summer, although as I noted before, those jackpines in the distance by the boardwalk are dying. This is all part of the natural cycle there after last year's flooding.

Evidence of another cycle. The oak trees are trying to refoliate after the gypsy moth invasion. It's very weird to see some trees looking like full summer and some like early spring. Interestingly, we also saw some sassafras that had been chewed. Maybe the caterpillars would settle for that after they decimated the oaks.

The woods looks so different in full summer. I loved how lush this stump terrarium is.

It sure looks like a bear has been using the trail too. Maybe it was checking for blueberries, as were we. We didn't find many though. I think the drought came at the wrong time to have a good crop.

One perky mushroom on a log. No clue what it is. I'd have to pick it and check the gills and spores, and I'd rather leave it.

Before we hiked, we did just a tiny bit of trail work. I did buy a post, and we put it in just north of the Freesoil Trailhead.

I added the necessary turn blaze, and now no one should get misplaced trying to find the trail in the area of the new snowmobile trail. Sure, it's only a small project, but it feels good to have one small thing finished!

In other news: Uh-oh. There was supposed to be other news. I had high hopes for accomplishments for the afternoon. But I picked up a book I've been reading with my lunches, and it suddenly got a lot more interesting. I also went outside to do a couple of things and discovered it had gotten very windy, making my planned tasks unpleasant. Of course, I had plenty of other choices. But I was a very bad girl and went back to my book.

North Country Trail, Mason County, MI. Tyndall Road to Taylor Road and back. 6 miles

See Dead Horse Marsh Dry