New to Me- Gorgeous

 Some of you know that our local state park, literally the most popular one in the state, is mostly closed for the next 10, yes ten, months for some major renovations. The area south of the Big Sable River is still open to walk in. This is in the same general section as where Cathy and I often walk, but west of those trails.

The other factor is that the weather was more like early September today. 74 degrees. Sunny, but windy. I wore shorts! So after a frustrating couple of hours in which I determined that the lawnmower fix is beyond me (pay attention, all you people who think I can do anything), I decided to bag it and take a hike before bell practice.

I knew there were a couple of ponds back there. I suspect they are former sand pits from the Sargent Sand mining company. But I'd never actually been there. I parked off Piney Ridge Rd, and took an unmarked but well-used trail. Came over the ridge to be greeted by this.

Pretty sure it had vistors earlier in the day, but I had it all to myself. A trail went up along the edge.

Soon I was bushwhacking. Loose sand and dune grass. Lots of hills. Very pretty.

Love weathered roots.

Some of the area is wooded, and so I was walking through that for part of the way. Found the other pond- not quite as pretty, although it might have been if I'd had time to go closer. There were occasional bits of old road or trail-ish things that might have been made by animals or visitors. But I was bushwhacking more than trail walking for sure.

The view of that first pond on the way back, from the top of a dune was really nice. It's good size- about 42 acres. It would be fun to walk around, but that isn't all state land, so I don't know if I'd get in trouble for doing it. The other pond is totally on Sargent Sand property.

And just so the maple leaves don't get too uppity from being the only ones featured this fall, here's an oak leaf. Probably black oak. It's sometimes hard to tell when all you have is a leaf. They can be rather variable.

I edited, wrote 680 words in Vacation from DMS, worked on pictures, got groceries. A good day with things accomplished and some fun.

So, the walk was only 2.1 miles, but I think the difficult footing should count for something. It was a lot of fun exploring somewhere new.

Miles hiked in 2024: 514.3

See Piney Ridge Hills