Can You Guess Where I Went?

I'm working hard to stay on track with the goal I set for the Onekama Challenge. Today I hiked 7 miles. Can you tell where? If you are local and know the trail, you probably recognize this scene.

This remains one of my favorite local hikes. There is a loop, but today I did both directions on the North Country Trail part so that all the miles would count for Hike 100. This is Bowman Lake.

The lily pads were healthy and dragonflies were skittering around.

I found a Blue Jay feather. Nothing of interest was in bloom, but there will be in a couple weeks. We'll see if I get back there.

Tomorrow, unless something goes awry, I am meeting someone interesting for a hike, and this will complete the week-three goal for the challenge as well. So, tomorrow's post will probably include something quite new.

In other news: I edited and had a Zoom meeting in the morning.

Miles walked in 2026: 257.5
Hike 100 Challenge: 92.7
Onekama Challenge: 69.3

North Country Trail, Lake Co, Michigan, 40th St to 56th St and back. 7 miles.

See Taking MOWA to the Trail

Taking MOWA to the Trail

The Michigan Outdoor Writers Association (MOWA) is having their annual conference this weekend... just over in Baldwin! But with Confidence Camp, I'm too busy to attend. But I did offer to lead a hike. Four of us did the 3.5 mile loop at Bowman Lake. I was delighted that a few people signed up!

You know Bowman Lake is one of my favorite places in our local area.

We all had a chuckle about this. Somehow a Skunk Cabbage got itself planted in this three-trunked tree.

A happy and clean painted turtle sun-bathing on a log.

And, ta-da! The sassafras are just starting to flower and get leaves.

They took me out to lunch afterwards. A very nice morning!

Confidence Camp all afternoon. Hoping to finish the last major item this evening.

Miles walked in 2026: 162.2
Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 53.3

Bowman Lake area, Lake County, Michigan. North Country Trail 1.75 miles, Bowman Lake Trail 1.75 miles.

See Bowman Semi-Primitive Area

Eight Miles at Bowman

Got in a good hike with Cathy and here is the selfie to prove it!.

We had planned to hike in the warmer part of the day, but then I found out I had a meeting right after lunch, so we went earlier. Temperature was hovering right at 32° and it snowed on us for a while. But it did warm up a bit before we finished.

The red morning sky really didn't live up to its reputation. I don't think a few snow flurries counts for much in the way of storming. But it was very pretty.

My goal was to walk eight miles. We started at the north parking area and walked south for four miles on the NCT. I usually do the loop, half of which is not NCT, but I wanted miles that would count for Hike 100 today. This took us south of 56th St for an additional mile. Then we had a snack and turned back.

Bowman Lake is one of my favorite places on our trail. It's a glacial kettle lake. Looks a little hazy with the snow flurries.

This is a sight you don't really see in the summer. This is the ridge of hills on the northeast side of the Pere Marquette River, across the river from where we were.

Then we ran into a trail crew! Jack was out cutting downed trees, and Sue and Kathy were swamping for him. Dumb me, I didn't take a picture of them working. We had been thinking that the trail was pretty clear without too many things to step over, but now it's completely clear between 56th and 40th Streets!

We moved one of their vehicles for them so they wouldn't have to backtrack, and I made it to my meeting on time.

I'm trying to stretch my mileages. We did the full eight, and my hips and knees were a little stiff but OK. And I was tired, but I did manage to work on a few things in the afternoon. I wasn't totally done in. Elevation max and min were only 125 feet apart, but there were numerous ups and downs, so this was a good workout.

Miles walked in 2026: 129.0
Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 32.6

North Country Trail, Lake Co. Michigan, 40th St south four miles and back for 8 total.

See Bowman Lake 2024

Spirit of the Woods Hike- November

  Totally awesome day today! Here's the requisite group photo with 31 people (Monica took the picture). The morning was chilly, barely 30 degrees when we gathered.

Dan Dreisinga and I led a brief (everyone was freezeing) training on using Avenza and FarOut mapping apps.

Then we headed out. Basically, there were two groups- the six-mile hikers and the three-mile hikers. We did this at the Bowman Semi-Primitive Area which is one of my favorite local hikes. It's hilly, and it has glacial features including the lake!

Most of the leaves are down, but beech trees hang on longer, sometimes all winter. And the sun came out, making us shed out outer layers and cheering up the forest.

One of the most fun things for me is that Bob and Bill showed up! It was SO much fun to see them and spend time with them.

And the hike isn't all. I think I'll show you what we did after that tomorrow. Tomorrow will need to be a good solid work day since I played all day today.

Miles hiked in 2024: 520.3. NCT miles hiked in 2024: 157.5.

NCT and Bowman Lake Trail loop. Total 6 miles

See SPW Hike October

Spirit of the Woods Meeting and a Surprise

Today was the annual meeting of the Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the North Country Trail Association. We were welcomed at the venue with the electronic sign just for us.

If I counted right, we had 21 people there. That's a pretty good turnout. Our membership is highly scattered, and a number of people are away. President Loren Bach conducted the meeting. The same officers got re-elected, but hopefully we'll get some new takers for next time as officers are only supposed to serve a total of 2 two-year terms.

The enticement to show up was food. Nice selection of salads, soup, and desserts. Great for a hot day.

Almost everyone chose to hike following the meal. Just another group picture, but we like to remember who came. Also, almost everyone hiked farther than I did, but I needed to get back home to finish packing.

The meeting place was really near the trail, which was perfect. And where was that? Bowman Lake, one of my favorite spots in our section.

You know I can't stop looking at plants. This is an oddly-colored wild columbine. Usually they are maroon with creamy edges. But several plants in the vicinity were only the creamy color. They didn't seem aged, and that's not how the flowers fade anyway. So perhaps they lost their color genes. Actually, this is how variegated plants appear from time to time. Or perhaps they are lacking some nutrient.

And now for the surprise. Wow! I sure did not expect this. Look what was open when I first went outside this morning. And it's one of the red-orange ones. I'm super happy, and I got to see it. That bud sure didn't look close to opening. (see yesterday's post)

So, I'm not quite packed yet. I have to move into high gear, but I needed to rest just a bit. Eight hours of driving tomorrow which I'm not looking forward to.

And here's the possibly "bad" news. It could happen, but I'll be surprised if I can blog from our campsite. So, don't worry if there is no post tomorrow, or possibly the following days. I'll try to quick put an occasional picture on Facebook when I have signal. Bill, David, and I are meeting in the UP tomorrow afternoon, and we hike on Monday.

See you!

See Last Garden Post for a While

National Trails Day 2021

  It was a great time with 15 hikers showing up to participate. Nice low-key planning without a lot of fuss.

I went early to take the coolers and stuff to our lunch site. That meant I got to see Bowman Lake in the early morning light. Just one more reason to love this place.

The lupine is just about in full bloom.

I also saw Common Speedwell. Much less showy, but easily recognizable.

Here's a slightly better shot of the little blue blossoms.

I didn't do a very good job of picture taking. Just a couple of candid shots at lunch, and I didn't even manage to get everyone.

But I think we had a great time. One group did a 3 mile loop, and another did 6 miles. We saw a red-headed woodpecker, and a blue racer. Some people got pics of the snake, but I missed it.

And!!!! We saw Jon, hiking from north to south, and Liz hiking from south to north! How cool is that- to run into both of the long-distance hikers on the same day?

Because I hiked out and back twice before the event ever started, I hiked just over 7 miles. 4 of mine were on the NCT side of the loop. North Country Trail miles for 2021 is at 342.

North Country Trail and Bowman Loop Trails, Lake County, Michigan. Total 7 miles.

See All Ready for National Trails Day

Friends and Footsteps

  Life gets somewhat non-stop when Marie and I are together.

First we went to Baldwin to have lunch with Sue. Then we went to historic Idlewild and walked around the lake. And Sophie and Anabelle joined us, of course. This is just small-town streets, but there are some interpretive signs about Idlewild, a former African-American resort community. Lots of history there. The lake is the center of town. It was a cold and rainy morning, which gave way to a cold and gray afternoon. Fine for walking but not for spectactular pictures. Still pleasant.

The Wilson House is a beautiful fieldstone Craftsman bunglalow. The family was instrumental in the creation of the town.

I almost always see a red-headed woodpecker in Idlewild, and today was no exception.

Did we have a good time? I think our faces tell the story.

Pup-dogs were not interested in posing, but they each got a nose in the camera. Sophie

and Anabelle. Most definitely not their cutest poses, but hey...

Then Marie and I drove to meet someone to pick up some trail supplies, got home in time to catch our breath before heading to a meeting I had this evening.

Yesterday, we hiked at Bowman Lake. I've taken you there many times before, so you know it's a beautiful place. But I didn't want to neglect mentioning that we did hike 6 miles.

North Country Trail miles hiked in 2021 is at 203

Lake County Michigan, Bowman Lake Trail and North Country Trail loop- 6 miles, and walking around Idlewild Lake- 5 miles

See Caught the Red Head

Bowman Lake Loop Again

  Cathy and I did the Bowman Lake loop this morning, and managed to put a slightly different twist on it. We parked at the north end and walked south first. We took the NCT side of the loop first. This loop is one of my favorite hikes, and I last did it with Loren, three months ago.

Then it was halfway when we got to the lake, so we sat on the bench there to eat our snack. Still mostly frozen. There were campers there. They said it had been quite cold in the night. Cathy said it was 16 degrees at her house when she got up. But it was above freezing by the time we made it to the lake.

Then we headed up the west side of the loop, where it goes through this blowout area, sculpted by the wind.

We found a nice patch of Northern Ground Cedar. I'm trying to separate these clubmosses (formerly all called Lycopodium) in my head. I'm quite sure that's whet this is despite the fact that it didn't have any strobili (the stalks with the spores), or annual growth constrictions. It's no big deal that there were no strobili- that's not unusual, but it would have helped me nail down the ID. However, I'm confuzzled by no constrictions, because that's supposed to be quite distinguishing. However, the shape of the stems is correct, so I'm confident in my ID. New taxonomic name is Diphasiastrum complanatum.

Here's a closer look.

My favorite picture of the day is thin overnight ice in an area of the lake that had previously thawed.

We ran into a group of young people out hiking, and one of them took our picture so no distorted selfie today!

Loop total is 6 miles, but only half of those are North Country Trail. There was still snow in some places, but most of the walking was bare ground. Our knees, ankles, and hips are grateful. 46 degrees when we finished!

North Country Trail Hike 100 Challenge for 2021 is at 90 miles.

Bowman Lake Trail and North Country Trail, Lake County, Michigan, 6 mile loop

In other news: I finished the marketing sell sheets for the Anastasia Raven mystery series. Other than that, I chilled and read a book.

See Bowman Lake Loop with Loren