Trail Clearing

 
Friend Cathy and I went for a walk again today, but I didn't wear the big pack. I needed to get out and check my section of trail to see how much storm damage was there. There were 4 trees that we couldn't move. This was the worst down tree. I took pictures and the GPS locations of all the ones we couldn't move and sent them to our trail crew that is chainsaw certified.



There was a lot of small stuff down, of course, and we cleared all that and a few larger broken trees that we were able to move ourselves. We might have been able to move one of the ones we left, but it was going to be a test, and we knew someone was going to have to come with a chain saw anyway, so we left it.

This is just one of my favorite pieces on my section. You've seen it before. It's an old rail bed through a swamp.



We saw this big clump of golden mushrooms.



And these little white ones. They might be oyster mushroom (or not).



I didn't even take a selfie. Oh well. We were hoping to do all of my miles, but when you are clearing up a big mess it just takes whatever time it takes.

Hike 100 Challenge is at 67 miles.

In other news: I got fed up with the horrible mess the dining room has been since I emptied my trailer into it over a year ago. Spent all day working on that. Not done. The reason I got fed up is that I needed the table space to sort hike food. Found the table, and packed up a very few things- not enough to even report yet, but I got a start. And I did laundry. Not bad!

North Country Trail, Lake County, Freesoil TH to Tyndall Road and back

	See Trail Work!
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Hiking in Hemlock Lace

 
Today was the monthly Spirit of the Woods hike. Eleven enthusiastic hikers and a beautiful day! Not much sun, but some fresh snow, no wind and not too cold. We did 3.5 miles on the North Country Trail.

This is a section I sometimes drive to just for a quick hike because it's pretty and not too far away from home. You've seen it before, at Wimpy Dog and Porky Paws, for one example.

The lineup!



This little creek has no name I am aware of, but it's one of the prettiest features of this section. The creek is lined with hemlocks (where I've found Hemlock Polypore).



Even the hemlock roots are attractive.



The bridge was icy and required some careful navigation, but everyone made it across safely.



Of course, the creek flows to my old favorite, the Pere Marquette River.



My current total for the NCT Hike 100 Challenge is up to 12.5 miles. Not much, but I'm not worried. I haven't made any effort beyond the chapter hikes at this point.

Great day! Napped in the afternoon (not much sleep between work and hike), and am headed back to bed very soon.

Upper Branch Bridge to 40th St, Lake County, MI

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Spirit of the Woods Hike- January 2016

 
A perfectly lovely day! We had ten people from age 11 to ?? (upwards of that). Two of them were on skis and were moving too fast to capture.



The sky cleared, which is somewhat miraculous in January, and most of us got too warm before we were done. But no one is complaining.



There was a little more snow here than at my house, as I suspected, but not really enough to NEED snowshoes. Nevertheless, four of us used them, and four just hiked.



The young girl and her parents hiked the John Muir trail this summer. We're trying to get them to share some sort of program with us about their adventure.

In 2016, the North Country Trail Association and the Forest Service are sponsoring a Hike 100 Challenge to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Forest Service. The goal is to hike 100 miles on the NCT this year.

All of us are four miles to the good, as of today.

Did we have a good time?



If you are near the NCT somewhere and want to participate, just go to the NCTA web site for more info.

Bowman Lake trailhead south, out and back, Lake County, MI

	See Spirit of the Woods Hike- December 2015
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Purple Latex Glove on Sapling

 
We had the coldest day of the winter so far, about 25 degrees. I had to run an errand that took me past a North Country Trail crossing, so I stopped for a short and brisk walk. There was a little more snow there than at our house.



Despite the cold, the sky was lovely, and the sun occasionally warming a shoulder.



Just a large shelf fungus, way past its prime, but providing some interest.



And, inexplicably, the "Purple Latex Glove on Sapling." One has to wonder what a surgical glove was being used for in the forest. I'm reading a true crime book right now, and the associations are not pleasing.



But the book is great. I'm going back to reading now.

Freesoil Trailhead south, out and back, Lake County, MI

	See Grilled Cheese on Snow
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Spirit of the Woods Hike- December

 
Six of us met for the hike today, with three dogs. We did about five miles. The mild weather (for December) made it easy going, and we enjoyed seeing the contours of the land which are more visible with the leaves off the trees.



The sun even came out and threw interesting shadows across the valleys.



Partridgeberry displayed its berries.



Both of these are (I think) varieties of polypore. There are always little gems in the woods if you take the time to notice.






Nothing profound today. Being outdoors and walking is profound enough. We walked out and back, north from Timber Creek on the North Country Trail.

	See A Hike Too Early
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Short Line Short Hike

 
Took a short North Country Trail hike this afternoon because I needed to check out a particular place for a bit of work we are doing.

For about a quarter mile, the trail here follows an old rail bed. I looked in my railroad atlas just in case, but as I suspected this wasn't a portion of any railroad line of significance. It was likely a short line, narrow gauge road for timber harvesting. It was easy to see where the finally NCT veered away from it. Although the berm wasn't obvious, continuing through the trees, the ditch beside it did go on. So perhaps there is an adventure for another day.



Here's another trail shot. I tried to get artsy and take a low angle with the red leaves on the ground and yellow in the trees, but the dappled sunlight of the forest foiled yet another attempt at a good picture. You'd be amazed (or maybe you wouldn't) at the number of dappled sunlight pictures I have, camouflaging whatever it was I had hoped to capture.



This has been such an amazing fungus year. Everyone who takes pictures in the woods has been sharing various pictures all over the web. This is one band wagon I'll jump on. Here's a pretty one. I think I even have an ID, but will leave that for another day with explanation. Of course I wish I'd taken some super close ups to make that easier.

And moving along to just pretty pictures that I'm not even trying to ID, here's one. I liked the shape of the log. It sort of looks like an ultrasound image, which made me begin to imagine the various fungi and mosses being the embryonic shapes of the rich forest to come.



Another nice day, weather-wise. We'll take all the ones we can get. I also had to go out and do some cases today. Drove past a few of my favorite picture spots, but was late for an appointment, so I didn't stop. Still, these aren't too bad to share.

north from 76th St Trailhead, Lake Co. MI

	See If the Path is Straight
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North Country National Scenic Trail Day

 
Across the whole 4600 miles of the North Country Trail, hikes and events were held today. Our chapter did about seven miles on the trail that cross the Big Sable River. Here Loren gets the camera set up to take a picture of all of us.



And, here we are... all 15 of us. A good group, lots of new people.



We saw quite a few interesting things. I'm saving a couple of them for another day to really explain them better. Today I'll just concentrate on the river. In the floodplain, the ostrich fern is turning orange and gold. It always looks so pretty in the sun.



Loren and I thought our shadows on the water looked friendly.



It was a great time. Of course now my sleep time is really messed up. Night work, sleep an hour, up all morning, doze off in the afternoon, now I'm awake. Wonder what I'll be like tomorrow? It's an adventure every weekend.

5 Mile Road south, out and back, Lake County, MI

	See July 2012 hike on pretty much same trail (overlapped)
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Full Size or Miniature?

 
Went for a short walk today on the North Country Trail north of Timber Creek. Do you prefer your forest full size?



or miniature?



Timber Creek Trailhead US 10, north out and back, Lake County, MI

	See Almost Good Timing at Timber Creek
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Just Another Hike

 


Maggie and I hiked again today, after spotting an out-of-town hiker. We were at one of my favorite local places, Bowman Semi-Primitive Area. It's an area of small glacial hills, all nicely wooded.



Pictures in the woods, in the sun, tend to be dappled and don't look nearly as special as our brains see them (horray for our brains), but I like this one with tall trees.



Ah! Here we are at the premier feature of this area, Bowman Lake. It's a glacial kettle hole, which means that it formed when the glaciers left a block of ice behind that melted right here. There are no streams that feed it, just runoff, and springs in the bottom. You can only walk to this lake, so it's a lovely, quiet place.



Who do you think lives here? Notice the acorn on the right, for scale. Whoever it is, they have a lovely garden just beside the door.



I thought of my friend rainfield as I took this picture. I wonder what it would whisper to him. The spider is not at home. Maybe she had to go grocery shopping because all she could catch was old leaves, and they aren't so tasty.


Finally, I just wanted to show you this space in the summer. You've seen it in the winter at Snowshoe Outing with SPW. This is a "blowout hole." It's a natural depression where there is little vegetation and the wind, at some point, just blew it deeper and rounded it. If I had pointed the camera the other direction you would see bare sand. Yet this is miles and miles from Lake Michigan. Underneath almost all our hills there is sand. They are just stabilized dunes, not rock.

That's plenty for today!

	See Late Winter Hike Around Bowman Lake
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