Loda Lake- Spirit of the Woods Hike- June

It was a multi-purpose hike day for National Trails Day- the first Saturday in June!

The Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA started with a 3.2-mile hike, some of which was on the NCT, and some was on a spur.

The spur took us to Loda Lake.

Some of you will know that Loda Lake is a wildflower sanctuary- the only one in the entire National Forest system in the country.

We were treated to a tour by the Forest Service Botanist, Carolyn Henne. This isn't a great picture, but it does show us looking at plants beside the trail while she talks about them.

I always learn things when I'm there because the plants are always in slightly different stages of their life cycles.

One of the best pictures of the day is poison sumac. You can see the bundles of leaves and the unripe berries forming on separate stems.

The Prairie Smoke is looking great. They have planted a variety of native plants in a sort of showcase garden.

Also blooming in that garden was a lot of Hairy Beardtongue, Penstemon hirsutus. I believe the butterfly is a Pipestone Swallowtail.

Best personal find of the day was some round-leaved sundew, a carniverous plant. There were also pitcher plants on site.

After that tour, we all went to Pete and Julie's cottage where they fixed burgers and brats, and we all chipped in with a potluck. This was followed by our annual meeting.

I saw lots more plants, but these are the best pictures. Long day, but all great.

Miles walked in 2026: 180.3
NCT Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 59.8

NCT in Newaygo County 1.8 miles. Birch Grove Trail 1.4 miles, Loda Lake 1.7 miles

See Practically Perfect in Every Way

Meijer Gardens - Carnivorous Plants

 
I'm not going to be able to identify all these perfectly. Not all had labels. But there was a great variety of carnivorous plants.

We have native pitcher plants, Sarracenia purpurea, that look very much like this one, but it wasn't labeled, so I'm not positive. Pitcher plants lure insects into the pitcher where they drown and are then digested.

However, most of the pitcher plants were native to the tropics. Many of these are trees. This is Nepenthes bicalcarata, native to Borneo. Common name Fanged Pitcher Plant. Look under that little hat and you'll see why.





The variety of tropical ones was interesting, although I don't know enough to know if there were many species or just variations of a couple.

This was identified as Red Leopard, a cultured ornamental of Nepenthes sp.

Here are two more- one with that red lip, and another with toothed combs.



Everyone can recognize a Venus Fly-trap. Of course there are lots of species. This one is the common one you can see in the wild, Dionaea muscipula, although a very healthy one. The ones I've seen in swamps are much smaller. They, snap closed when the hairs are mechanically triggered, and they then digest the insect captured.



Of greater interest to me was the Sundew growing in front of it. I've seen two kinds in the wild, this one is different. There are almost 200 species, but only a few grow in North America. I believe I've figured out that this is Drosera adelae, Lance-leaved Sundew, native to Australia. Notice the strap-like leaves. And... it was blooming, with these beautiful tiny red flowers. Sundews have sticky pads on the edges of the leaves to trap insects.

And, I learned something really new. I was not aware there is a carnivorous bromeliad. It also lures insects with a sweet odor and ultraviolet colors to a watery death in a slippery leafy cup. Brocchinia reducta, no common name, and native to South America. It was also blooming.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of this dangerous room (if you are an insect!).

In other news: I wrote in the morning, and spent the afternoon getting organized to leave for the two-day show in Cedar Springs. The trailer is hitched up, and I just need to put some things in it that I need for sleeping and food. It's going to be cold, but, oh well.

	See Outside Details
if you like this blog, click

Wet Again and Bogs- June 9

 
It started raining in the night again, and we awoke with a cold, misty rain blowing. Most of the day we alternately crossed small hills and bogs. Bogs are special, acid wetlands where specific types of plants are found. Today we enjoyed the pitcher plants. Insects crawl down those big tubes to get water which has settled in the bottom. But downward pointing hairs prevent them from escaping, and the plants then digest the insects.



They were in full bloom!
I've seen them blooming before, but often in the wild the colors aren't all as vibrant as the ones we saw. The tubes can vary from green to the deep red shown here, and the flowers are red to purple-ish, with tones of green too.

The stems are quite stiff, and you'll never see the view below unless you turn a flower up to look at the other side.



By late afternoon we were completely dried out when a thunderstorm blew up! So we walked into camp at Culhane Lake completely soaked again. We set the tent up as fast as possible, threw our wet packs and selves inside, and tried to sort it all out in a cramped space. It did stop raining before nightfall, so we hung the wet clothes outside, and were actually able to cook a dinner.