Clear Springs- A Clear Choice

Whenever I have to go to Muskegon, I try to make time to hike some or all of the trails at Clear Springs Nature Preserve at Montague.

Yesterday, I left the house early enough that I had time to walk all the trails there by walking fast. There are a series of loops that all return to or near the parking area. I only missed a few little connectors, and didn't have to do very much twice. I like that.

One area has been selectively logged. I looked on their web page, and this may be to remove diseased red pine.

It was too early for even hints of wildflowers. I've been pleasantly surprised the last few times I was there to find some nice plant material. It was pretty junky when I first found it. Perhaps they have been trying to remove invasives.

Maybe the anteater is also eating alien plants. She was there in 2012, and she's still there!

Carleton Creek (or Landford Creek depending on the map you look at) runs down the center. This was the site of a small fish hatchery in the 1950s. The creek was dammed at one spot and it creates this nice pool. Later in the year this gets clogged with algae, but it's clear and open in March.

Not sure why I never noticed this giant before. This is a red oak that has to be at least 10 feet dbh- diameter at breast height- which is how trees are measured.

I'm getting to like the East Boundary Trail. It's the farthest from the traffic on US 31. You can hear that from anywhere in the preserve, but it's really loud on the west side.

At any rate, I hustled and did the West and East Boundaries, Rim, Spring, Pond Side and Crest Trails.

Miles walked in 2026- can you believe it? 99.9

Clear Springs Nature Preserve, Montague, MI. all trails 3.6 miles.

Oh, and an unexpected job. The kitchen sink peed all into the cupboard. Nearly totally clogged pipes. Cleaned out the gunk, reinstalled, cleaned that part of the kitchen. Last time this was done was 2016. Homeownership is not so much fun anymore.

See other hikes at Clear Springs See And the Solution

Heritage Nature Trail - Cadillac

 After the vendor event today, I took a short hike on the Heritage Nature Trail at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac. I had been there once before in 2015 (link below).

This is a large man-made wetland area between Lakes Mitchell and Cadillac. Black Creek, seen here, used to be used to float logs between the two lakes, but it was too shallow, and a canal was eventually dug. This changed the hydrology of the area enough that this became about 70 acres of wetland.

Since it's now preserved as a nature study area, that is a good thing. Most of the trail is in the form of a raised berm that goes in a rectangle around the area. At least it's dirt. But despite being close to two busy highways, it's known for great wildlife viewing. There is a spur into the middle of the marsh with an observation platform. I went out there, but it's pretty early to see much. There were a couple of slow peepers.

I really liked this collection of hummocks along the diverted section of Black Creek that surrounds the wetland.

Saw my first turtles of the year! Just painted turtles, but that's OK. I like to play the game of "which will be first?" Some years it's been a Blandings.

I wanted to take the outer loop, and I did. But the cut-across loop was so attractive, I had to walk it too (both directions, eh?). It goes over what they call "hemlock island." Since nobody was keeping any kind of records when this land was all changed, they don't really know why it's higher, or why (uncharacteristically) hemlocks are growing that near a wetland. But it was a beautiful section of trail. Two humps with hemlocks, and one lower section with a boardwalk through the marsh.

On the walk back, I cut over to Lake Cadillac.

The willow trees are getting all sexy. This is goat willow, Salix caprea, alien. But the male catkins sure are fancy.

With the extra bits of trail I did and the out and back pieces, I managed to turn it into a four mile walk. There is lots of interpretation, and would be a nice walk with kids. Probably you'd see a lot of wildlife activity on a summer evening.

The vendor event went OK. They didn't manage to pull in a very good crowd. I sold a few books and talked with a lot of people. But a few of my friends came. Sorry, no picture of Miki, but I finally got a pretty good one of Eamon!

Total miles hiked in 2024: 193.6 of which 69.6 is North Country Trail.

Mitchell State Park, Cadillac, MI, Heritage Nature Study Trail. with spurs. 4.0 miles

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Memory- Points to Hold

 
Yesterday, you saw some of the changes happening across the road from me. Today, I learned that a favorite tree of mine has been cut down. Yeah, it was geriatric and probably dangerous, but I liked it. A few days ago I shared an aerial view of our previous house here, which is now gone. The dorm I lived in for my college years is gone. The first two houses Omer and I lived in are gone- one demolished and one burned (neither of those when we were still living there).

I know that nothing in this world lasts, or even really matters. And yet, I feel a strong connection with the house I grew up in, the one my grandfather built. If something happens to it, I'm going to feel a true sense of loss, even though the barn is gone, the property is sold several times over, and my dad's garden is now a workshop and swimming pool.

Pulled this off Google Street View, so I'm pretty certain that unless something serious has happened quite recently, the house is still there.



Here's the house when I lived in it (picture about 1962).



Still amazingly like- the wood shingled porch has been kept and the white paint. I have to wonder how the inside has been changed though. I've heard some things about the beautiful woodwork, so I have no interest in being granted an interior tour.

The maple that creates a shadow on the left side of the roof in the older picture is gone, but the catalpa, just leafing out in the old picture- left of the house, is now completely dominating that side. I did a lot of jumping out of that tree, and stringing of tarp tents between it and the missing maple.

Some of my favorite trees from that era are also gone. They might be a tale for another day. Today, I'll just show you the Google view farther north of the house.

The line of trees and bushes are along the unnamed and seasonal creek. You can see the culvert going under the road. From the road on downstream for probably fifty feet was (is?) a stone sluiceway in which I used to play. Below that was a small almost-pond. I actually could swim in it in the spring- well, I could get wet and splash a lot. Below that was where I went fishing in my new rubber boots. The tree with a reddish cast is the hybrid cherry where my swing and treehouse were.



There are some places where I desire change and crave new experiences. I think my houses is not one of those. Although much of my childhood was not particularly happy, I love that house. Odd, eh? Thanks for taking this journey with me.

In other news: wrote chapter 13 in The ABZ Affair.

	See Sunshine Bungalove See the fishing picture
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Spirit of the Woods Hike - April 2016

 
Wow! 21 people (and 3 dogs) showed up for the hike today. Only one group cancelled out because of the snow. As it turned out the weather was great and the woods were beautiful. The predicted wind didn't kick up till after I was safely home, and the temperature was just above freezing.



We hiked the North Country Trail from 76th St to 96th St, which is the section through Sterling Marsh. The water was high, and we really appreciated the boardwalks. There were still some soggy spots, but before the boardwalks you never would have been able to walk this section in spring without getting totally wet feet.

You've seen Jenks Creek in summer. It was really pretty today with the fresh and clingy snow.



The busiest hiker, by far, was and always is Lily the beagle. She is a beagle's beagle and has to explore every hole and log and nook and cranny. However, I actually managed to catch her without her nose poked into somewhere.



At this time of year, Sterling Marsh is really a pond. This piece has some open water all year, but you'll only see it like this in spring. This is the location of the interesting curled reeds.



We've had a number of new people at our recent hikes, which is a lot of fun. It's great to make new friends who enjoy hiking. With such a large group we quickly broke into smaller confabs. I ended up in the rear because the group took off gung-ho while I was still putting my tripod away. That was fine. I chatted with Bob and Patti (Lily's humans), which was nice because I don't see them too often. We caught up with these guys who were getting acquainted.



I had to try an artsy shot, right? The shallow water made great reflections.


Miles toward the 100-mile challenge added, 4.1. Good times? Immeasurable. Ability to stay awake any longer when I got home? None.

	See Hiking in Hemlock Lace
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Sinuous

 
A visit to the cemetery creek is always interesting. It's a short, unnamed rivulet, but it runs all year.

This week, it's been cold enough to freeze the edges, and islands of debris, and cover them with snow but not cold enough to still the water.

I just liked the shapes formed by those smooth white edges.





Lots of changes there- a few trees blown down, two big ones marked for removal because they are nearly dead, a pump house where water used to be pulled from the creek has fallen in. One change that happened decades ago has always made me sad. Perhaps I'll make it a blog post one of these days.

I work tonight, but not too long. We did much of Friday night's usual work early this week because of the holiday.

	See How's the Cemetery Creek
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Blue Water

 
Had to do a few cases after the paper job today. Bright and crisp with blue, blue water.

First is the creek, whose name I cannot discover on any map, including the USGS topo map, which feeds the Middle Bayou of Hamlin Lake. Loving the primary colors!


But the view of Hamlin Lake from Long Skinny Park was pretty amazing. Those are the bare Hamlin dunes in the background.

	See Hamlin Dunes See Snow on Hamlin Dunes
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After the Storm

 
It was so still and beautiful today, after the winds of yesterday, that I just had to go out. I confess that I only did about a half-hour snowshoe walk, but even so, it was awesome.

The report from the deck is that all the critters are fine. Riley was racing around early, and the birds followed. This little junco is not frozen in place, but seems solidly settled.



The Cemetery Creek is frozen. No surprise there, but the scattered fluffy snow on the surface is interesting.



Finally, just two interesting patterns of light and dark.





We had pancakes for lunch... a perfect meal on a cold day.

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How's the Cemetery Creek?

 
Today I decided to walk down to the creek. I used to go there nearly every day with Maggie (except in winter- it's too steep to snowshoe). I confess I haven't done as many daily walks since she's been gone. Also, there is a big tree down across my path and it's going to be a lot of work to cut it out.



But, today I worked my way down to the creek. It has no name, and it's only a couple of miles long. I've taken you to the headwater marsh (and learned it's covered in poison ivy, so that's not a good summertime walk). I've followed it to the Pere Marquette River, but it goes through a lot of private property, so I only did that once. And it was before I started blogging.

At any rate, it has water year round, and it's close to home, so I enjoy it. We had a strong warm wind last night so are nearly snowless again. The creek is a little ripple of brown across a sandy bottom nestled in the orange-brown leaves.



The deer sure aren't either good trail builders or environmentalists. Their trail just plunges straight down the bank. I took a more angled route across the face of the gully.



This is my favorite shot of the day- a scalloped edging on a patch of ice.

	See The Midwinter Visit to the Cemetery Creek
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The Grand and the Intimate

 
Worked some for both jobs today and then went out checking sites for Get Off The Couch. Discovered that a trail which has been closed (as in gated) for a couple of years is now open again. From the top of the pumped storage reservoir you can see the Ludington Lighthouse, and the beginning of the channel. The big point of land is Big Sable Point, where the tall striped lighthouse I've showed you a few times is located. The picture is taken at about 950 feet, and the lake surface is about 580. Not bad for a "flat" state.



On an intermediate scale, Kibby Creek rest area is located on... duh... Kibby Creek. It's a pretty little stream. Here a tiny rill is adorned with forget-me-nots.



Just to keep us up to date, the caterpillars have migrated to other plants, but look! A few of them have gone to instar 4. It's amazing how few have made it that far from the mass we started with. Probably some I can't see any more are fine, but even so, the mortality rate even without being eaten is high.



And! The one we want to see, the Monarch caterpillar, was back this morning. Literally back... that's his tail end.




The cool summer has even made the papers here. I'm sure liking these temperatures.

	See Caterpillar Surprise
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