Morning Light and More

 
I am sorry to tell you that I was too lazy to get out of bed fast enough to bring you a picture of the beautiful golden fog this morning. But there was lots of lovely silver light on the way to Hesperia.

These are wet asparagus plants.





And light shining behind spruce trees.



The event at Hesperia went well for me. I guess other people didn't sell much at all, but I did fine for a small event.

The booth next door had a great marketing manager. His name is Zeke, and he did a fine job of bringing people into their booth.



And then, I got to do a favorite thing coming home. I'm sure you can guess what it was. Yup... I just followed back roads. I stopped at a few places so I could check that the info on my Get Off The Couch web site is up to date. One of the stops was Walkinshaw Wetland. It's such an open, desolate kind of place! But that is one reason the sandhill cranes like it.



After that, I really did wander. I got on a bunch of seasonal and Forest Service roads that aren't even on maps. Ended up at Whiskey Creek. If you are local, you know what the roads are like out there. Well, I sort of know my way around that corner of the county, but I goofed up one turn and ended up going almost in a circle! But who cares? I had fun.

I think this is Ruby Creek.



And, I introduced Leona to mud. Yes, the car's name is Leona. She changes color in different lights like a chameLEON, I was going to name her Leon, but then I realized she was a girl, so Leona it is. She is fine with mud. I would tell you what road this is, but it isn't on the maps! (Well, it might be on the National Forest map, but I haven't looked.)



Supposed to rain tomorrow, but that is good. I have a lot of things I can catch up on inside.

	See Walkinshaw Wetland
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Boardwalk Repairs

 
You know we've recently had some bad storms that left a mess along the North Country Trail. This week's chapter work outing was already scheduled for the Sterling Marsh Boardwalk to deal with some frost heave and minor repairs.

However, two sections of the boardwalk took direct hits from falling trees. Here's one of them after the tree was cut off.



We had a huge group of people turn out to work, close to twenty. This was good because there was a lot to do.

After clearing the first broken section some of the guys made a pile driver with a log and board to smack the heaved sections back down. (They also used car jacks to lift some sections that had sunk.) So the boardwalk is close to level again.



Meanwhile, another guy and I went on ahead to start taking apart the broken place pictured above. Other people were unloading and cutting lumber, carrying it and tools to whoever needed it, etc.

Around noon we broke for lunch, and to have the annual chapter meeting. We have done this in the woods before- most notably one under a tarp in the pouring rain- and incidentally while working on first building this same section The Wettest Meeting But today's weather was great.

One of our members, Steve Webster, finally received the national award he was given this spring. It's the "Sweep" award, given to someone who likes to work behind the scenes but is always out there working for the trail.



After the meeting, we headed back out to continue working. As bad as that broken section looked, here we are already putting decking boards back in place.



And around 3 pm. we picked up the tools and headed back to the cars. This picture is that same section above that was completely broken up.


Sue and Sophie (with Sophie's sister Anabelle) were there. I hadn't seen Sophie in a long time. This little dog really likes me (and I her)! She kept wanting me to pick her up and hold her all day long. Well, I don't mind that.



In the roadway that got us back near where we were doing work were bear tracks, but we were making so much noise I'm sure no bear was anywhere nearby.



Great day, amazing accomplishment to get all those repairs done in one work day.

Because of all the walking back and forth, I'm counting 2 more miles toward Hike 100. Total 69 miles.

I didn't do a blog post yesterday. For some reason, after I got home from working at Shagway (extra hours, but it's not like that is difficult), I was so tired I went to bed with a book and it wasn't long before I couldn't even hold the book up. Went to sleep and slept through till 7 am!

One more week till I leave on my hike. Time to get seriously busy!

	See Boardwalk Celebration
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Granola (Rhubarb) and Good Times

 
I started the day by making some rhubarb granola to take for gifts to people I'm staying with this week. Already had a ton of recipe requests on Facebook. I made this one up to try it, but I'll put the recipe at the end. It got done just in time for me to leave the house. Let me say that this one is not bad, but I think it could be tweaked a bit.



There were a couple of errands to do on my way. First, I dropped off an extra backpack I don't need any more to the Girl Scouts in Ravenna. It was a pack I didn't like much, but they should be able to get some use from it.

Then I needed to get something from my friends Bruce and Linda. Bruce used to be the Executive Director for the North Country Trail Association. Now he's retired.



So, seeing the people was cool, but I finally got to meet the most important member of the family. Bruce's big project since retirement is training dear Miss Carson. Well, no great photos of her. She was too busy being a puppy. She's a sweetie!



Then I went for a short hike on a little piece of NCT near Lowell. It starts off right along the Flat River, and follows some small town streets.



Reached some woods. They smelled all damp and ferny after last night's rain.



Caught a swan in flight on the way back.



Now I'm at the house of other friends for the night. Will tell all tomorrow.

Hike 100 Challenge- I'm up to 24 miles.

North Country Trail north from Lowell Main Street for 2 miles and return

Rhubarb Granola- Try #1
This tastes fine, but not very rhubarb-y. I think I'd use more rhubarb next time.

3 cups rolled oats
1 c. cracked wheat
1 c. grapenuts
a bunch of dried strawberry bits (I threw in enough till it looked colorful- two dehydrator trays full)
2 c. almond slices
1 1/2 c. stewed rhubarb (see instructions below)


The biggest issue with dehydrating rhubarb (which is pretty much what you're doing here) is that the lengthwise fibers in the stalks get tough and make a yukky texture. So to make a fine-textured stewed rhubarb cut the stalks into 1/8 inch crosswise pieces- no need to cut in the other direction. Cook with only a tiny bit of water because the fruit will generate plenty of juice. Sweeten to taste. I added a little bit of Stevia, but I don't like sweet granola, so not much.

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl and spread evenly on cookie sheets with an edge, or cake pans. Bake at 275 degrees F for an hour or so, stirring several times. I think this batch went an hour and 10 minutes. If you increase the stewed rhubarb, it might be even longer. You want the granola to begin to crisp up, but not get too brown. It will continue to brown a bit after you remove from the oven, so if you don't remove it you'll have REALLY brown granola.

It did come out with a nice mixture of clumps and finer pieces, but I would like more rhubarb flavor.

	See Celebration 2017- Bruce Retires
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Puppy Fix Again

 
This was actually Monday, but I didn't want to overlook it. Got a puppy fix at work. This is Ally. 3 months. Likes to play! Got one picture in focus.



Work today was much longer than usual for Wednesday because there were problems in the press room. And I had a long meeting this evening. Didn't really get anything else done.

	See Way Overdue for a Puppy Fix
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Way Overdue for a Puppy Fix

 
This is Loki. He belongs to one of the newspaper drivers but came to visit today. I'm still smiling.



After work, I went down the well hole and put moth balls around to deter Mr. Woodchuck. I set the heater so it should turn on thermostatically instead of just blasting heat all the time. It was as warm as the house down there if I needed an alternative place to bunk.

Here's the new expensive toy.


Then I closed it up and added all the old broken foam on top of the new green foam.



Next the layer of hay.



And finally the tarp and blocks/rocks, etc. to hold it down. And that's IT till nicer weather. It's supposed to get really cold again this weekend, so the timing is good.



After I've worked all day it is hard to come home and ram right into another physical job. I wasn't sure I'd get my second wind. but I did and have been writing in The Hitchhiker. This chapter has gotten much too long, so I'm contemplating cutting a whole thing out, or breaking it into two. At any rate, I did get in some writing time.

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My Kind of Crazy

 
Ester and I are those two about whom people say, "What the heck are they up to now?"

This visit must come to an end, but with the next one already planned it's easier to say a temporary "so long." Jade likes to come too. Look at that smile!



It was nice that Ester stayed through most of today, but I had to work in the morning. She came for a tour and liked seeing the machines. We had a few more hours, then I had to go to handbell practice and writers' group. That got her on the road at a good time so she was home before dark.

I know I've shown a lot of sunrise and sunset pictures lately, but today's sunrise was spectacular. (I watched it while hanging clothes on the line- are you impressed?)


Work in the morning. Since the last sleep was short I think I need to get to bed soon.

	See Making Hay Despite the Sun
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Too Much Fun to Blog

 
Ester is here. We are just having fun, even though it was too hot to move. We went out for burgers, and had ice cream at home.



We watched a movie and Jade watched us.



I know this isn't a high quality post, but having Ester here IS high quality, so I'm going to stop writing and get back to enjoying our friendship.

	See Saved by the Clouds and Ester
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Little Hikes, Big Fun

 
I had to scoot over to Baldwin to the Lake County Historical Society this afternoon, and while I was over there I got to do a couple of small walks. First I did a short out-and-back on the Pere Marquette Rail Trail.



This is actually the extension of the rail line that goes in back of my house. There are no longer any tracks east of Baldwin, and it's now a rail-trail. Here's one of the bridges. This is over the Baldwin River, that flows to the Pere Marquette.



And here's a little bit of the river.



Late summer flowers are everywhere. Spotted Joe Pye Weed, Eupatorium maculatum, is a common one.



Here's a favorite of mine, Groundnut, Apios americana.



And just for a special treat, here's a Ruby Meadowhawk dragonfly. Love the little diamonds along its sides. This seems to be the only red dragonfly I ever get pictures of, but it's really pretty, so who cares?



All that and more was in just a half hour! Then I met up with Sue, who had just gotten off work.



We went to the community park and had take-out salads and took a little walk on their trails. Do you need to ask? Of course Sophie Dog was with us.



They've added some exercise equipment, and we had to check it out. I don't think we did enough to get much exercise, but we probably managed to look silly. However, I had the camera, so Sue gets to be recorded in pixels. Haha!



So, this was day number two of non-stop activities. I think I'm glad I only have to go to work tomorrow!

	See Ruby Meadowhawk 2
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