Rain and Mud and Slime

 
Talk about a wet day. The forecasts all said the rain was going to stop around noon. It finally gave up closer to 4:30. Nevertheless, I managed to check out some pieces on foot.

But when I first thought it was letting up and then it began to pour, I decided to have some coffee at Johnny T's.



I left there when the green spot on the radar had passed by. Yesterday there was some mud. Today...



Even the paved multi-use part of the trail was having some water issues.



This is my favorite rain-related picture. It was also taken on the piece where I got totally soaked when it decided to pour again. The raindrops were landing on this duckweed covered water. The drops were big and would separate the duckweed leaves, making polka dots.



And now for that slime mold. Remember yesterday's picture? Here's a longer shot with the hemlock log.



And today's. I did go back. This confirms both the orange and the brown are slime molds. Gone!



Today, I broke that remaining piece of orange apart, and as you can see, it has little orange tubes projecting from a sort of white membrane.



Then I checked a few spots of the brown that were still there. These looked older and less structured, and they did seem to be sort of disintegrating, but they also have that inner white membrane.



Now I'm wondering if the orange and the brown are the same species at different point in their life cycle. Or maybe the almost black ones have died. After last night I was thinking the dark ones might be a thing called "Chocolate Tube Slime," but now I don't think so. The "chocolate" tubes are tapered.

There isn't anything like a field guide to slime molds. I have one textbook about them, but there is more that is not known about them than what is known. Just fascinating!

And here's a beautiful oak tree on the Baw Beese Trail section, looking even more lovely because the rain made the trunk so dark.



Anyway, I managed to walk about 6 miles today, and drove a bunch more road sections checking things out. It was about 26 years ago that I hiked this section. Chips was with me then, and one of those days was also in the pouring rain and miserable. Maybe Hillsdale just hates me! Ha ha.

North Country Trail, Hillsdale County, MI, small pieces in Lost Nation State Game Area, and parts of the Baw Beese Trail, about 6 miles total.

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National Trails Day 2018

 
Today (first Saturday in June) was National Trails Day, and the Spirit of the Woods group took a hike on the North Country Trail. We headed south from 5-Mile Road and crossed the Vince Smith Bridge.



The floodplain was filled with cinnamon fern.



We were 13 hikers, and quickly spread out into various groups based on hiking speed.



The fastest people walked about 8 miles. I was the sweep at the rear, and our group did about 5.5 miles. Since it was an out-and-back hike this worked fine.



We wanted everyone to finish at about the same time, because a cabin belonging to members of our group is close by, and we met there for a finger-food picnic lunch. Lots of yummies!



There were a number of interesting finds for the day. Leafroller moths have been at work on both the oak trees and the witch hazel. I had to look these up, and it seems to be different moths for each species of tree. The Dichomeris ligulella is the one that rolls witch hazel, seen here. They don't do much damage overall. We did also see oak leaves that had been rolled, and those moths can be quite destructive.



Here's a big patch of scrambled egg slime mold. It's the most common one there is. I love slime molds, but finding any of the unusual ones is rare.



Caught a halfway decent picture of one of our bigger woodpeckers, the yellow bellied sapsucker.



The weather was perfect. The bugs weren't bad. Can't beat a day like today! Hike 100 Challenge for this year is up to 20 miles. Maybe it's time to get a little more serious!

North Country Trail south from 5-Mile Road about 2.5 miles. Lake County, MI

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Arcadia Dunes- Dry Hill Trail

 
I'm off having an adventure at Arcadia Dunes, also known as the Mott Nature Preserve. Today I hiked the longest trail, called Dry Hill. About 10 miles. It gets its name because it's a glacial moraine and is so high above the water table that early settlers could not dig shallow wells and find water.



With that information, I expected a xeric forest like most of the Manistee where I hike. Not so! The woods was exceedingly rich with wildflowers and I went nuts taking pictures. Maybe you'll see some of them this coming week, although a lot are of leaves and seed pods and other mundane things. A few might be blog-worthy. Tonight I'll just hit the highlights.

Almost immediately, I spotted the rare Crested Wood Crane striding through an opening.(wink)



I thought this fungus might be unusual because of the way it seems to flow up the tree. There were several like this. Later, I decided it's just an Artist's Conk that is growing funny. I'll have to look in the books when I get home. But, as you know, identifying mushrooms may not be that simple.



This is really interesting, although common. I'm fascinated with slime molds. They are a category of organisms that aren't like anything else. Can't believe I've never put a picture of this on the blog before. This is the absolutely most often seen one, called scrambled egg slime. And this was a beauty.



After I finished my hike for the day I had to drive to a campground, because you can't camp in the nature preserve. On the way I stopped at tiny Glover's Lake just because it's pretty. This is my favorite shot. The pink is water smartweed in bloom.



Finally, this is such a trite picture, but I can't resist. I was setting up my tent, and lay down on the ground cloth to check how the "lie" was. When I looked up, this was my view. Pretty darn nice. Life is good.



More of the same tomorrow!

C.S. Mott Nature Preserve, Arcadia Dunes, Benzie County, MI, Dry Hill Trail

(BP -4 and counting)

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