First Google Map

Today I needed to accomplish some things other than blogging (haha). I have so many projects going (always), that I split the afternoon into twelve 15-minute segments and worked a little bit on each project. It looks like I got a lot done! I needed that.

I started an email dialogue with the other members of the hike group for May. And thanks to some other hiker groups I've found out how easy and useful Google Maps are. They won't work for hiking with, but they are great for planning and sharing with people at a distance. You can see some other examples (by other people) at my North Country Trail News blog, if you are interested.



So I grabbed an image of the map and added a couple of labels, just so you can see where this is, more or less. Total is 130 miles. Link to the real thing, that you can zoom in or change to satellite background, etc is below.

Finally, I'm going to add a post about another blog. I'm being self serving to do so, because it enters me in a contest to win this beautiful painting, (1st prize) or one of 5 signed prints.



I still have mixed feelings about the blogosphere-- all this internal swapping of points, links, games, prizes-- but when I first joined Entrecard John Wright Art was one of the very first blogs that I marked as a favorite. I have a real love for watercolor, and great respect for anyone who can do it well. He does! And I really like the picture he is going to give away, so... this blog is MY quality day, so I can do it if I want to!

See Arrowhead 2009 Hike Route on Google Maps

Rhythm and MetaData

 
Today I have something from the right side of my brain, and something from the left side. It's always a guessing game which is in control.



I've been trying to get this picture for quite a while. Everything has to be right... the time of day (so that the sun is in the right place), the brightness of the sun, the smoothness of the snow. I like the way the tree just seems to be one with its shadow.

That's all I was going to post today, but this afternoon I learned something that I think I should have known years ago. I like to think that I'm computer literate, but somehow I didn't know this. I feel very ignorant, but I'm so excited about this that I have to 'fess up, in case you don't know either.

I have been dreading taking the time to set up a database to keep track of my pictures which are getting out of hand. But today I learned that I don't have to... it's built into Windows. You can use this for any file, but I'll use it mostly for pictures. Open a folder or drive window, select a file. Then either right click and choose properties, or you can use the menu-- File/Properties.

Once you have that open you can change the name on the general tab. On the summary tab you can add a title, subject, keywords, and a description. Those are all searchable with the Windows search function. So I can put my photos in multiple groups by keyword and FIND THEM AGAIN! I am so happy!

And, if you select Advanced on the summary tab you can see all the info about the picture- the f-stop, shutter speed, lens length, all that stuff!

	See Shadows are Not Always Sinister
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Today Let's Talk Squirrels

 



I don't mean for this blog to turn into a tutorial on animal tracking, but since that is a lot of what I'm finding these days... well, that's what we get. Anyway, I am having fun, and hopefully some of you readers will come along for the ride.

The first thing to note about squirrel tracks (and I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, but it's like reading... you start with ABC), is that they usually radiate to and from trees. That's easy to see in both of the first two pictures.



The next thing to notice about squirrel tracks is that the squirrel is a hopping animal. Now you may think of using that word about rabbits, and of course it's true for them as well, but any animal whose gait leaves prints of the hind feet side by side is considered to hop. The front feet prints may also be side by side or slightly offset. (The rabbit's are offset... I think of rabbit tracks as so common and easy to ID that I haven't even taken pictures. But it's fun that some of you have seemed interested in this. If you want me to do rabbit, I'll work on some good prints of those as well- just tell me!) So the squirrel leaves a set of four footprints in a box, or in deeper snow, such as these pictures, the prints are overlapped.

We have four kinds of tree squirrels here. Gray and fox squirrel are larger. (Gray squirrels may also be black.) Smaller tree squirrels are red and flying squirrels. You hardly ever see flying squirrel tracks on the ground. I never have. Now that would be a real coup to find some!

Based on the tracks alone, you can't tell gray squirrels from fox squirrels. But the tracks on the left are definitely one of the "big boys." The hind feet are up to 2.5 inches long, with the sets of tracks an average of 25 inches apart. Now, I love the second picture above, because I think there is a set of red squirrel prints just to the right of the others, also going to the tree. The red squirrel didn't break through the crust as much, and took great long leaps... as long as the large squirrel until it got close to the tree and slowed down!

Here is one frame of the two kinds of squirrel, side by side.



Finally, I have two closeups of the large squirrel tracks, one going to this tree, and one going to a different tree. In the bluer picture you can see that this squirrel didn't put its front feet exactly side by side. And don't get confused. The large prints are the hind feet, even though they are ahead of the front feet in the track. Think about how an animal moves. If it were standing on its hind feet and leaped forward the front feet (smaller) would hit first, then the hind feet would spring to catch up with the front feet. In that process the hind feet land ahead of, or on top of, the front feet prints. The front feet will already be off the ground beginning the next leap. So what we see looks "backwards."





PS- my mouth is doing really well. I went out for one walk today. The wind was nasty again, and the walking made my mouth hurt a little. I think tomorrow I'll be back to my usual two walks. Hooray!

	See Which Way Did He Go?
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Obsession or Opportunity?

 
I have more things to share from my walk yesterday. The very first tracks, other than the humans, that we found were these odd, regularly spaced "turkey toed" post holes. I stood there a minute and wondered what on earth had made them. I'm not really any kind of expert tracker, but I'm trying to learn more all the time.

So, I was thinking, "skunk? raccoon? Sure wish I had brought one of my field guides with me." I even own one called Tracking Animals in Snow. How helpful is it on my bookshelf? I looked really closely, and the jagged edges were clearly made by splayed toes, but as is so often the case in snow, the print itself at the bottom of the hole was unclear.

But before I had too long to ponder it all the crusty snow gave me the answer. Just a few steps back the critter had not broken through. And the answer is.... another opossum! So am I so obsessed with 'possums that I am finding them everywhere, or is it just a year in which they are coming out more often?

Here is a closer look at the confirming tracks. See the sets of overlapping footprints, with the toes sticking out like a star. I put a small cutout of the really clear tracks from my terrace next to the tracks from this hike to better show what you are seeing. The opossum actually has a thumb on the rear foot which you can easily see in the cutout. You can also see the drag mark from its tail. I'm thinking that maybe I'll be able to recognize this one without too much trouble in the future after all the practice I'm getting this winter!



Oh, and PS- my tooth is out. Of course it broke and they had to cut and dig the root out, but it's all prep work for a new partial plate that might last the rest of my life. This was long overdue, so I'm happy enough. Just took it a little easy today.

	See Maggie's Bad Day See A Dandelion that Doesn't Play 'Possum See Meet Dandelion See Not Playing Possum
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Pumped Storage Project Walk

 

I just had to go somewhere other than my backyard today. As much as I love "my kingdom," variety is good. We are watching the gas mileage pretty carefully, but this isn't far away. It's the Ludington Hydroelectric Pumped Storage Project lands. It's one of the largest such generation projects in the world, built 1969-73. It is located on a 1000-acre site which supports recreation as well as creating electricity.

Just so you know what you are looking at, the picture below is looking up from the trailhead to the observation deck on the edge of the storage reservoir. You can't go up there in winter. The whole reservoir is fenced and in winter the gate is closed.



From the same location, when I turn around, this is what I see. In the far distance the blue is Lake Michigan, 400 feet lower than the reservoir. You can see that there is a disc golf course cage. There are three courses on the property and it's really popular in the summer. I was VERY pleased to see that there had been hikers and snowshoers using the trails. Sometimes it seems to me that local people don't appreciate the many opportunities we have here.



One thing that makes this hike so much fun is that it's one of the few hilly trails we have here. The path goes over about five of these ridges. You can see Maggie thinking about the next one here.



After we walked to the adjacent road and came back we took a side trip in the other direction. This leads one to a bridge over the lakeshore road. Maggie doesn't like the bridge. It has a metal floor with holes. It's not a mesh that hurts her feet, but I always have to leash her to get her to cross it.



Across the bridge is a vista where you can see more of the generation plant. Most of it is underground. There are huge pipes called penstocks that connect the reservoir to Lake Michigan. At the bottom of the penstocks are turbines. When the demand for electricity is low at night pumps carry water up to the reservoir. During the day the water flows down by gravity, turning the turbines, and generating 1,800 megawatts of electricity. Notice that beyond the melted area at the base of the plant there is ice again, and then farther out you can see where the open water starts again.



We had a great walk! It was right about at freezing. The snow was soft. I thought it might stick to the snowshoes too much, and it was borderline, but ok. Maggie wasn't sinking in so much that she was unhappy (I walked her to town the day after our last snow and it was very hard for her. I felt bad.)

I have more pictures of tracks and closeups for a couple more days. I don't know how active I'll be- tomorrow at least, because I will have that tooth taken out. Can't say I'm looking forward to it, but it should make things better in the long run.

If you want to see more about these trails, go to Mason County Campground at Get Off The Couch.

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