First "flowering" wildflower of 2012!

February 27 2012 This post is going to be out of sequence but it was a special day!  Let's at least go through the day in order.

We went south to Laketown Township Beach Park, this is about half way between Holland and Saugatuck, Michigan.  We were going to check out Halfway Creek (at least that is the name in given in the Michigan County Atlas by David M. Brown) which is about a quarter mile south of the park along the beach.

     Stairs at Laketown Twp Beach Park

Lake Michigan

 Halfway Creek meets Lake Michigan

            Halfway Creek
There were no rocks, well OK, we found three rocks, that's it.  The creek was cool and we crossed it easily, having our boots on and timing the waves.  There are houses here.  The wind was blowing.  There was quite a roar from Lake Michigan.

           Stairs at Laketown Twp. Beach Park


It was early when we got back to the car, we decided to go to Allegan Forest, a favorite place of ours.  First we wandered over to 133rd Ave. went under the train bridge, looking for very early signs of wildflowers, maybe Marsh Marigold.  Not much here, some green coming up.

    133rd Ave in Allegan County


On we go, and this is the best part.  We went to Happy Boots corner!  Marie stayed in the car to snack.  I jumped out with my camera, grinning ear to ear.  This place is just wet woods with a ditch along the road, so what's the big deal.  Well, the big deal is the Eastern Skunk Cabbage were up and I think I can say they were blooming.

Ok so you can barely see inside, not the best shot but this is when I looked up and saw a Michigan State Police car pulled up next to Marie's car.  OH OH!  She told him I was looking for wildflowers, I'm glad she didn't tell him this was Happy Boots corner or I might not be here to tell this tale.  Ha ha.

                 Not yet flowering

              Maybe flowering

                 Yeah just a little bit flowering?

             Something is growing here at Happy Boots Corner.

    New growth, this will be a wildflower soon.

    Back road in Allegan County. 
We checked on the dried stalks of the American Columbo in the Allegan Forest.  We followed 58th Street north, through the tunnel

and on up into the city of Holland, stopping by at Herrick District Library. 


That was our day, out of chronological sequence but fun all the same.

Cabin Adventure - Day 3

The last day of our outing we did the usually morning things, shower, dress, breakfast, walk the dog, then packed up for the ride home.  We decided to take the Six Mile bridge way home.  Back to the Michigan County Atlas book, I see just SW of the bridge is a place called Links Pond, I have no idea what this thing is so we checked it out. 

Little Manistee River at Six Mile bridge

After stopping briefly at Six Mile bridge and walking along the shore  in a fruitless search of dead Bottle Gentian, we got back in the car, crossing the bridge (south) then turning right (west) on Old Stronach Road, the road marked Weir. 

One and a half miles down the road we came to a sign, Links Pond, OK.

There is a good two-track through the woods, 1/4 mile to an area to park.  We got Tilly out of the car and started to walk.  This is a cool and curious place.  There are lots of marshy areas and ponds, also the Little Manistee River.  We find lots of cedar trees, probably a great place for wildflowers earlier in the year.  But what was this place?  There is a small dam with a footbridge.

 We saw several numbered posts along the path.  I could contact the ranger station in Manistee, they must know what this was used for.  Maybe it is an old weir.  More research is needed. 

This sign was at Links Pond, hm...Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation.  It helps to take pictures of signs then I don't have to write this info down.  Links Pond is a cool place, I definitely want to go back there.

 Little Manistee River at Links Pond, notice the Larch turned yellow soon to lose its needles.


Mike, Tilly, and I walked ~one mile around the big pond and off into the woods, we crossed a small stream, but turned back not having a map and not quite sure where we were going. 

Back in the car and continuing west, less than a mile down the road, we came to the weir.

We ended up driving to Old Stronach Bridge.

There was a paved parking area here with a picnic table and grill, maybe a port-a-potty.  The bridge, I think, was recently redone as was the little park area. 

Now we went north over the bridge and turned east to get on Little River Road.  We are on the north side of the Little Manistee.  There is an overlook marked on the map, we got out to look.  It was a steep drop to the river, lots of beautiful trees blocked the overlook view.  

We traveled on until we again crossed Six Mile bridge then drove on to stop in at Hoag's Lake.

Hoag's Lake

After this we jumped on US 31 getting off in Hart for La Fiesta.

Crossing the bridge over Hart Lake in Hart Michigan.

The rest of the way home, the sky was full of wonderful clouds.  We got home and again it seemed like we had been away a week instead of 50 hours! 

It is always good to be home. 

                                                                           

Lake Breeze and More

July 18 2011
The Land Conservancy of West Michigan , check out their website at  http://naturenearby.org 
Send them money if you have extra money just laying around.  Many of their preserves are open to the public for hiking, exploring, wildflowering. 
Here is a informative PDF map.
 http://naturenearby.org/Data/Resources/File/Brochures/LCWM%20Service%20Area%20Map%202011.pdf   


Of the twelve preserves listed on the Pdf, Marie and I had visited 11.  We hadn't been to Lake Breeze so this is where we decided to go next.  Lake Breeze Preserve is in Oceana County between Pentwater and Silver Lake State Park.

We didn't find a trail here so we just dove into the woods near the sign.  The woods were quite open as far as ground growth so it was easy going.  There were many fallen White Birch trees, we also saw Witch Hazel, deer, Oak, Maple, and Cherry trees, Sassafras, Bracken, Grapevine,  fungi, blooming Wintergreen.  Indian Pipe was up, Licorice was flowering, we heard frogs and crows.

Thirty-five acres are OK for wandering on, then there are 65 acres of conservation easement which you are NOT allowed to walk on.  This was a bit of a problem since we had no map of the preserve or easement, so it was hard to know if we were legal.  We did come to one "conservation easement - No Trespassing" sign but it was laying on the ground in pretty rough shape.  We also saw a few blue paint marks on some trees but they didn't seem to be in any order.
 
It was a very hot and humid day for walking through the woods, and we did come across one orchid in a low wet wooded place.

 I know, not the best pictures and it isn't actually blooming, or is it?
We spent about 90 minutes at Lake Breeze.

Next stop Cedar Point Park, an Oceana County park, just a few miles south of Lake Breeze.  Cedar Point is a great place for spending the afternoon at the beach. The 3 acre park provides swimming, a picnic area and restrooms. Wooden steps lead visitors from the high bank bluff above, through the forest canopy, to the beach below.

Marie knew of a survey marker here and we found it at the end of the parking lot.

The stairs to the beach were inviting so down we go to the beach.

               Path to Lake Michigan at Cedar Point Park

                          Lake Michigan Shoreline

  We found Herb Robert,
  (no he wasn't lost! I can hear it already)

                         Helleborine 
(a very common and beautiful orchid that we almost ignore for some reason?),

                                      Epipactis

Bladder Campion, St. Johnswort, Prunella vulgaris (Heal All), Beach Pea, Bittersweet Nightshade, Straight-line Rush,

                               Purple Loosestrife,

Silverweed, Spotted Knapweed, Wild Peppergrass, Watercress, English Plantain, Sessile-leaved Water Horehound, Yarrow, Boneset, Bouncing Bet, two Great Blue Herons, frogs, dragonflies and in the photo below, Centaury

                                Centaurium

Horsetail

We saw so much here compared to the woods of

Lake Breeze, but the woods are

enticing too.  Ok, after the beach and remember it is hot and humid, we sat in the van with A/C and had a bite to eat.  Along on a nearby tree came a Pileated Woodpecker!

This is a long blog and I'm only half way through the day.  Our next stop was a Golden Township Park, Round Lake Park.

Somewhat of a rough, steep two-track into the park.  The park is at Round Lake.  There is a gravel boat launch and a mowed space.

                     Round Lake at Golden Twp. Park
Again along the water and through the mowed area we found plenty of wildflowers blooming.

                                  Smartweed

                                 Heal All
We spent 40 minutes checking this park out.  Moving on, next to a nature preserve that we saw in the Michigan County Atlas by David M. Brown.  I couldn't find info about it online so we weren't sure what we'd find.  We are south of the Silver Lake Dunes area back on some one-lane dirt roads, a confusing maze, but eventually we found Memorial Nature Preserve. 
Well it didn't say "No Trespassing" but the preserve is the effort of families who live in the area.  So were we suppose to be here, I don't know.  We did enjoy it.

There were marked trails with maps, and trees were identified with signs, nicely done.

After more than an hour here, I was getting a bit worn out, well it was hot and humid still.  And can you believe we went and explored all these different places in one day!  And we aren't done, we also stopped in at a favorite site, Park Road end beach.  Check out the post from 2010, August, Lake Michigan Beach Fun, http://plantsamazeme.blogspot.com/2010/08/lake-michigan-beach-fun.html

Whiskey Creek meets Lake Michigan at the end of Park Road.
We found Sea Rocket blooming.  This is the first time I have seen this plant, it has a thick, fleshiness to its stem and leaves not at all a wimpy plant.

It was a bit past prime, but a fun find. 



We felt Lake Michigan and the water was remarkably cool on this very hot day.