Mackinac Island in October

Mackinac Island covers 3.8 square miles in land area, it is in the U.S. state of Michigan.  It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

We stayed three nights at the Inn on Mackinac, a very nice Bed and Breakfast on the island.  Mackinac Island is certainly a tourist destination but things start to slow down on the island in October.  There are also numerous trails on the more remote end of the island where you can hike and not see another person.  

                                                         The Inn on Mackinac

 They don't use cars on this island, so we bring our bikes.  The first thing we do is take a ride around the perimeter of the island which is just over 8 miles.  

There are caves, and forests, and swamps on the island.  This photo above and below shows Arch Rock.

We visited some swamps along the way and found Fringed Gentian, but since it was cloudy the flower wasn't open.  Still pretty.

 This duck was sitting quietly in the calm back edge of a swamp.

The sun came out the first night we were on the island, but all four days were rainy, cloudy, or overcast.  Still we never got soaked by the rain, but later we did get soaked...

The day we left the island there was more sun but it was cooler, 
~ 55 degrees F.  We use the Starline Ferry, they provide free overnight parking. We hopped on the ferry -  it looked something like the one in the picture below.

 

We...or maybe it was just me that wanted to sit up on top.  Mike wasn't so sure.  And, an employee did warn us that we would get wet sitting up there...  But we were so high above the water, right?  Like I said we didn't get soaked by the rain but we did get soaked on our 20 minute ride to Mackinaw City.  Ice cold water pelleted us several times, it was windy and so cold.  Maybe that part wasn't really fun.

Back to the car to drive the 5 hours home (wet).  I was hoping the sun would stay out so I could get some nice pictures of the trees in their autumn colors.  Ten minutes later it was pouring rain.  The windows were wet, very difficult to get a good shot of trees along the way.  But the sun did pop out and I decided to just enjoy the beauty. Some of the trees just made me say, "Wow!"  The colors are so vivid.  Every fall it amazes me!

 Another fun adventure!

Ladies and Gents!

We saw so many Ladies' Tresses and Gentians this September, it was a good year for both.

 

          Nodding Ladies' Tresses Spiranthes cernua Orchid family
It is a native perennial orchid and it grows at Bass River Recreation Area by the dozens!  
Bass River Recreation Area, a 1,665-acre site in central Ottawa County, Michigan consists of open meadows, open brush land, mature hardwoods, small ponds and 300-acre Max Lake. It has approximately three miles of frontage on the Grand River.  Owned by the State of Michigan.

Along the trail there were groups orchids - Nodding Ladies' Tresses orchids!  Just in this one small space thirteen were  blooming!

My sister, Marie, and I made several visits to Bass in September, going places that we had never been to before.  One day we were out for seven hours exploring before coming back to the car.  We use Bing maps to identify places we want to try to get to, which isn't always possible -  due to high water or more growth than what shows up on the maps.

 Map of Bass River Rec. Area 
The red X marks one of our target areas.

  Bass River Recreation Area

We also saw Gentian.

             Bottle Gentian Gentiana andrewsii Gentian family

                                     Bottle Gentian 
                    We saw more of these than usual too!

 I found fifteen plants of Bottle Gentian blooming in just one small space! We found evidence of recent beaver activity at Bass. Trees freshly gnawed down and runways in the reeds at the edge of the ponds.

Views from the interior of Bass River Recreation Area in   Ottawa County, Michigan.

        Buddy's Pond

                      Max Lake at Bass River Recreation Area

 We saw some interesting critters.

      In Barry County we found Fringed Gentian.

 

 Fringed Gentian Gentianopsis crinita Gentian family
This native wildflower is a biennial about 1-3' tall. During the first year, it forms a low rosette of leaves, while during the second year it bolts, forming flowering stalks.

A group of Fringed Gentian in Barry County, Michigan.

  So that was some of the great adventures of September 2014. 

Cabin - Up North

Early in September Mike and I were able to get up to the cabin in Michigan's Manistee County for a couple of days.  We left on a Thursday after work and stopped for dinner on the way.  So it was getting dark as we drove, and the clouds and wind started to build.

The sun was low and the light from it hit the clouds.  Then a band of very dark clouds moved in.  See at the top of this next photo the dark band.  It rained that night.  Record rain for the area. Twenty miles away - 6.5 inches of rain in 12 hours was reported!  And there was wind, some straight line winds in the area.

It rained into the morning, but around noon it started to clear up.  We planned to hike the Manistee River trail, so we got ready and hoped we could get to the main road.  We did make it to the main road but had to stop several times to clear branches from the seasonal road.
We tried to start our walk from Red Bridge along Coates Highway.  A half mile from the bridge an officer was parked in the middle of the road and told us there were trees and power lines down near the bridge.  So off we go to find a different starting point.  We decided to drive up No. 1 Road to the Hodenpyl Dam.  Soon we came across a pine tree down across the road. It looked like a dead tree, probably not heavy, we both jumped out to move it.  We gave the tree a good pull but it wasn't budging - not even an inch.
So back in the car and we made our way to the dam on another road.  We parked near the Hodenpyl Dam and started down the trail.  The sun was out but it was also raining.  We saw more trees down too.

                                        Hodenpyl Dam

                                        Trees down along the trail

This is suppose to be the trail not a stream.  Where are my boots when I need them!
Then Mike made an exciting discovery.  White gentian.  Bottle Gentian.  And a bumble bee was working to get inside the flower.

            Bee half way in...

    Now the bumble bee is all the way inside the flower!

 It isn't long before you come to the pedestrian bridge when you head south on this trail from the dam.  And it isn't long before you are up high looking down at the Manistee River.

Each time there was a low, flat area near the river, we would go and check it out for wildflowers.  Here are a few that we found.

              Nodding Ladies' Tresses  Spiranthes cernua  Orchid family
This native perennial orchid is usually 4-12" tall.  While rather small in size, the bright white spike of flowers provides a striking contrast with the background vegetation and is fairly easy to spot. This one is just starting to open.

                    Bottle Gentian Gentiana andrewsii Gentian family
This native perennial plant is 1-2' tall.  The blooming period can occur from late summer to early fall, and usually lasts about a month. There is no noticeable floral scent.  Bumblebees are the primary pollinators of the flowers, as they are one of the few insects that can force their way past the closed corolla. Bottle Gentian is a beautiful plant with a striking appearance. The adorable flowers are often deep violet, although other shades also occur, even in the same cluster of flowers.

            Grass of Parnassus Parnassia glauca  Saxifrage Family
This one was a little roughed up, still a very pretty flower.

 We walked to the waterfall.  Then up through the pines back to the car.

It is difficult to get a good picture of the waterfall.  The edge is unstable so I wasn't getting any closer.  At the top of the picture you can see the footbridge.  
On Saturday we headed for home, that way we still have Sunday at home and makes the weekend seem longer.  We stopped at Ludington State Park in Mason County.  We did the same walk that I was on last month, around on the islands.  Since it was a Saturday and beautiful weather, the park was packed.  It was still an enjoyable walk. 

                       Hamlin Lake at Ludington State Park

                           From the trail at Ludington State Park.  
We went south after Ludington, and made a quick stop at Gale's Pond in Oceana County.  

                           Gale's Pond

                                Barn along the way.
On home we go, enjoying the blue sky, no more rain.