Tunneling to the Beach

Even before we left for Michigan, I told Dan that I wanted to use one of our "free" days to drive the Tunnel of Trees. (M-119 out of Harbor Springs. It's a thing -- just google it) We made our way down back roads (some deliberately, some not so much) from Levering to Harbor Springs to the "mouth" of the tunnel. The narrow, twisting road follows the lake shore, giving the occasional tantalizing glimpse of the blue water through the trees. There wasn't much color yet, but it was still a very pretty drive. 

Scattered along the road are various nature conservancies. My brother Ben recommended one in particular, the Elmer Johnston Nature Conservancy. It did not disappoint! The one and a half mile walking trail took us up a gentle hill to an open meadow where we could see out over the lake. The sky was a beautiful, soft blue with just a couple of small clouds, and we could see Beaver Island on the horizon. The trail then paralleled the tree line, where we spooked a deer. I only heard it, but Dan caught a glimpse of a white tail moving away from us. We followed for a moment, but we didn't see it again. (That was actually our only "wildlife encounter" of the whole trip, except for the ubiquitous deer along the road in the dark.) Now the trail beckoned us into the shady, quiet forest. We could hear woodpeckers working away on the trees, as well as the calls of some other birds. Once we even heard a turkey gobble. 

Back on the road, we made our way into Good Hart and stopped at the General Store. Ben told me I had to try their fresh lemon bars. Unfortunately, they were fresh out! So I settled for cookies and the seemingly obligatory dose of Vietnam-era politics. (We were on the same side, so I guess it was okay.) 

There was one more stop that we had to make for old time's sake before going home for supper: Sturgeon Bay. Upon our arrival, I was immediately struck by the distinct lack of beach. I remember it as such a wide, sandy stretch, but this time the water very nearly came all the way to the vegetation between the water and the road. (Such are water cycles in the Great Lakes.) But there was still room enough for a quick hand-in-hand stroll and a few pictures. Just like the good ol' days. 

Thanks for sticking with me! Just two more trip posts to go!

In my humble opinion, they are the best from 

a photography standpoint. 

Goin' to Grandma's

I have so many wonderful memories of time spent at Grandma's farm: pancake breakfasts (talk about "farm-to-table"!), baby kitties and chicks, and making sugar cookies. Her sugar cookies were legendary! I now have her cookie cutters, but I can't make her cookies -- the recipe was only recorded in her head. (We'll just leave the not-so-wonderful memories like the terrifying watchdogs and the plethora of snakes for another post, okay?)


I think that I have only been back to the farm once since Grandma passed away, so it was a special treat indeed when my brother talked my aunt into letting us into the house. As soon as she finally got the stubborn door to yield, she and I said in unison, "It still smells like Grandma's house." My cousin now owns the property, and is in the process of remodeling. It was fun to see what he has done, and to remember how it used to be. 

After touring the house, we returned outside. While some things had changed - the two big pine trees had fallen victim to storms, for instance - most everything was just as it was when we were kids. It was such a sweet afternoon reconnecting with my childhood, my brother, and, in a sense, even with my grandma. 

The chicken coop
If Grandma knew that we were coming,
she usually waited to feed the chickens and gather the eggs
so that we could help. 

I was afraid of the cows, but once they were secure in their stalls,
I would join Grandma in the barn.
I loved to watch her milk the cows and occasionally squirt a kitty!

Next post: Tunneling to the Beach 

Stay tuned! 

Just a Girl in the Woods

From the time I was just a young child, I have loved the woods. My sister and I spent many a summer day climbing trees and building trails and forts in the woods behind our house. Furthermore, the whole family enjoyed a trip to Wildwood looking for deer and picking apples, berries, nuts, or mushrooms. (Wildwood is still a favorite spot when I make a trip back to Michigan.)

Nowadays, I find my sanity out in the mountains near my home in Montana. But the forests of Montana are different than the woods of Michigan, and in the fall, I still miss those Michigan trees! 



I recently had a chance to channel that little girl in me while visiting Willow River State Park near Hudson, Wisconsin. This was a beautiful 5.5 mile walk through the woods, highlighted by a waterfall. Unfortunately, the overcast skies muted the autumn leaves, but I still reveled in the reds and oranges that are conspicuously missing in the Montana mountain forests. It was also a treat to spot birds that I have not seen in a long time, like blue jays and nuthatches. (Yes, we do have woodpeckers in Montana, but not in the proliferation that we found throughout Wisconsin and Michigan.) 

After a couple of hours, we had to return to the twenty-first century, the Subaru, and the interstate. But for just a little while, I was just a little girl, happily playing in the woods.

Willow Falls

I don't think I want to eat these...

The meaning of "playing"
might be a little different these days. 

Those woodpeckers have been busy!

There weren't many flowers left. 

Sumac

Stay tuned for the next episode in the Midwest Wanderings Series!

Hitting the Highlights

I wanted color...

...and I found color!

Little Manitou Falls
Pattison State Park, WI

I have often said that the only things about Michigan that I miss are family and the trees. This past week gave me a full dose of each!

The whole purpose of this trip was to throw a 50th wedding anniversary party for my parents. The party was well attended. It was the first time since 2005 that all of my brothers and sisters and I have been together all at the same time in the same place! I got to see all of my nieces and nephews except one, and only one of my aunts was unable to attend! It was great to see everyone and just spend time sitting around and catching up. 

But on to the things that might actually interest you!

Before we even got to Michigan, we had one walk in the woods already under our belt! In all, we spent at least part of seven days outside. We visited one nature preserve, a favorite beach, and five state parks. We even took a boat ride. We also spent time wandering the woods on three different family properties. 

In the coming days, I will be adding individual posts for many of the places that we visited. It would take me way too long to do it in one post, and even my most loyal followers would find such a post completely overwhelming! So stay tuned!  

My uncle's barn
Cheboygan, MI

Sable Falls in
Michigan's Upper Peninsula

It's All About Those Elk!

Shhh... they're sleeping!

We were so disappointed last weekend when our camping trip to Yellowstone National Park was spoiled by weather. (Not that we didn't find ourselves an adventure!) This Friday's weather wasn't great either, but we decided that Saturday, nothing short of a blizzard was going to stop us!

We got up early (for us, lol) and headed out. It was still pretty cloudy, but at least it wasn't pouring down rain. By 11:00, we were out of the car in Mammoth and on our way up to where we always see elk. By the time we forked off of the Beaver Pond Trail onto Sepulchre Mountain Trail, the sun was coming out. That got the birds going, and we hoped it would do the same for the elk. 

We followed the trail farther than we ever have, and found that it came much closer than we realized to the meadow where we wanted to be. Just before we left the trail, I looked down to see tracks in the snow. Not people tracks, either! I thought they were bear tracks, but Dan said they were wolf tracks. We let the wolf keep to the trail and we veered off in the direction we wanted anyway. 

"Our" meadow

We ate our lunch overlooking a beautiful, aspen-lined pond. That was when Dan heard the first bugle of the day. It was coming from the general direction that we wanted to go, so we were once again on the move. We came into our meadow and found lots of sign, but no elk. Not, that is, until I spotted a small herd of young bulls sleeping on the sunny hillside. As we moved in, they awoke and looked at each other as if to say, "Hey, who was supposed to be on guard duty?"  

Just then, we heard another bugle and we were again on the "hunt." We soon realized that we were hearing not one, but two bull elk bugling back and forth. Dan finally spotted one of them in a little meadow, and we were able to set up behind a fallen tree. We watched for quite a while, waiting for the other bull to put in an appearance, but he never did. Eventually, the first bull wandered off into the trees, so we also moved on. 

When we came back to the Beaver Ponds Trail, we turned back toward the car. We were still hearing a lot of elk-calling, but I really didn't want to hike out in the dark. But then we heard a bugle right beside us! Another nice bull was shrieking out his challenge in the meadow just off the trail. Without a thought, we turned our lenses in his direction. When this bull also turned off into the woods, we quickened our pace for the car. (We even passed up a bluebird photo shoot. There really wasn't enough light left anyway.) I was ready for that prime rib dinner waiting in Gardiner. After seven miles of hiking, I think I earned it! 

Well, THAT was an Adventure!

After many, many dry summer days here in the West, we finally received some moisture. While I am certainly not going to complain about the rain, it did throw a monkey wrench into our plans for the weekend. 

We had been planning since last September to camp in Yellowstone this weekend. We figured we finally had the perfect timing to photograph elk in the rut. But when we got up Friday morning and it was raining here and snowing in Yellowstone (love those webcams!), we decided to run errands and reduce the weekend to a day trip on Saturday. Except that Saturday was even worse. So I settled in for a day at home.

By midafternoon, Dan was in his recliner to watch golf. But the local affiliate chose to air the college football game instead. Before long, he was restless. The rain had stopped and the radar looked good, so we loaded up the gear and hit the road. 

Our first plan was Woodbine Falls. After coming through Columbus, we took a gravel frontage road along the river. We got our first photo op when an osprey flew over and perched in a bare tree near the road. A little further down the road, we spotted a nice mulie buck. 

When we came to Jack Stone Creek Road, Dan hesitated for only a moment before taking it. I made no objection. We have had some really neat wildlife encounters on that road, including our only bobcat. 

Jack Stone Creek Road is a dirt road, but a good one. Even with the three days of rain, we figured that it would be okay. And for a while, it was. But eventually, the poor little Subaru just couldn't keep going. We were less than a mile from the main road, but it was uphill all the way. We had no choice but to turn around and head back. We dug out as much of the packed Montana gumbo as we could out of the rims and wheel wells and gave it another go. It was a process that we would repeat quite a few more times. At one point where we were actually making some progress, a bird flew over the car. I said, "Was that an owl?!?" to which Dan muttered, "Might have been." We came around the corner and sure enough, the owl was perched in the tree. But Dan showed no sign of stopping! Fortunately for me, the owl stayed put when we had to get out to clear the tires again. I left Dan to deal with the mud and walked back to get my first owl pictures. 

Eventually, we got back to the main road, but it wasn't smooth sailing yet. There was still enough mud inside the rims to throw off the balance of the tires. It was slow going until we pulled into Ichkepee Park and spent some time scraping and poking with some kindling wood we found. That made it enough better that we were able to get home at speed on the frontage road. (Now we just have to clean the poor little car!)

Maybe next time we'll just take the truck... 

Better with Bears

It's been a while since Dan and I have been to the Pryors all by ourselves. But all of our friends had other plans for the weekend, so it was entirely up to us to choose our own entertainment. 

Yes, another dead tree picture! 

On Friday, Dan suggested revisiting an area where we had hiked before (read about that adventure here) and going a different direction. Sounds good to me! We walked up a closed road for a little bit before veering off to a destination point on one of the "fingers" overlooking the canyon. As we walked, we noted interesting rocks (a few might even have been arrowheads or speartips), and investigated some claim markers. Eventually, we reached the spot that we had determined would be the "turn-around" and sat down to eat lunch. We noted some signs of bear activity - a torn-up stump and some old, dry scat - but there was no sign of life in the meadow below us. The wind was definitely not in our favor, so as we started back for the machines, Dan hung back while I went ahead. He was hoping that maybe my scent blowing back through the trees might push something out into the open for him to photograph. 


After I had walked for a bit without seeing Dan coming behind me, I decided that he must have, in fact, seen something. So I circled back. Except he was behind me, so of course, he was not where I left him. I retraced my steps again, and before long, I spotted him. He was patiently scanning the landscape around him with his binoculars. Suddenly, his whole demeanor changed, and he was taking pictures. I hurried to catch up, and I caught just a glimpse of black fur disappearing into the trees.

He said it was a sow and two cubs, so we started cautiously, but quickly, down the hill. When we spotted them again, we saw that she actually had three cubs! But once again, they dropped out of sight. Dan blew the predator call once, but then decided that calling in four bears might not be the wisest thing to do, especially since we did not know exactly where they might come from! We continued around the tree line and came to a cattle trail. Sure enough, there were bear tracks in the soft dirt. We had missed them. Just then, we both heard the rustle in the trees and looked up to see black fur in the green leaves! Wow! She came down out of that tree FAST! With the wind blowing our scent right to her, we knew we had seen the last of her, so we went in the opposite direction back toward the atv's. 

Not the best photo, but it was the only opportunity we got! 

They came this way! Awww, baby bear! 

Hiking back to the machines, I commented to Dan that it would have been a good hike even if we had found only pretty rocks and dead trees. He gave me his little smile and replied, "Yeah, but it's always better with bears!"  

Saturday morning, we were ready to ride! We explored some new roads and trails (well, new to us), and just enjoyed the sunshine and the ride. We were on the way back to the camper when we saw a couple of atv's stopped in the road. A flock of bighorn sheep were just off the shoulder, and lo and behold, they were ewes! (Almost all of the sheep we ever see are the bachelor herds.) As the ewes made their way across the road, I spotted a baby one! We have looked and looked for little ones without success. Finally, we had one! Neither mama nor baby was in any hurry, and we had ample time for pictures. What a great ending to our outing.