Hike...The Headlands

Just a few miles west of Mackinaw City

we found an eclectic group of trails called the Headlands. There were about 4 miles of fairly easy trails through open meadows and forested areas. To do all the trails, you sometimes had to repeat one part to get to another section, but...thats ok I guess. One of my favorite sections was Orchard Trail through this meadow. There were lots of butterflies flitting about and one bird in

particular kept eluding me. I first heard its song echo through the woods, it sounded flutish but a song or quality that I had never heard before. As we hiked though the meadow, it became more frequent and closer, but I was never able to spot it in the trees with my binoculars. It became VERY frustrating to me...but a brainstorm came and I remembered that I have a voice memo function on my phone...so I whipped it out and recorded its sweet song to investigate later. After listening to a few hundred bird songs on the Internet....the closest match I could find was the White-Throated Sparrow. Now...the tune was pretty much the same...but this bird had much better pipes! I hope to hear it again someday and better yet see the tiny bird that sang such a melody!

At the end of the meadow, we spotted a Hairy Woodpecker near this tree. I wondered if he was the responsible party for these large holes.....were they big because there was a great bug buffet...or was it an entrance to a nesting site? Oh how I would have loved to climb up there and find out....but its been a few decades since my tree-climbing days and I'm sure my skills are quite rusty...besides, I don't think my knees can handle the impact of leaping off of a 30 foot high branch anymore!

In the wooded area of the hike (where Mike got lost because he kept on when we would stop....he eventually found us) there was a stand of really interesting ferns....

...its shape reminded me of those big plastic things at the malls where you roll a coin and it goes 'round and 'round and 'round until it hits the bottom and vanishes forever. I wonder whats at the very bottom here? No way I'm sticking my hand in though!

McGulpin Point Hike

While peering out the windows at the top of McGulpin Point Lighthouse...I kept gazing into the lush green forested area below and wondered what treasures it held. Fortunately, my cousins also share the passion for adventure and nature...so we took the steep path to find out! Mike always seemed to be a bit ahead of us...something that would come back to bite him in the rear later in the day on another trail!

It wasn't too terribly long of a trail, but very dark with the shade provided by the lofty trees, and rather still....no birdwatching here.

As quickly as the mini-forest started, it abruptly ended and we were treated to the view of Lake Michigan and the Mackinaw Bridge that had eluded us in the lighthouse.

Was a very still,cool and foggy considering it was lunchtime...

...but yet somehow, the heavy fog and low clouds created a very peaceful place to ponder life's little questions... like I wonder where this particular rock came from and how it came to be exactly here?

We continued our hike westward on the rocky shores of Lake Michigan only to come across the remains of Crayfish and perhaps some type of crab!

Within a 2 square foot area we found remnants of life from the lake. All of a sudden one of us would squeal.."ohhhh look at THIS"!

Now, I'm not normally this excited about dead critters...but the peaceful environment allowed my mind to relax and be more open to all of the facets of nature...besides...I suppose I might rather see it dead than climbing up my boot! EEK!

Mike was so interested he actually scooped up a lot of the pieces and put them into a makeshift envelope. Hmm...in the future better make that part of my standard equipment for my daypack...just in case...

Lighthouse Climb...McGulpin Point

On June 26th I summited my 2nd
lighthouse of the year...McGulpin Point just the other side of the Mackinaw Bridge near Mackinaw City. I didn't think this was going to be a big lighthouse year....but you never know...when opportunity knocks....you need to run to the door!
This was by FAR the easiest climb, at only 44 steps, I didn't even need to rest at the landings :-) It's right close to the drop off of a cliff, so you really can't even see the beach as the trees below hinder the view. After only 1 year of construction, it was lit in 1860 with a fixed 3&1/2 order Fresnel lens that was visible from about 17 miles out in Lake Michigan and the Straits of Mackinaw. It was decommissioned in 1906 and purchased by private owners in 1913. But good news! Its has been purchased by a group of folks who are restoring it and the Coast Guard has put it back in operation in 2008:-)

A view from one of the landings to the steep trail below that leads to the shores of Lake Michigan. Looks like something that should be investigated!

Here we go on the wooded trail......I'll let you know where it leads!

Mighty Mac

On my recent jaunt to Mackinaw City, I paused by the shore to view the Mackinaw Bridge, what use Michiganders call the Mighty Mac. It was a drizzly overcast afternoon, and the upper portion seemed to disappear into the clouds. On the St. Ignace side...you really couldn't even see the bridge connecting into the land! Kind of like it just...dropped off!

Well...I've got less than 3 weeks to get over my phobia of crossing this 5 mile bridge of terror! I realize its the 3rd largest suspension bridge in the world....but the day I cross it...it will I'm sure feel like the longest!

Yup....the Canadian Geese were here too....except I don't think many people feed them up here like they do at home...but they weren't at all disturbed by my presence.

Evening Walk

Over the last few months it has been a wonderful treat to have an entrance of my road blocked off while a new bridge is being built. A few times a week I treat myself to some "nature time" and although hiking on pavement isn't really my style, its a quick close refuge! It leads past one of my favorite barns and the wildlife is coming out of the woodwork! I commonly see deer in the clearing, rabbits, wild turkeys, northern flickers, red-breasted grosbeaks, cedar waxwings, and barn swallows swooping all around the barn and in the field! Lately one has been playing this odd game with me while I am mowing grass, swooping and diving like it wants me to play chase! Yesterday, I spotted it circling Nadia and Gracie, but I guess they were too tired to give chase. The wildflowers are pretty great too! I think this is the only 1 & 1/2 mile walk that takes me well over an hour because I am constantly stopping to watch or observe!