I took Friday off of work to head out on this weekend’s county excursion - this trip marked the beginning of the end, in some ways. I have the rest of the counties mapped out and am on track to finish this summer (finally). After being thrown very off track by the COVID-19 pandemic, I am finally feeling like I can safely travel again as a fully vaccinated human (who still uses a mask when traveling, because who knows!). I hopped in my car and made my way toward Lansing, Michigan’s underwhelming capitol city.
Our second attempt rewarded us with awesome weather, great views, and amazing wildlife spotting! We arrived early afternoon and parked the car to hike a bit, enjoying the early fall colors.
Iargo Springs and the Au Sable River delivered a much more thrilling and breathtaking experience, even on a rainy, misty, foggy day. We started at the River’s mouth on Lake Huron, and worked our way inland on the Scenic Byway.
While the article really hyped up Harrisville State Park with this description, we found it extremely underwhelming and uninteresting.
After a chilly morning hike at Clear Lake State Park, warmer temperatures were welcomed in Alpena. Island Park is actually on the edge of the City of Alpena. I didn’t quite know what to expect, and was eager to explore. The entire experience was a hugely pleasant surprise - I don’t know if I’ve ever been anywhere quite like Island Park.
The temperatures had dropped overnight, from our camp at Hoeft State Park, leaving us with a chillier hike than we expected at Clear Lake State Park. The sun had disappeared, as well, but that didn’t keep us from noticing why the park had its name: the small inland lake is named for its picture-perfect clarity.
After a full day on Mackinac Island, our next stop was south on the Lake Huron coast; we found ourselves rolling up to our campsite at Hoeft State Park in the very early afternoon. We had plans to ride our bikes more, as there is an awesome wheelway that connects Hoeft to Rogers City; we decided instead to walk the hiking trails and enjoy the lake instead.
I hadn’t been to Mackinac Island since I was a child, and we approached this experience with an abundance of caution - not only due to the ongoing pandemic, but due to various stories we’d heard from friends about the living and working conditions of immigrant labor on the island. These things, in addition to the absolute erasure of the significance of the island in indigenous culture - Turtle Island is the land’s first name, after all.
I was on my way downstate from Petoskey, after spending a weekend on Beaver Island. The weather was warm and sunny, so I took a spontaneous detour toward Manistee.
I’d been dying to get to Beaver Island for a long time, after reading about the Mormon Kingdom from the 1800s and the amazing landscape there. Luckily, I have friends in northerly places and we found our way there in the beginning of September.
That last line should have told us to stay away, but my relentless commitment to the counties project brought Bill & I there anyway after spending the morning hiking the ledges in Eaton County.
The last weekend of August brought perfect weather to explore a local spot. Bill, Bela, and I loaded ourselves into the car for the 50-minute drive to Grand Ledge on Saturday morning.
I went to Kent County’s spot a while back, and as I mentioned in the original post, I didn’t feel like this was a good pick! As a resident of Kent County, I felt like there were so many other great spots that were far more beautiful than Lookout Park…no offense to whoever picked it. I think I finally found what is truly the most beautiful place in the county, though…introducing Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve.
I was pretty excited to check this spot out, especially after arriving at the headquarters and seeing the awesome signage detailing the wildlife and biodiversity of the site. However, Michigan’s/the Great Lakes’ historic high water this year had other plans…
We set out on the Chickadee Trail toward the marsh, and were not disappointed. Lots of trail signs, abundant wildflowers, and diverse birds impressed us as we walked through the park. The marsh revealed itself to us only a few minutes into our short morning hike.
Fish Point Wildlife Refuge is one of those confusing spots where public land and private land get all mixed up, and it’s not managed for regular recreation as much as it is for hunting so there aren’t definitive trails anywhere. Once we figured out where to go though, it ended up being really cool place to stop for an hour or so.
