Warner Creek Pathway - North Country Trail

This trail was amazing and I almost didn't go.  I was headed home from Petoskey and it was starting to sprinkle rain. And it was only 62 degrees out.  I had planned on hitting this trail between Boyne and Gaylord because it was only about 2 miles out of my way - another one I had no idea even existed.  But I decided I had a rain coat and my pants were water "resistant", so I pulled up the big girl panties and decided to go anyway.

The trail starts out wide on an old rail bed through a deciduous forest.

 While it was raining a bit, I was barely getting wet since most of it was hitting the trees. I think the river was running in that yellow grassy area but I couldn't get close enough to really tell for sure.

The sky was pretty threatening and the radar showed patches of rain moving in.

And then it got fun!  After coming out from the trees and slogging through some long grasses, I found this cool little bridge.  Its just planks stacked on cinderblocks and it runs along side a beaver dam! It was BARELY above the water in some spots so walking on it sunk it about an inch under the water.

It doesn't look like much in this picture but this is the beaver dam.

 And those water "resistant" pants?  Yeah, well they aren't.  At all.  They were glued to my legs. But they did dry fast!

After I followed the main trail out to a road, I turned back and took the other leg that made a loop back to the parking area.  This section was pretty wet as it followed along one side that pond but then it came back out into some beautiful forest with wide trails. Except for some downed trees.

More interesting fungus stuff.

Another view that I bet will be stunning in the fall!

 This little clump of bright red leaves really stuck out against all the green!

Some of this trail along the pond was really overgrown. Again, it was well marked so I never felt lost.

This larch tree was already turning!  Soon it's needles will fall off.

 Another Alice mushroom!

I have no idea what these flower are...I don't think I've ever seen them out in the wild before!  This was the only little patch of them I saw and they were a bit off the trail.  I just happened to spot them.

Many of the ferns were already starting to die back out in the open from the frost.

The trail also crossed some pretty meadow areas. And the sky was starting to lighten up again,

 This old tree was probably hit by lightening - it looks burned.  I think it also looks like an old face.

I spy something moving about dead center of this picture...

Oh hi there, Bambi!  How are you today?

And so concluded another fabulous hike in Northern Michigan!

Skyline Natural Area - North Country Trail

My only full day in Petoskey led me to the Skyline Natural Area section of the North Country Trail.  Hartwick Pine were pretty but this blew them away.  Just solid tall pine as far as I could see.

If the trail hadn't been marked really well, it would be easy to just wander off because you really couldn't tell based on the ground it was so perfectly covered in pine needles!

As you descended a big hill, you followed the trail along a series of switchbacks to make the journey a little easier on the UP hill climb.

After a mile or two, you follow through a really overgrown stretch of trail that leads you to this outlook!  The day was a bit over-cast so it wasn't stunning but I can only imagine what it looks like in the fall!  Wow!

After that hike, I stopped at a park just up the street from Bay Harbor along Lake Michigan.  One end of it overlooks a small inlet where there are docks that back up to the houses along Lake Michigan.  Most of the big boats and yachts were already gone for the season.

This is a really rocky section of the lakeshore - no sand here!

I was in my element after all the hiking!

Even built me a little rock stack!

And then spotted these black eye Susans growing in the rocks...tough little things!

Another water bottle selfie while expressing my joy of being outdoors up north - just feeling awesome!

Petoskey - the Inn at Bay Harbor

I've been coming to the Inn at Bay Harbor in Petoskey for about 10 years now and it's ALWAYS a treat.  Since I come for work, it doesn't cost me much of anything!  Definitely one of the premier resorts in Northern Michigan.

I usually end up in what they call a Junior Suite but is anything but Junior in my book.  It's a full two rooms.

The sofa is a pull out but the cabinet on the left in this pic is a Murphy bed!  And there's a full kitchen - they even provided a bag of microwave popcorn.

Best. Pillows. Ever.

Super nice bathroom with a jetted tub.

 Balcony off the bedroom.  This year my room overlooked the parking area so not much of a view but I never stay in the room much during the day anyway!

These are their rental cottages  - this is looking back towards the bluff where there are condos.

And beautiful Lake Michigan!

The "back yard" of the resort. Perfectly landscaped. At night they have a bonfire down by the rocks and bring you S'mores fixings!

The view from the sidewalk that runs between some houses down to the lake.

A little wilder section of the lakeshore.  Always so beautiful!

Hartwick Pines Hiking

I have driven past the sign for Hartwick Pines National Forrest hundreds of times.  And never stopped.  On this last trip north, I did exactly that.  I grabbed a trail map from the park office and set off down the road to the trail head where two different loops started.  I decided on the Forrest Trail that crosses the Au Sable river in two spots.

It was an incredibly beautiful day with sunshine, puffy white clouds and about 65 degrees.  Walking into the forrest is a bit enchanting with the needle lined pathway.

I found some unusual little plants here and there - this one was absolutely glowing against the dark ground.

Some areas had more deciduous trees.

Small things amuse me - and this little mushroom with it's upturned edges made me smile.  I could almost see it in Alice and Wonderland.

Not too surprisingly, some trees were already starting to turn even though this was just a couple days into September.

Tall, tall trees.

 I loved how sometimes the path didn't take the obvious route.

More interesting fungus.

And then I got to the part of the path that basically crosses a very swampy area. This had to be under water earlier this year when we had so much rain.  It was still pretty mucky.  I hunted around for a walking stick to use for balance and found nothing - they were probably all at the other end!  I made it all the way to the end of these logs before I slipped and sunk a shoe. Thank goodness they were waterproof!

It was like a little fairy garden!

This set of logs was a bit easier to traverse!

While the path meandered, there were no real hills.  The only negative was that you could still hear I-75 in the distance - probably about a mile away.

First crossing of the Au Sable river.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but the water was very clear.

Mini fairy trees!

 The path then followed alongside the river for a while.

There were some fall blooming flowers/weeds along here where there was more sunshine getting through the trees.

 I had passed a nice couple at one point and they told me about a tree down across the path and said it was a bit difficult to get over.  It wasn't exactly difficult but it was a bit awkward because of all the branches sticking out.

Not far from this point, the trail came back out to the parking area but I wasn't quite done yet.  It was just so darn nice out!  So I headed down the Mertz trail setting a timer for 20 minutes so I could turn around and walk back out the way I came in.

This trail was also relatively flat but a little more open and I didn't go through any wet spots.

Lichen, moss, fungus?  I guess I need to brush up on this stuff!

 Being alone makes it hard to do selfies but my trusty water bottle made a good lean-to along with the timer feature on the phone!