Thursday, September 26, 2013

An Autumnal Equinox Celebration...

Happy autumn blog readers!  The sun is shining brilliantly and warmly in the window near where I type; the goldfinches and crickets are singing amongst the flowers outside and tomato sauce is cooking down on the stove (thanks for these tomatoes, Tim!)...what a poignant time of year.  We spent the weekend celebrating with great friends along the Manistee River Trail in Michigan for our annual equinox backpacking trip.

The trail follows the banks along the clear fast water of the Manistee.


A bridge connects the Manistee River Trail and the North Country Trail allowing for a nice 20 mile loop.  The bridge also offers some great views from above of the crystal clear water and its inhabitants.


Smaller streams feed the Manistee River and carry sediment free water.  Beautiful.


Fantastic sinuous nature of an unstraightened river...


Time to stop and eat and enjoy our surroundings punctuated our hiking.   This particular stop was well deserved by Savannah (the cute pup) after a painful quilling in the mouth by a porcupine.


We observed an American dagger moth scaling down the bark of a tree...no doubt in preparation for a winter slumber.


Kayakers are good indicators of a clean river.


Cool fungus grew throughout the woodlands...


including this yellow fly agaric:


Steve spotted a fruiting Indian Cucumber...



Happy hikers at our camp spot over looking the river...




2 comments:

  1. That fire up there looks so inviting...time for crisp air and color other than Green to appear. OH I wish I was backpacking--- its such a great way to get regrounded and remember whats important in life..water, a soft bed to lay on, friendship and love...and HOT SHOWERS...haha
    ...hope that quill didnt do any permanent damage to your canine friend. I have family in MI they love it there, can barely tease them out of there for vacations! Happy Autumn...

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  2. Hi J&S... Love that fire, but I am not ready for heating
    just give me a couple more weeks, well maybe if I was camping it is chilly at night!!
    Enjoyed your hiking and things along the way!!
    Poor pooch, awful experience !! : (

    Grace

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