2017-08-05 42 -86

Sat 5 Aug 2017 in 42,-86: 42.5327826, -86.2276548 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

Roadside in Wau-Ke-Na Preserve, Glenn, MI, USA

Participants

• Mcbaneg (talk) (George)

Expedition

Kitchen clean, laundry folded, air conditioner maintenance complete, 5:30 on a lovely Saturday: time to go. The hashpoint was farther away than I usually tolerate but it was in an interesting-looking nature preserve near Lake Michigan that I thought would be fun to explore. It also looked like the Sunday hashpoint for the next graticule to the east might be reachable, and not too far away, so this looked like a chance for a ["midnight double"], though it's not clear to me from the rules whether both hashpoints must be reached in the dark.

The Wau-Ke-Na preserve has north and south sections. The hashpoint was in the south section, in the ditch at the side of a road. The ditch had been recently mowed and was dry so reaching the hashpoint was very easy. I parked at the preserve parking lot about 200 m south and walked up the road.

On the east side of the road was a tallgrass prairie section of the preserve.

After the hashpoint visit I returned to the parking lot and then wandered through the south preserve section. It was lovely and serene, with mowed grass pathways, meadows, some rustic buildings, wetlands, and some ponds. There was one other car in the lot but I didn't see any other people.

I then went up to the north section of the preserve. This lets you walk through meadow and forest all the way to Lake Michigan. When I arrived at the beach there was one couple there, about my age, enjoying the water with their two dogs. I ditched the shoes and waded along the beach for a while before heading back and continuing on to 2017-08-06_42_-85.

Kudos to the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy for a fine, and nicely maintained, preserve, and to William Erby Smith for the generous bequest that made it possible.

• 

  Proof.

• 

  View to east over prairie section of preserve.

• 

  Preserve sign.

• 

  Milkweed, and milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) in the process of making more milkweed bugs. There's a better picture of the same process at [[1]].

• 

  Shot over milkweed and cattails to pond.

• 

  Blackberries! I ate a lot of these on this expedition. They're a July thing in NC where I grew up but they're an August thing here in Michigan, 500 miles north.

• 

  The wooded ridge in the distance is a dune forest. Beyond it is Lake Michigan.

• 

  Sassafras: three kinds of leaves on one tree (four if you count left-handed and right-handed mittens as different.)

• 

  Pond. I cropped out the unfortunate "No Fishing" sign.

• 

  Sumac. You can make a tangy lemonade-like tea from the berries.

• 

  Grin. I failed to take one right at the hashpoint.

• 

  Pokeweed. The young leaves are edible; I grew up calling this "poke salad".

• 

  In the north tract, the Lake Michigan beach.

• 
• 

  We get nice sunsets here, though I departed before the sun went down.

• 

  Eastern grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis. Near the lakeshore many populations of grey squirrels are actually black.