Forest approach

Today was another great day for a hike, although a bit cooler than yesterday. The temperature was about 36 when we set out from the swampy campsite. We donned blaze orange and did in fact see several hunters. Most had driven in close to their treestands and blinds. We were in a national forest--not a wilderness--so there were many roads into the area. In an article in the Detroit Free Press yesterday, a Frenchman who happened to be hunting in Michigan said: "It's very different here. You don't walk much." True, but staying near your car also makes it easier to haul the deer out.

We did see two deer and also a flock of trumpeter swans, high high above us. We also saw a small black creature that may have been a mink or something like it. It was a bit longer of a hike than Saturday and we ended up doing about 12 miles total.

More to come soon including photos and a report from the epic disc golf course, Flip City.

Swamp things

Right now, we're in a swamp. We're surrounded on three sides by standing water in a makeshift campsite. There also are a few cedars and birches with lots of oaks. It's cloudy at the moment after a beautiful sunny warm November day.

Today's adventure began at the Nichols Lake trailhead in the Manistee National Forest, near Big Rapids, Mich. The hike skirted several small, secluded lakes amid rolling topography. The lakes may be glacial potholes, and there were several other small ponds and marshes among the hills.

We have about four more miles to go tomorrow. We'll be walking out as 750,000 Michiganders take to the woods for the opening of firearm deer season.

Ore loads

Some interesting news items coming across the driftless area wire this evening.

I was 21 days old when the Edmund Fitzgerald disappeared in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975. My hometown newspaper at the time placed a six-column headline across the top of Page 1.

A St. Ignace, Mich., man walked across the Upper Peninsula, hunting and gathering his way for 517 miles. Incredible!

And Nau is back with a popup store in New York.

Good ship

A memorial service is scheduled for River Rouge, Mich., on Tuesday for the 34th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Many of the 29 men who died were Midwesterners, lots from Indiana and Ohio in fact. The storm on Lake Superior--a gale of November--that took the freighter was as strong as a Category 1 hurricane. So pour some brandy and raise a glass on Tuesday for the legend that lives on from the Chippewa on down.

October fest

Some recent photos from Minnesota, Ohio and Illinois (above) are here.

Brazil's cat

Cougar sightings are popping up all over the place in the Midwest, the latest in Brazil, Ind. A hunter took a cellphone photo of what appears to be a mountain lion dashing through the woods. One theory is that it escaped from a nearby rescue center a few years ago. Brazil is in west-central Indiana, not far from Terre Haute.

Good morning

Today began as a perfect fall morning. Temperature was about 38 when I arrived at Montrose Point at 7:45.

I tallied 33 species including a first--black-bellied plover. There were two immatures on the beach, sifting through big piles of green seaweed. I had seen the species before, but only in breeding plumage in Eleuthera. The plovers are the biggest in North America, according to All About Birds. They're listed as "common" in the Peterson guide, but I'd describe them as "local" for the Great Lakes in fall.

I stayed as far away from them as I could, but one plover definitely was alert to my presence. It puffed up into a ball, dropped to the ground and glared at me. It was almost unsettling the way it kept its eyes on me. And it looked strangely like a hawk when it did this; maybe it's some kind of defense mechanism.

Other highlights were both kinglet species, part of a nice fall/winter flock of creepers, chickadees, nuthatches (including red-breasted--a nice find for the lakefront) and winter wren.