Round Island Point Nature Preserve, Chippewa County (10-8-10) - #

The color season was going fast, and I mean fast, this year and I was quickly running out of days to go out and enjoy them. So, between classes I decided to go for a short walk at a preserve I'd visited a couple times before a few miles west of the Soo. Round Island Point is actually quite a large preserve at over 1,000 acres. It also boasts almost two miles of Lake Superior shoreline. Unfortunately, the short 1.5 mile trail that loops through the preserve never gets close to the lake and only introduces one to a small corner of the preserve. Nonetheless, the path does pass through a nice enough variety of woodland, particularly during the fall season. For this reason I saved photographing it until now...

Mileage Hiked: 1.5 miles
Trailhead Temp: 70'F
Min. Elevation: 620'
Max Elevation: 650'

gallery pages: 1

The entrance to the preserve is at the east end of a small subdivision so the road in is quite well kept...

The colors in the area were quickly dwindling, so I was happy to find what I did...

Checking out the trail map...

I wanted to save the overlook until the end, so I backtracked down the road a short distance to do the loop in reverse...

A nice secondary bit of color covers the forest floor...

I heard a small squeak from a passing stump and realized I was being eyeballed by a local resident...

Moss carpeting...

A quarter mile or so in the trail passes through a small Red Pine plantation...I spent an afternoon here a couple semesters before measuring trees here for an ecology class...looks about the same...

The trees growing here are quite puny compared to what used to grow here as this burnt-out stump displays...

The Tamarack, Michigan's only deciduous conifer (an evergreen that drops its needles each year), helps extend the color season a bit each year...

Labrador Tea along the trail announces that I'm nearing a wetland area...

Passing an old beaver pond...based on the new growth I'm guessing that its been at least 5-10 years since this area held water...

Maple leaves blaze overhead...

For the first half of the trail conifers dominate so colors were a bit spotty...

For a short while I decided to explore the old beaver pond, this shot looks towards the north end which is where the dam was located...

Though out of use for quite some time the old dam still holds back a small amount of water...

Whats left of the old beaver dam...

I really liked the variety of color here...

Bright yellows of the aspen...

A Hairy Woodpecker, contentedly plunking away, didn't pay me near as much attention as I did it...

Usually a fungi pic means I'm getting bored but that wasn't the case here...this thing was the size of a serving platter!

Dark below, bright above...

Now heading back towards the lake, the trail crosses the first of two unused roads...

Apparently someone is trying to reforest this old road...here a young red pine is doing its best to survive in seemingly inhospitable soil...

My welcome back into the deciduous forest was almost blinding!

Question answered...I had been wondering all summer what color a Striped Maple displays...

Reaching the edge of the ridge under some dark firs...it only served to accentuate the brightness of the colors beyond...

Passing through a young (probably 5-ish years) stand of aspen...

The Sugar Maple...honestly, it doesn't get any better...

Crossing the second of two unused roads as I near the overlook...

Young aspen stands can almost make you go cross-eyed...

Young and old...an up-and-coming aspen on the right contrasts with is mature counterpart to the left...

Closing the loop at the overlook...

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed...I thought the lack of leaves would provide a bit more of a view...good thing I didn't start here as it would have started the hike off on a bit of a low note...