Rattlesnake Hill (2.5 miles; d=3.20)
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Rattlesnake Hill Hike Route Map
The approximate track of our hike up Rattlesnake Hill, via the High Country Pathway, depicted a la Google Earth...
Rattlesnake Hill Hike Route Map
The approximate track of our hike up Rattlesnake Hill, via the High Country Pathway...
High Country Pathway Trailhead (Rattlesnake Creek Rd)
Heading out...pretty sure they were both having fun so not sure about the look on Chris' face...
High Country Pathway Trailhead (Rattlesnake Creek Rd)
We'd be using the High Country Pathway to get to the top...the HCP makes an 80+ mile loop around the periphery of the Pigeon River Country State Forest...
This little plant, Wintergreen, was growing all over the place along the first part of the hike...I invited the kids to pick some up and have a sniff...
If you crush the leaves of the Wintergreen between your fingers they give off a pleasant minty aroma...I had the kids sniffing plants for the first 15 minutes of the hike:)
The woods along the trail were quite a mix...just about any tree you can think of that makes its home in Northern Michigan was represented here...
Passing a stately grove of aspens...
There were a handful of what I believe to be apple trees along the trail...a nice bit of early spring color...
I wanna say apple, but I could be wrong...
Right around the halfway point the trail crosses a large open area...
Perhaps the only cool part of the Jack pine is its cones...they are closed up tight to the point that they're all but impossible to pry open. The trees are waiting for the next forest fire which, when it sweeps by, opens the cones which release their seeds. This helps the Jack pine to be one of the earliest trees to recover after a fire...