As I write this on the tenth day of November, fall has entered its final stages. The trees are done showing off, no longer flashing their brightly colored leaves. Their branches are now mostly exposed, revealing the superstructure of the forest.
I traveled to northern Michigan this past week to spend a couple of days exploring the woods, looking for smaller, more intimate scenes that seem to become more evident when the trees stop showing off.
Most of the ferns in the forest were brown and withered. But, at Misty Acres in the Borwell Preserve in Benzie County, I found this bulblet fern that had found sanctuary in the bark of a tree.
At the Houdek Dunes Natural Area in Leelanau County, my eye was attracted to the yellow plant and the green pine tree seemingly enjoying their time in the sun.
I came across these tiny fungi that had latched onto a birch tree. I believe they are called orange mycena.
The Teichner Preserve in Leelanau County is a small preserve on the shores of Lime Lake. There is a short trail that leads from the road to the lake and a spot I call the “Gathering Place.” There, the cedar trees are in a struggle to avoid succumbing to waves that erode the shoreline. Their roots intermingle as if they are holding onto each other for dear life.
I stopped at the Howard & Mary Dunn Edwards Nature Sanctuary in Grand Traverse County specifically to get photos of the larch trees. Larch trees are the only coniferous trees that lose their needles each year. Before doing so, they turn a vibrant yellow.
Along the pathway, I paused to take photos of the brightly colored leaves and needles that were still hanging on.
Here’s a couple of other things that caught my eye along the trail.
At Sunset Shore beach in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, I took time to enjoy the setting sun as a stiff wind blew on shore. In the woods above the beach, I came upon this cedar that grew up around some boulders. All in all, a wonderful couple of days in nature.
