Driving into Twelve Mile Beach...
Enjoy the hike with me...
I love this stand of white birch...
Shown below is a "long haired" moss ground cover...
Again, there are lots of fungi...
The fall colors are still late and not yet near peak, but there are some colorful leaves.
As I walked down the trail away from the lake shore, the ecosystem changed to a pine-lichen-fern forest.
Then it changed to a beach maple forest...
As I descended back down the bluff, I headed straight to the shoreline to catch sunset.
Back up the steps to my car...
What a difference the lake makes; across the way just even a few miles north of Lake Huron and away from the "maritime" influence most of the trees are well past peak if not entirely dormant for the winter. East of Sudbury and into the Ottawa valley they are pretty much all gone. The funny thing is, I was talking with someone about the difference between the U.P. and northern Ontario just a few days ago, and the truth is that aside from the features of nationhood and a lack of Canadian Shield (until you head closer to Marquette anyway), the U.P. is just warmer looking. Northern, sure, but still warm enough to be considered "south" by the truly boreal. You also managed to keep the agates a bit better. Yes, they can be found on the north shore, but so many more just seemed to make their way to the Mississippi glacial drainage rather than the Nippissing drainage. At least we both managed to get away with our fair shares of sand, even if, as the pictures show, you school us on dunes! Thanks for sharing the hike.
ReplyDelete