Today we spent some time at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. It was cold and cloudy but still enjoyable. The refuge is over 95,000 acres - way too much to cover in a day or a week. A friendly volunteer suggested we begin with the 1.5 mile Pine Ridge Nature Trail hike.
We found lots of pine trees which meant we did not see as much color as we've been seeing. We were almost always in sight of water.
The path was nicely groomed.
We didn't see a lot of wildlife but we saw lots of the beavers' handiwork.
It was a peaceful walk.
Most of the ferns had turned yellow.
There were lots of cattails. Many had already gone to seed.
Every so often, there were pretty leaves.
The trail took many forms; here it was a wooden boardwalk over a marshy area.
There were some aspen trees. I love seeing and hearing the quaking aspen. I did not see any aspen in the refuge that had changed color yet. We did see a few other colorful trees though.
If it hadn't been such a cold, damp day, I would have enjoyed spending some relaxing time in spots like this.
I loved this pop of color across the water.
We found lots of berries but weren't sure if they were edible.
We even saw a few tiny flowers.
These berries were on a tree.
I loved these leaves which were just outside of the Visitor Center.
After our hike, we drove the Marshland Wildlife Drive. It takes 1 - 2 hours and is a gravel road. It's one way with a speed limit of 15 miles per hour. It was a pretty drive with some colorful trees.
We even found some reflections.
On our way 'home' from the Refuge, we stopped in Shingleton, MI. Ray had seen a small bridge running parallel to the road there and wanted to see if he could get some good reflection shots from it. We could see the bridge but had to do some hunting to get to it.
We finally hiked down a 4-wheeler/snowmobile trail. Ray was pretty excited when we found color on the way.
The bridge was closed to traffic since the trail did not continue on the other side. However, we were easily able to walk onto the bridge and I took this picture.
Sadly there wasn't much color in the area. The wind started blowing and even this reflection was gone a minute later.
We just got home from doing some light painting tonight. Light painting is a photography thing that is fairly new to Ray. We were at a waterfall in the dark. Ray used a long exposure on his camera while he shined a strong flashlight at the falls. Amazingly he got some neat pictures! I was the helper and am now happy to be 'home' in the warmth.
We found lots of pine trees which meant we did not see as much color as we've been seeing. We were almost always in sight of water.
The path was nicely groomed.
We didn't see a lot of wildlife but we saw lots of the beavers' handiwork.
It was a peaceful walk.
Most of the ferns had turned yellow.
There were lots of cattails. Many had already gone to seed.
Every so often, there were pretty leaves.
The trail took many forms; here it was a wooden boardwalk over a marshy area.
There were some aspen trees. I love seeing and hearing the quaking aspen. I did not see any aspen in the refuge that had changed color yet. We did see a few other colorful trees though.
If it hadn't been such a cold, damp day, I would have enjoyed spending some relaxing time in spots like this.
I loved this pop of color across the water.
We found lots of berries but weren't sure if they were edible.
We even saw a few tiny flowers.
We saw eagles, ducks, geese, swans, an Irish Wolfhound, and this cute little beaver. The Irish Wolfhound was under a year old, huge, and a little our of control. He was taking his master for a walk.
I loved these leaves which were just outside of the Visitor Center.
After our hike, we drove the Marshland Wildlife Drive. It takes 1 - 2 hours and is a gravel road. It's one way with a speed limit of 15 miles per hour. It was a pretty drive with some colorful trees.
We even found some reflections.
On our way 'home' from the Refuge, we stopped in Shingleton, MI. Ray had seen a small bridge running parallel to the road there and wanted to see if he could get some good reflection shots from it. We could see the bridge but had to do some hunting to get to it.
We finally hiked down a 4-wheeler/snowmobile trail. Ray was pretty excited when we found color on the way.
The bridge was closed to traffic since the trail did not continue on the other side. However, we were easily able to walk onto the bridge and I took this picture.
We just got home from doing some light painting tonight. Light painting is a photography thing that is fairly new to Ray. We were at a waterfall in the dark. Ray used a long exposure on his camera while he shined a strong flashlight at the falls. Amazingly he got some neat pictures! I was the helper and am now happy to be 'home' in the warmth.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. We've done everything on my list (visit the quilt shop, enjoy each day) and everything on Ray's list except a fabulous reflection shot, a shot of a moose, and a shot of a black bear. Maybe we'll be able to check off something even though it's supposed to rain all day.
I think I could handle that hike, since it is on a nice path. Pretty pictures.
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