KRVT wildflowers

Another week of April rain, hail, snow, and work kept me inside, but Saturday was glorious: sunny and warm.  I was torn between a trip to the Kalamazoo Nature Center to see wildflowers or my first bike ride of the season.  The bike ride won, but it turned out to be a good afternoon for wildflowers as well.

I think of the northern leg of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail as the most scenic and the most likely section for nature but today I took the western segment that connects to the Kal-Haven Trail.  This part of the trail runs from Westnedge Avenue near downtown Kalamazoo to the 10th street trailhead with lots of street crossings, light industry, and it includes nearly a mile on the edge of Ravine Road.    

The westernmost part of the KRVT  (around trail marker 1.5 mi) had several nice patches of yellow Trout Lilies and a large number of Toothwort.  They continued nearly all the way to the trailhead parking lot. Mixed in, were a handful of Dutchman's Breeches in bloom.  (Apparently it's still before their peak.)

The highlight was the most impressive display of Bloodroot that I can remember seeing.  There were several large patches of brilliant white Bloodroot flowers, including one with more than 100 blossoms together.  The Bloodroot flowers were so bright and so big, relative to other Spring ephemerals, that I thought the first patch was some kind of domestic flower that escaped a garden.

Individual Bloodroot flowers don't last long so I was happy to have seen them at their peak.

Wildflower season 2013 begins

I hadn't had much of a chance to get out in the woods to look for Kalamazoo wildflowers due to a combination of work commitments, travel, and what seemed to be nearly constant rain (as well as Saturday's snow).  Last year, the wildflowers bloomed a full month earlier, so I was afraid I'd missed the start of the season.  But, a quick visit to the Kalamazoo Nature Center this afternoon, showed the 2013 season was just starting.  The early ephemerals were in flower; the Hepatica may be near their peak and the Spring Beauty seemed to be just starting.  Bloodroot was in flower.  I even saw a few Harbinger of Spring with late blossoms, although most of them had gone to seed.

 

I had glimpsed Marsh Marigolds in bloom along I-94 yesterday, and they were also flowering at the nature center.  Like the Spring Beauty, they seem to be at the beginning of their bloom.

 

Toothwort, Trout Lily, and Rue Anemone had buds but few blooms.  Mayapples were emerging, but their umbrellas were still tightly furled.  Most of the Dutchman's Breeches only had a few immature green flowers, but a handful of plants in sunny areas were in flower.

So far, this year seems similar to the 2011 wildflower bloom.  If that pattern holds, a period of warm weather could cause a condensed season where everything blossoms within a few weeks.  In any case, the next week or so should be a great time to visit some of the local wildflower hotspots or travel a bit to other wildflower spots in West Michigan.

Enjoy!

Hueston Woods State Park

Spring has sprung in Ohio.

Hueston Woods State Park is about 5 hours southeast of Kalamazoo in Oxford, Ohio.  Last week's rain had kept me indoors despite my eagerness to check our local wildflowers and I was going to out-of-town this weekend.  Yesterday, I was at Miami University of Ohio for an event and I had the afternoon free so I decided to visit Hueston Woods which was only five miles from the University.

Oxford is more than 100 miles south of Kalamazoo and the signs of Spring were visible in town with daffodils and magnolias in bloom, while Kalamazoo enjoyed crocuses and promise for the future.  The same was true in the woods.  As soon as I pulled into the parking lot for the Blue Heron trail  I saw thousands of flowering Spring Beauty, Dutchman's Breeches, and Toothwort.  Mayapple umbrellas were up and open.  The short trail to Acton Lake was through a mature maple beech forest and the wildflowers continued, with Toad Trillium being a highlight.  

 

The park offers several short hiking trails, a separate mountain bike trail system, horse trails, camping, a Nature Center, swimming, boating, and fishing, a lodge, a golf course, and a disc golf course.  (See the park map for details [pdf].) 

The park also allows fossil collection (for personal use) in two areas along Four Mile Creek.  The Ohio DNR provides a nice guide to the Ordovician fossils of the park [pdf].  I found a couple of nice brachiopods, a horn coral, and lots of mollusk shell fossils in just a few minutes.  (Dry Dredgers, a fossil enthusiast organization, reports on a field trip to Hueston Woods with lots of photos.)
 

While it was nice having a walk in the Spring woods while Kalamazoo had some end-of-season snow,  the park is a long drive from southwest Michigan.  If your travels take you to the area, I would certainly recommend it.

Hueston Woods State Park
College Corner, OH 45003

free admission

Spring Events 2013

While Kalamazoo's Spring started with substantial snowfall this year, warmer weather, birds, wildflowers, and morels are all on their way and hiking and biking will replace the winter sports.   A substantial number of local events celebrate spring.

Spring events near Kalamazoo

March 1- April 30 Butterflies are Blooming at Meijer Gardens Grand Rapids

April 13th Wenke Greenhouse tour 9-10:30am Reservations Kalamazoo

April 13 Friends of Indiana Dunes Native Plant Sale 8 am -1 pm Indiana Dunes State Park Chesterton,IN

April 13 Annual Midwest Crane Count 5:30-7:30 am

April 20 Third Annual Grand River Green Up 9am-noon Harbor Island, Grand Haven

April 20 8th Annual Lakeshore Earth Day Celebration Grand Haven

April 20-28, National Park Week   (subject to sequestration cuts)
  
April 22 Free Admission for Earth Day at Kellogg Bird Sanctuary 9:00am - 5:00pm Augusta

April 26-27 Thornapple Woodpecker Festival Middleville

April 27 Green-A-Thon 2013 Celery Flats Portage

May 4-11 Tulip Time festival Holland
May 4 Blossomtime Grand Floral Parade 1pm St Joseph - Benton Harbor

May 4-5 Victorian Days Grand Ledge

May 11 Spring Blooms in the Dunes (and Native Plant Sale 9am - 3pm) Gillette Visitor Center Hoffmaster State Park Muskegon

May 11 Lees' Kayak & Canoe Demo day Kalamazoo

May 11-18 Kalamazoo Bike Week Kalamazoo

May 17-19 Great Lakes Kite Festival 2013 Grand Haven

May 18 Family Fishing Fair Ramona Park 10am-1pm Portage

Also consider

Maple Syrup Events 2013

Vegetable planting dates

Earth Day Activities throughout Michigan

Earth Day events in Metro Detroit

Wild Ones (Kalamazoo Chapter) Programs & Field Trips

Battle Creek Cleanwater Events

Tawas Point Birding Festival Iosco County May 16–19

Event listings from Discover Kalamazoo
 
DNR has calendars for State Park events in March, April, May

Gazelle Sports' calendar of West Michigan Races & Running Workshops

League of Michigan Bicyclists Michigan Bicycling Calendar

Outdoor Athlete has lists for Michigan running, biking and triathlon events.

Michigan Festivals and Events Association Events browser

Spring weekend getaways

Enjoy!

Maple Sugar Festival

The Kalamazoo Nature Center's annual Maple Sugar Festival is this weekend.  The event features demonstrations of maple sugaring, from tree to syrup, and maple-centered food.  We enjoyed pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast this morning and, later, some maple cotton candy.  In the afternoon, they feature sundaes: ice cream with maple syrup.

They have different activities and shows for kids.  We saw a raptor demonstration with an American Kestral, Red-Tailed Hawk, and a Screech Owl.  We skipped the Maple Sugar Tour this year, to have more time at the Delano Homestead area.

Maple Sugar Festival events at Delano Homestead included a pioneer maple syrup demonstration, where sap was collected in wooden buckets coated with beeswax, then boiled in iron pots over an open fire. 

There were demonstrations of blacksmithing, spinning yarn, and rides in horse-drawn wagons.

Kalamazoo Nature Center
7000 North Westnedge Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49009 

KNC's Delano Homestead
555 West E Ave
Kalamazoo, MI

Interested in other maple events near Kalamazoo?  See 2013 Maple Festivals

Muskegon Winter Sports Complex

The Muskegon Winter Sport Complex is in Muskegon State Park, a drive of about an hour and a half from Kalamazoo.  We visited last weekend since their snow conditions report said the ski trails were in great condition.  The Complex offers over 9 miles of groomed trails in its system of five loops.  The trails are groomed for both skate-skiing and classic two-track skiing.  Several of the trails are lit for night skiing.  Most of the trails are very accessible for beginning skiers.

We skied for about an hour on an intermediate length loop.  The melt and freeze cycle had made Kalamazoo un-skiable, but Muskegon's groomed tracks were fine.  The classic tracks were a little icy, since there hadn't been any recent snow, but not too slippery to be enjoyable.  The wide section, groomed for skate-skiing, had a very good surface.

Besides the ski trails, they offer an ice skating trail through the woods and multiple ice rinks.  The skating attractions were very popular on a sunny Sunday.  A lodge offers skate and ski rentals, hot chocolate, cookies and other snacks, and a warming fire.  It's also where you purchase ski and skate passes.

Muskegon's Winter Sports Complex is probably best known for its luge track, one of three places to luge in the United States.  We didn't try the fast little sleds that day, although I did spend an afternoon learning to luge on the beginners track, nearly twenty years ago.

Muskegon Winter Sports Complex
462 Scenic Drive
N. Muskegon, MI  49445

Ski pass $7
Skate pass $5
luge $40 
parking: State Park passport or fee

Maple Syrup Festivals 2013

As Winter becomes Spring, cold nights and warmer days provide the temperature differential to get the maple sap flowing, which means syrup season is here.   

2013 Maple Syrup Events near Kalamazoo

March 2-3 Maple Sugar Madness Sarett Nature Center Benton Harbor

March 2-3 Maple Sugar Time Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Chesterton, Indiana

March 8 Maple Syrup by Moonlight 7 pm Bendix Woods County Park New Carlisle, IN

March 9 Sugarbush Festival  Blandford Nature Center Pancake Breakfast  9am-12noon Grand Rapids 

March 9-10 Maple Sugar Time Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Chesterton, Indiana

March 16-17 Maple Sugar Festival Kalamazoo Nature Center Kalamazoo

March 16-17 Sugar Camp Days Bendix Woods County Park, New Carlisle, IN

March 16 Community Sugarbush Tours Blandford Nature Center 2- 3:30pm Grand Rapids

April 19 - 20 Wakarusa Maple Syrup Festival, Wakarusa, Indiana

April 26-28 73rd Vermontville Maple Syrup Festival Vermontville

Also consider

Kalamazoo-area Spring Events 2013

Oakland County Maple Syrup Events

National Maple Syrup Festival Medora, IN

Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival

Maple Syrup festivals in the Midwest (mostly Wisconsin and Minnesota)

Michigan is in the top 10 largest maple syrup producers, a list led by Quebec.  Last fall, thieves raided Quebec's Strategic Syrup Reserve, which producers use to control prices.  21st Century Maple Syrup Production does use some new technology.