I am a very good husband. I suggested a week of birding for our first trip in Blaze. The plan was to start at Magee Marsh for the start of the biggest week in birding. Then off to Whitefish Point in the upper peninsula of Michigan for the hawk migration, down to Sleeping Bear Dune and then back to Magee for the second weekend of the biggest week.
We did a lot of driving for the week but we will not be doing this much when I am retired. We need to find a way to slow down post retirement. We are use to type A vacations, just ask our daughters. We agreed to limit driving to 4 hours per day and we have to spend 2 nights in the same spot. We will see if this plan slows us down or how long we follow it, my guess is not long
Leann was scrambling to complete every little detail on the van. I finally told here it was not going to be done in time. We travelled all over the country with our 3 daughters in a minivan. We can make this big van work for the two of us even if it is not done. After a week in the van we will have a list of items to change/tweak. Having said that I did hook up the faucet in the Minard’s parking lot since they had the tubing we needed.
We planned to leave Friday after work. Leann just tossed all of her stuff in a garbage bag, threw it on the bed and off we went.On the road, this felt like Christmas morning when I was a kid.It was raining when we got to our campsite. No problem: put the van in park, open a bottle of wine and have dinner. I can get use to this no tent thing. This is our camp site the next morning, the birds were singing and the sun was shining.It was great to be back after COVID shut down the festival for a few years. People come from all over the country to this swamp and board walk in NW Ohio. Why? Warblers migrate through this area every spring and stop in the swamp to rest and eat before flying over Lake Erie and on to their breeding grounds. They are in full spring color and singing like maniacs. The people watching is just as good. This area is the world center of birding for one week in May. We camp in Maumee Bay (top left) and head to Magee first thing in the morning (bottom right). After Magee we head to Ottawa, Metzger, etc etc. Not kidding, there is a bird hotline you can follow. Hello birders, yellow headed blackbirds were spotted at Howards Marsh. Ottawa National Wildlife RefugeMore trumpeter swans than I have ever seen
New Olympic event: Trumpeter Swans, synchronized swimmingThe Whytes back at MageeHartwick is a nice stopping point on the way to the UP. We stayed here when the girls were young. On one of these visits Jamie woke up and was convinced we had turned the tent around in the middle of the night Just to be clear, we did not.The water was incredibly clear. We talked to a man and his boys that were fishing. It was great to see young kids enjoying the outdoors, no phones in sight.Whitefish Point, Leann was very excited to see migrating hawksWalk to the lakeWe were the only people on the beach, the wind was howling. Beautiful beach but not exactly Ocracoke.We planned to camp here 2 nightsIt was very strange arriving to an empty campground. More campers did arrive a little later. Blaze camp 2: no electricity, no problem.Tahquamenon River
The next morning we headed back to Whitefish Point
We saw a lot of Sharp Shinned hawks. This board is on the hawk deck. We talked to the ranger that was doing the bird count. As usual we asked each other where we are from. He said he was from Tionesta, Pennsylvania. Told him we go through there all the time on the way to Allegheny National Forest. He then said he was actually from Tidioute but nobody has ever heard of that but some have heard of Tionesta. Told him we drove through Tidioute 2 weeks ago on the way to a backpacking trip, small world.
HAWK KETTLE: imagine seeing 200-1,000 hawks riding a thermal.
Shocking news: we actually took our time going through the museum and enjoyed it.Divers recovered the bell from this famous wreck. The wreck was then closed so nothing else could be scavenged.Back to the falls for a hike, the water was ragingOld man and the fallsLots of foam, checkThere were a lot of steps required to get down to the river.
The famous Mackinac Bridge, this place can be chaos during a summer weekend with people entering and existing the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are headed South to Sleeping Bear Dunes National LakeshoreWe parked Blaze at our campsite and went for a hike on the Railroad Grade Trail. This went to the shore of Lake MichiganThere is backcountry camping and we plan to do this on our next trip. The backcountry site is called White Pine Backcountry Camp and is first come, first served. The place was empty.The next day we drove to the Northern section of the park and hiked the Pyramid TrailTrilliumDid we make a wrong turn and end up in the Caribbean?Getting down to the water would not have been bad, getting back up would not be fun.After Pyramid Point, we headed to Sleeping Bear Point for another hike.
Leann wondered why I was not enjoying this part of the hike, I posted my response in video format.
Platte River, kayaks are available to rent for a trip down the river.Back to Maumee Bay and the same spot we camp every year.Uh Oh, gas prices have really gone up since we bought the van. Avid birders do a “big year” when they see how many different species they can ID in one year. They are obsessed. There was a good book about a big year and they even made a movie from it (Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson). This guy is doing a “big sit”. How many birds can he ID by sitting in one place for the entire day? How many birds? apparently a lot, this is just a small section of the list.
Here is a good article on what it takes to set a new record for a big year.
Trumpeter Swan, brown head comes from sticking their head in the bottom of the lake to eat.Thunder was rumbling so another dinner in the van, no problem. BTW: people ask me about my green crocs, they are an original piece of gear from when we started backpacking. They have been on a lot of trips!Thunder stopped and we went for an after dinner walk. We saw an Indigo Bunting and a spectacular sunset. Not bad for the last night of the trip.Another beautiful morning with birds singingI saw the map for the boardwalk for the east side of the park. Hard to believe we have not been here before.Egret
This trip was everything we hoped for travelling and camping in Blaze. What’s next? Leann’s dream trip is to drive to Alaska, time will tell if the 4 hour drive time limit is enforced.
We completed the shake down trip and have a list of 15 items to fix/tweak. Get er done.
