Monthly Archives: June 2013

DEC Parking Lot – Mission Trails (42.758,-77.6305) – Directions

Posted on by

DEC on Mission RdThe DEC Hemlock-Canadice Forest parking area is on Mission Road just a tenth of a mile south of the intersection with Blank Road and about 0.4 miles south of Niver Road. You can reach this area from the North by going through Hemlock Park at the end of Hemlock Lake, up Rix Hill and taking a left at the top of the hill onto Blank Road. Follow Blank Road until it becomes a dirt road. Blank Rd ends at the paved Mission Rd. Continue straight ahead. The parking area is on the left (lake) side.

From Wayland and Springwater: take 15A N to the North end of Hemlock Lake. Go Left on Rix Hill Rd through the park. Take a sharp left on Blank Rd at the top of the hill. Continue south past Niver Road and onto Mission Rd. The parking lot is on the left just after you get onto the paved Mission Rd. Look for the wooden DEC sign.

From Websters Crossing: take 15N past Sliker Hill Rd and Cole Rd. Turn Right on Niver Rd. Follow Niver for 1.9 miles. Just before the end, bear right onto Mission Rd. (if you miss it, turn right on Blank Rd at the end of Niver). The parking lot is on the left just south of the intersection of Mission and Blank roads (a half mile from Niver).

From Livonia: take 15S 4.2miles and turn Left on Niver Rd. Just before the end, bear right onto Mission Rd. (if you miss it, turn right on Blank Rd at the end of Niver). The parking lot is on the left just south of the intersection of Mission and Blank roads.

MissionTrail DEC LotNOTE: These directions have been updated from the June 9, 2013 hike to point to the more southern parking area.  There are also trails off the parking area at 42.76067,-77.62992 which was originally indicated in the picture to the right.

Mission Road Hike – Sunday June 9, 2013 – 4:00PM

Posted on by

Please note the start of summer hours.  This week’s hike starts at 4:00PM.

A winter hike on mission trail (Feb 2012)

A winter hike on mission trail (Feb 2012)

Once again we return to the western slope of Hemlock Lake. We will meet at the DEC Hemlock-Canadice Forest parking area off Blank Road, about a 1/4 mile south of Niver Road. The parking lot is marked with a DEC wooden sign.

The after hike pot luck social will be at Eagle Crest Winery.  Please RSVP to [email protected] if you plan to stay for the social and would like a pizza – see below.

We will meet at the parking lot just before 4:00.

The Climbers hike is a repeat of the April 12th 2012 hike. They will drive down Mission Road and park in front of the grape fields past the Mission on the east side of the road. IMG_0671The hike is on the Nature Conservancy land (sorry, no dogs allowed) which surrounds the Eagle Crest Winery along the west bank of Hemlock lake. This hike is for the advanced hikers only and is a strenuous off trail walk with a steep descent and ascent through a hemlock forest. Starting at pole #141 on Mission Road the hike will follow along the north boundary of the vineyard and enter into the Nature Conservancy land as you start the wooded trail. The trail will drop down the steep hill to Hemlock Lake. Once at the lake, travel south along the lake shore past the Winery pump house and finally ascend the hill on the south edge of the Conservancy land. This will bring us back up to Bishop road and further up the hill to Mission road and finally a flat road walk back to the cars. Anyone who was on this hike last year would be kind enough to lead it?

The Tourists and Naturalists (and the dogs with the Naturalists) will stay and hike the trail that starts at the south east of the parking area. The trail is wide grassy with both flat and somewhat steep areas. The trail traverse the west side slope of Hemlock Lake through a dense forest with many different species of trees and woodland plants. The trail will fork and both Tourist and Naturalists will take the left (north) fork that starts the trail loop. The trail will get steeper as it approaches the south ridge of a gully. The loop trail provides a nice view.

On the south side (and return stretch) of the loop the Tourist will venture into the Nature Conservancy land and follow a trail marked with yellow marker ribbons. This will take the Tourist to the lake. There are parts that will require stepping over fallen trees, steep slopes, muddy patches and a little bit of bush whacking. I mapped this with a GPS and will follow this through out and back.

The Naturalists will take the loop trail and return to the cars.

IMG_0094 The after hike pot luck social will be at Eagle Crest Winery on Mission Rd. at about 6:00. Will, the owner, has offered wine tasting and baking personal size pizzas in his wood fired brick oven. The pizza cost runs from $10-12. Bottles of wine are for sale and can be taken to the pavilion to enjoy with dinner. Last year there was a deal on a case of wine that several hikers enjoyed (pain relief and muscle relaxant). Please bring your dinner beverage and a dish to pass to complete the pizza meal.

IMG_0095Pizza menu [$10.00 to $12.00] You can choose your own pizza toppings: feta, fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, red sauce, pesto sauce, no sauce, tomatoes, basil, peppers, pepperoni, olive oil, garlic. 

Please RSVP if you are interested in a pizza; that way Will can have an estimate of how much to prepare. This a new venture for the winery.

2013 cicada swarm

Posted on by

You may have seen, in the national news, a story about a big swarm of cicadas expected this summer.  Here are some of the facts concerning this event.

The cicada is a large and harmless insect with 2 pairs of membranous wings and a beak for piercing and sucking.  All animals have mature and immature phases in their life cycle but, what’s unusual about this insect is that some species, in this family, spend 17 years in immature stages in the soil and a few weeks as mature adults, high in trees.  Several broods of the genus Magicicada have been identified and their life cycles recorded.  In one of the largest of them, known as brood II, a massive emergence of the adults of this brood occurred in 1996.  This means that the generation that they produced is due to emerge this year, and that has already started to happen.

The wingless nymphs have spent the last 17 years feeding on roots in the soil and growing through several instars.  Then, on a series of nights, early in the season, a bunch of them emerges from the soil.  They climb several feet up a tree.  Then, clinging to the trunk, the winged adult emerges from the nymphal skeleton.  By morning, blood has been pumped into the wing veins and they are able to fly off to near the top of the tree.  The shed nymph skeleton can still be seen, clinging to the tree trunk.  The adult males vibrate sound organs on their abdomens, making a buzzing sound to attract females.  Where there is a large emergence this year, there’s so much of this buzzing, making it so loud, that hikers have a hard time hearing each other.  The eggs drop to the ground and the little nymphs hatch out and go underground for another 17 years.

While we have cicadas here, and you might hear them and see the nymph skeletons on trees during our next few hikes, this particular brood is not known to occur in this area.  If you go to the web site, www.magicicada.org, you can bring up maps showing where they occur and where they have been seen emerging.  In case your travels take you there in the next few weeks, you can be treated to a rare and interesting natural phenomenon.

Wheaton Hill Trail Addendum

Posted on by

This morning I walked the Pine Trail and the Redbud Trail to see what we are up against tomorrow.  The Pine Trail looked quite good.  Our last session with the roses was successful in pushing them back – this is a never ending job on this trail, but it is great that the trail is much more pleasant now.

I think we were right to wait on the Redbud Trail – the roses aren’t as bad as the Pine trail, and we should be able to be as successful on this trail as we were on the Pine trail.

Click on the map to see a larger version. This map shows the paths we will work on, and the possible extension.

Click on the map to see a larger version. This map shows the paths we will work on, and the possible extension.

Both trails have some wet spots, which Duff and Mac definitely found.  If their feet are still black, I want you to know I gave them a bath and tried to get it off.  If you want to do some building, it might be possible to place some stepping stones at strategic spots, but we don’t want to tear down any existing structures or walls.

Mostly, we need to mow – the grass is knee high.  If you have a string weedwacker or if you want to bring a mower, we will try to work on the grass on the Pine trail and the Pine Trail parking area, and the grass on the Redbud trail.  We will also attack roses and fallen branches on the Redbud trail.

We will send one team consisting of weedwackers and assistants around the Pine trail.  The rest of group will work on the Redbud Trail with weedwackers, clippers, and power scythes.

BE SURE TO BRING SOLID WORK GLOVES

If you want to do a little hiking, come join the Redbud group.  At about half way around the loop, I have marked a route to Route 15A across from the Welcome to Springwater sign.  Hikers should take notes of the route and send an email to me at [email protected] with comments and suggestions.