We were looking for a hike today combined with swimming. I settled on the Lake Mary Plains Pathway after looking at the list of Iron County hikes on the official county website. I used to go on the cross-country ski trails at Lake Mary. I don’t know much about the history of the area. I think the Department of Natural Resources pulled together a combination of private and public lands to form a state forest campground and hiking/biking/skiing area. A sign memorialized a fire in 1983 that was started by an arsonist that burned 119 acres including a 27-year-old plantation of red pines. The campground has 23 sites and there are 9 miles of trails. We completed a 5-kilometer loop on the northwest side of Glidden Lake. The mosquitos, ticks, and bugs were quite fierce so we cut the hike short and headed back to the lake.
The highlight for me was swimming in Glidden Lake. The dark water was so refreshing! There were many cold spots in the lake, especially in the deeper parts. I wonder if it is spring-fed. I swam across the lake and back.
The trail went through the wetlands surrounding the lake. An elevated platform bridge keeps hikers dry. We were able to admire the aquatic plants of the northern Great Lakes region.
We also saw a bit of wildlife. Unfortunately, two of the species were ticks we picked off our shoes. All of us had 3 to 4 ticks on our legs after the hike. The new iPhone 14 has a superior camera and I was able to identify two different species of ticks. The American Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis), or Wood Tick, and Black-legged Tick or Deer Tick (Ixodes scapularis) are common in the eastern United States. The deer tick is a vector of Lyme Disease. On a more positive note, on the way home we spotted Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) alongside highway 424.
It was a relaxing summer afternoon and I thank my brother Jimmer, nephew Beau and son Oliver for going out with me.
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