Ailsa picked “Wild” as the travel theme this week. Friend Julie and I didn’t travel far – just an hour away in time, but much further back down dirt roads. We had stopped on a small bridge thinking we could photograph the stream underneath but nothing struck us. A truck came along and stopped; a small fear rose in me. A young man smiled at me and asked if I was having fun. Strange question but I decided to take it at face value, smiled at him and said yes I was having a great time finding fun things to photograph on the back roads.
He said we need to go down to Shaytown and photograph the old train trestle. Go way down to the end of this road, (he stressed way down – to the end) turn right at the fork, and turn left at the first road. He even showed us a photo on his smart phone.
We were off. And it was way down, the end of that dirt road, when it turned onto Shaytown Road. Further on we found a road going left and there it was, on our left.
The photo the lad had shown us was of the ties up close so we figured we could get to it. Julie started walking down the road and I followed with the car. A ways down she found the old bed (sans track) but it was very overgrown and difficult to walk along. Ever notice how quickly our civilized plots of land become wild once we walk away from them. This was dense and Michigan overgrown wild.
Besides, the mosquitoes were wild, vicious and very plentiful. We decided that we would return in the fall after the first hard frost. We also decided we needed to go back the way we had come so we could get road names to put into a GPS because we were clueless as to where we were.
We turned the corner and there was a mowed lane. We had been speculating on how much blood we had lost to the blood-sucking little… (I’ll keep it nice) so it never entered our minds to get out and walk. I decided to drive it, like hubby used to do up in the copper mining areas of Michigan’s UP. This lane was just wide enough for a car to get through – and it wasn’t posted.
We found it!
The ties are laid over steel beams so it is still sturdy, but it appears that the steel is supported by a wood structure underneath. The wood beams that supported the rails are starting to rot, and will someday return to the earth as nutrients for the vegetation growing wild around it. It is already nourishing some plant life.
There wasn’t enough room to turn around so I had to back out – while Julie is telling me that I’m pretty close to the drop on her side and it is really deep. We will walk back there in the fall – after the wild mosquitoes are gone.
If you would like to share your interpretation of “wild” you can visit Ailsa at:
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
A NICE STUDY OF THINGS GOING BACK TO NATURE….AND THE MOSQUITOES!
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WOW! What a great find and how nice of the young man to give directions to this magical place 🙂
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We have met the neatest people on our back-road photo shoots. I guess people trust two older women with cameras. On this trip a farm-wife gave us cukes she had just picked while we were photographing the barn across the road.
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What a lovely trip! Thank you for the beautiful photos!
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You are very welcome, Amy. Glad you enjoy going along.
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Oooooh – fun adventure with just the right amount of bloodshed and intrigue 😉
Looking forward to the fall photos. I bet that will be gorgeous! (I’ve been bemoaning the cool temps all week, and now for the first time, I’m looking forward to fall…just a bit!)
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You make it sound like such a “capital a Adventure”. 😀 I think I want you to write my obituary when the time comes
I think I would really miss the seasons if I didn’t have them to look forward to. We spend just enough time in Michigan to get the best of fall, a little taste of winter in December and middle to late spring. Just right seeing winter can be tooooo long.
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I agree about the seasons. That’s why I say each of them is my favorite as it approaches. Maybe not as it lingers, though 😉
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What an exciting trip. Pat. So glad you and the car made it safely back. 🙂
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So is hubby. 😀 Especially the car.
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cool
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Lovely sequence of photos, Pat. There’s something very evocative – sometimes disturbing – about man-made things sinking back into the wilderness. Thanks for the follow.
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What an adventure. Am glad Julie is as fearless as you are.
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Yes, we are well suited for each other. 🙂
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There is something special that connects us to old roads and abandoned rail lines and the past. I look forward to more photos in the future.
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There will be more, Charlie. Thanks for visiting.
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What a great adventure. I love your photos.
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Thanks, Suzanne. I’m glad you came along.
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This was a great find. Gorgeous. You can take me on your photo trips anytime. Thanks!
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Just let me know a good time for you, Jan. I really am lucky to have Julie because we like going to the same type of places but see things very differently. We also get tired about the same time. 🙂
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Fantastic, my kind of exploring! 🙂
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It was the highlight of our morning. 🙂
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What fun you had… (Says she, enviously), you seem to have some amazing places relatively nearby….
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I never thought we did, but then we never appreciate what is close to home. I am finding them now. Maybe it depends on whether we see what is before us. 🙂
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I think you are right. 🙂
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Yes it was and with any luck will be again in the Fall!
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