A Busy Day at the Galien River County Park

On November 1st Derek Pelc, Chief Naturalist for Berrien County Parks, led a group of 40+ Harbor Country Hikers on an upland and marsh level excursion on this sunny fall day. An unexpected guest showed up for the hike, Jill Adams, the Berrien County Parks Director. This was her first HCH hike. Before we began our final Splash of Color adventure, Derek gave some park history and briefly explained some interesting facts about its unique Great Lakes Marsh. As we made our way onto the Ridge Trail, it was impossible to ignore the bright green invasive honeysuckles shrubs. We also noticed that many trees were downed from recent wind storms. A lot of freshly sawn logs lined the trail. When we reached the canopy walkway we quickly discovered the large size of our group posed a problem. The tower began to sway vigorously, enough to knock you off your feet. We paused and let half the hikers cautiously make their way to tower, then the remaining hikers joined the group. This worked out well, still some sway, but not so scary. The fall color views were great in the woods, but didn’t compare to the view from the tower. While still on the tower, HCH President shared some pre-settlement history and a chronological history of major changes that effect the marsh to this day. We made our way down the stairs and to the end of the marsh boardwalk. As we returned to the parking lot, we all agreed, a nice hike it was.