Morning at Gallup Park

Sunday morning we took a stroll through Gallup Park on the East side of Ann Arbor. Though the Huron River is not much more than a slow-moving oligotrophic lake, the critters and the landscape offered a welcomed reprieve from being in town.

Bandemer Park Disc Golf

You know that I love hiking, biking, kayaking and basically anything that has even the slightest hint of being outdoor oriented.

The view from the beginner's tee on hole 1

Well, with the hope of expanding my scope of outdoor activity I picked up a beginner's set of disc golf discs. This sport has always intrigued me, I just have never been able to find the time. I thought that it was the kind of thing that you had to devote a whole day to, and that seemed like a large barrier to entry as a beginner.

Not so though. For whatever reason I got these discs and went out to a local spot on Friday morning: Bandemer Park.

Friday morning was crisp and clear; a perfect lead-in to Fall in my opinion. So, out I go, poised to attack this new activity.

The whole course is surrounded by a walking path.

Each fairway is covered with wood-chips and appears kept-up.

Between holes players are treated to pleasant trails.

This course, being my first, did not seem too challenging. However, I stuck to the beginner's tees. I did play the 8th from the middle tee with decent results.

I will return from time to time as my schedule allows.

Though the course was strewn with litter; beer bottles, Gatorade containers, cigarette butts, and chip bags, and a fair amount of graffiti, it provided me with a nice break from the brick and mortar, the green-yellow-red and the noise. Nestled almost under the freeway you feel like you are miles out of the town, a comforting feeling for me.

Disc golf, who knew I would like this stuff!

Here is the set that I have: They seem to work pretty well.

Super cool hole: you have to zip the disc through that branch!

An odd disc golf retreat?

Teeing off on the 7th.

My first attempt from a mid-length tee. It was cool throwing downward.

Give it a try, not too much to invest and it gets you out of the house and walking around!

-J

Proposed Ann Arbor Whitewater Project (possibly) gets a little help?

(Question: why put such a pic with a post about whitewater? Answer: because this post is a little preachy, and is kind of walking the like (get it) between political advocacy and just pure excitement for an outdoor activity!)

This story from last October, regarding a possibly whitewater park on the Huron River, close to downtown Ann Arbor) really caught my attention: http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-park-advisory-commission-recommends-117-million-reconstruction-of-argo-dam-headrace/

However at the time it seemed rather pie in the sky, that is a lot of money, and not everyone would really be into that. (Side note: I think that there are a lot of people around here that would really dig something like this!)

I was reminded of this proposed park earlier this year when the City of Petoskey opened its own park: http://upnorthnewsandsports.blogspot.com/2011/05/petoskey-opens-whitewater-paddling-park.html. News of that park was very exciting. Face it, whitewater yakking is just something that just does not exist in this state.

So upon seeing this story: http://www.annarbor.com/news/dte-energy-offering-to-pay-for-whitewater-features-included-in-argo-dam-headrace-project/ which talks about DTE Energy footing the bill for the whitewater portion of the project, I was very pleased. This would be a very beneficial installment in the community.

Parks such as these offer local paddlers the opportunity to experience diverse conditions in an artificial (local) setting. They have the potential to bring people in to towns and area thus making new destinations for tourism. There is also a potential for new businesses to form as a result of whitewater parks; kayak rental/ sales shops, and an opportunity for persons with experience to give lessons on whitewater kayaking.

I really hope that I am around here long enough to see this plan come to fruition.

-J

Soggy little walk

The seasons of Michigan are both unique and diverse. This spring we have seen a great example of this. This area has had a few days in the 60's followed by a weekend covered in snow. We have had bright days with temps in the single digits and mellow days which facilitate a lust for summer.

Today, however, the weather is the best that Michigan Springs have to offer: the temp is around 40, the air is humid, and a gentle, steady rain is falling just enough to keep most people hunkered down indoors.

These types of days are the best to take a walk in. At home one of my favorite places for a spring rain hike is the Spirit of the Woods Nature Area. The canopy of the trees keeps you sheltered while allowing you to hear the rain coming down.

Now that we are in Ann Arbor though, I have grown to favor the Parker Mill Park area which abuts the Huron River.

Today I had Chelsea drop me off at Gallup Park and began walking East toward Parker Mill.

As expected, the trail was empty, most people are either at work or just didn't find merit in venturing out in such weather.

While I originally thought that such a walk would be a poor choice as I should be studying for finals, I remembered that I have hours and hours of audio podcasts and audio files focusing on the main topics covered in my courses; no brainer! Enjoying the outdoors while learning about Contracts? AWESOME!

The much needed break from studying and interaction with people provided to be the break that I needed.

Though I did not see any people on the walk I did run into my fair share of animals.

I guess that you could say that rainy days as this are truly fowl weather!

I guess it it easy to hangout in the rain when you have such sweet rain jackets as these feathered dudes have!

-J