The Bogwalk
I
am a riparian land owner of 600' of frontage on Wall Lake, but
there is more than 400' of bog between my lawn and the
lake. So, a bogwalk was begun in the fall of 2004. I purchased
materials to put in 400' of walkway, but ran out before we
hit the lake because, not wanting to cut anything down, we meandered
the walkway to follow a natural trail through the bog. My nephew,
Ashton Carl, has been a tremendous help in bringing this project
to fruition. Jump to 2006 pics... |
Ashton
and what is left of the 175 10' deck boards, cut to 23 3/4" planks,
plus the 95 pressure-treated 2x6's, after putting in about 170'
of the dock.
We prebuilt
the 10' framing sections on dry land and then hauled them out into
the bog. Each 10' section was laid in place and then attached to the
next. This makes for a very stable walkway. |
 |
| Mabel
Magdalene in her hunter orange fleece vest. We found signs of trespassing
deer hunters when we started this project and she wanted to be safe! |
 |
| Mabel
and I, about 30' in, just as the walk starts into the bog. |
 |
| Ashton,
hard at work. |
 |
| About
80' in. The dock is following a natural trail. No clearing is being
done! |
 |
| Tanner,
wondering why we waited so long to put *his* dock in! |
 |
| The
end, as of Sunday, October 10, 2004. Over 100' went in this day. |
 |
| October
24, 2004 and most of the leaves have now fallen. |
 |
| The
nailbox is where we left off on October 10th. |
 |
| About
75' completely planked today. |
 |
| Look
at that muck, we were using 32" sections of composite landscape
timbers, seen here, to stabilize the framing wherever needed. End
of the planking on 10/24/04. but
the framing goes on... |
 |
| and
on... (these frames have not yet been attached to each other) |
 |
| and
on... |
 |
| and
on...is that the lake??? |
 |
| and
on...YES, that is the lake! |
 |
| Wall
Lake--600 acres nearly a mile across at this point. |
 |
| A
close up of the beautiful soft moss, along with some Michigan Holly
berries. |
 |
| Sunday,
November 7th: 30' in from the beginning. So much has now died
down you can really see it winding through the bog! |
 |
| This
is where we ended on October 24th. |
 |
| All
this was finished on November 7th. |
 |
| And
this... |
 |
| And
this... Last load of planking beyond Ashton. |
 |
| The
end for 2004. Planking has run out with 30' of framing left. |
 |
| Standing
at the end of the framing - still about 30' from the lake. |
 |
| Ashton
wouldn't take pay for helping so I got him his first piece of
collectable wildlife art - "In Your Dreams" |
 |
We
had a beautiful snow, right after a thaw.
The water is over the walk in some places. |
 |
| Another
winter view. |
 |
| End
of March, 2005; Spring is starting to arrive. |
 |
| April
16, 2005. Spring is here--a beautiful 70 degree sunny day and bogwalk
work resumes! |
 |
| Ashton
came out and we spent three hours hauling 9 12' 2x6s, 27 12' deck
boards, and 4 8' composite landscape timbers out. These were all for
the 12x12' deck that is going in. Here I have completed about 7' of
planking on the 30' of framing that was left unplanked last fall. |
 |
| This
is the beginning of the deck-it is about 20' in from the lake's edge.
This was done purposely as there were tamaracks to the west, north,
and south, and I figured it would be shaded in the evenings and a
lovely place to sit after work. |
 |
| Standing
on the deck and looking back at the unplanked framing from last fall.
There is still about 30' more of framing to go to hit the lake. The
deck is a bit higher than the dock and I am debating whether to attach
at the dock height and step up to the deck or get fancy and angle
the connection so its like a ramp up to the deck. |
 |
There
were probably 30 or more turtles sunning themselves to the immediate
right of where my dock will hit the lake. I love it!
And,
when we hauled the first load out, there was a loon swimming about
50' out from the shore. Barry County is the only southern county
in Michigan to have loons. They live 2 lakes over and they fly directly
over my house every morning about 6:00 a.m. to feed on my side of
Wall Lake. There is nothing better than waking up to the sound of
loons calling.
|
 |
| More
turtles, just to the right of the above turtles. They are gathered
on a silted up area caused by water lilly root structures. |
 |
| April
17, 2005. The deck is done and it is solid and level too! |
 |
| Image
taken along the bogwalk. |
 |
| Another
image along the walkway. This trail is actually a superhighway for
deer. During the winter their tracks were very heavy along here. One
10' section of the walkway actually follows on this trail. The deer
simply walk along the bogwalk for that 10' and then continue on. |
 |
| Another
scene along the walkway. Springtime in a bog is the best time, I think.
So beautiful! |
 |
| Ferns
starting to unfurl. |
 |
| A
closeup of the ferns. |
 |
| Another
view from the walkway--kind of feels like a Lousiana bayou! |
 |
| April
18, added 2 chairs and a table to the swamp deck. Mabel and Tanner
like them very much! |
 |
| Also
added April 18, 8 solar lights along the pathway.They seem to blend
in fairly well; I didn't want anything too obtrusive. |
 |
| Watched
the loon feeding for over an hour tonight. |
 |
| Benny
came out to see the new stuff. |
 |
| April
30, 2005 — Huckleberry
blossoms. Discovered the new bogwalk goes through an entire grove
of huckleberry bushes. Here's hoping they bear fruit--nothing better
than huckleberry pie! |
 |
| Added the screen house
on the evening of the 29th. |
 |
| The
transition between the dock and the deck — I love the way
it looks with the dock curving on both ends of the transition.
Mabel is coming back from inspecting Jason's work! |
 |
| A
pleasant surprise: fellow Scottyist Jason Byler, formerly of Pennsylvania,
now in Wayland, Michigan, came by to help today! |
 |
| Where it ends as of
April 30th. I had hoped this was the last 10' section before the
kayak launch but no, one more 10' section to go. |
 |
| Mabel, Tanner and Jason,
enjoying the screen house. Work is done for now! |
 |
| May 1, 2005: hauled
out my chaise and added it to the screen house. |
 |
| Mabel helped! |
 |
| Mabel from another view.
She loves the swamp/bog! I guess she's a Swamp Rat Terrier... |
 |
| I added eight more of
the solar lights since the first eight I put in worked so well. Looks
like fireflies twinkling in the swamp as you approach the beginning
of the bogwalk from the lawn. |
 |
| May 21, 2006 |
 |
| Moss is beautifully green |
 |
| Ferns have come up |
 |
| This is the most beautiful time
of the year to walk the bog walk. |
 |
| More ferns |
 |
| Looking off to the side - eery! |
 |
| One of my favorite curves... |
 |
| The new screen house - Mabel put
it up in under an hour this afternoon! (5/21/06) |
 |
| 6/04/06 Oliver
my manx youngster, strolling through the ferns. |
 |
| |
|
|