Kensington Metropark - My Actifit Report Card: October 26 2024

Hey Actifitters,

It's probably the best week end for fall foliage colors in Michigan. Unfortunately my usual hiking friend was too busy and she couldn't join for our traditional day trip up North. So instead of the 3+ hours drive, I chose to only go to Kensington Metropark. It's only about half an hour from home, and we know it's great too, in all seasons. Since I also wanted to catch the sunset, we didn't need to go too early and it gave me time to work a bit in the house beforehand. Anyways, around 5pm, we arrived at the park. I decided we'd go for the exact same route and stops as last time. If you can't or don't want to walk the entire 8 mile loop around the park, this is one of the best option: park near the bridge, walk for about 2 miles before turning around, then drive to the East boat launch for the sunset (that is if you timed it right, which we know is not always my forte... more on that later). Like I said, our main interest was the fall colors, so I was glad to see this tree right at our parking spot.

It also appeared the sun was still high in the sky, leaving us plenty of time before the sunset.

I think I say that every time, but one of the reasons to park there is you get to the water almost immediately.

The blue sky, fall colors and reflections are such a perfect combo!

The other side of the bridge is usually not that impressive, it's just a branch of the lake. But with this foliage, that's really different.

I think we barely walked a couple hundred meters in the first 15 minutes. So many shots to snap!

See the sun, we have time, right?

The next stop in this direction is the small marina. All the boats are gone for the winter though. Actually maybe it makes it even better for photos.

Every time we are there, I tried to get Kaia to drink directly from that water pump, but she would do that only in scorching summer heat.

I feel like I also said that several times, but don't you think just chilling on these benches would be perfect? That view!

We're not exactly the slow moving type though, so we didn't stop there and went closer to the water.

Even Kaia seemed hypnotized by the sun and its reflection.

Again, we didn't stop too long, I still wanted to hit a couple spots. Like this small meadow with the lake in the background.

And some more fall colors.

I'm not sure why but Kaia always has to pose next to that thing, whatever that is. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure there used to be a name written on it, maybe like a memorial?

We walked a little bit more, and went a bit off the normal paved trail, so we could get more views from the water.

But it was time to turn back. In fact, we had probably waited too long already. Not sure if I missed them, or if they arrived while we were walking further, but lots of ducks and a few swans were enjoying the late afternoon near this tiny island.

Of course, we prefer to walk the entire loop, but walking back is also a chance to snap the photos missed before.

Every time we visit this park, we see these two birds, or at least I think they are the same. It's funny because they often sound like they're arguing.

We still had some distance before the parking lot, but the light was already quite different.

That probably meant I should have skipped the photo opportunities, but well, everybody knows that's really not something I'm good at.

But I mean, how can I resist this beautiful light and perfect reflections? On top of that, I like to try and play with the natural obstacles.

I feel like most of the photos could have been my entry into the #AroundTheWorld contest from @bucipuci, but I'll select this next one. It shows vibrant foliage colors and reflections as a bonus. That's Pure Michigan! Oh and yes, that park was already used for the contest several times in the past. But I just love it that much. It's like a getaway, but so close to home at the same time.

We finally made it to the car and quickly drove to the boat launch. As you probably guessed it with my previous comments, we were too late for the actual sunset. As you might remember, this is clearly not the first time. The colors were great anyways!

Here too, all the boats are gone for the winter. It's Michigan, even with the mild winters we had the past few years, parts of the lake will freeze.

We hung out in this area for a while, all the way to the beach, but it got quite dark pretty fast. So one last photo, and we walked back to the car in darkness.

Well, it wasn't Oscoda and Au Sable river where we usually go for the fall colors, but I really didn't regret the decision to visit Kensington Metropark. Great weather, beautiful fall colors, and perfect views. You might not know of the ads with the 'Pure Michigan' slogan, but this kind of walks are a perfect illustration. Too bad for my friend she couldn't join. I will for sure send her plenty of photos to rub it in her face!
Once again, the most difficult part was to select my photos among the gazillion I had. I also kept a lot of them for a reflections post in the Shadows Hunter tribe. I know I said that many times before, but it will happen!
As always, thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.

[//]:# (!worldmappin 42.52378 lat -83.64510 long d3scr)
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Daily Activity, Hiking, Walking