Jersey Valley County Park, Vernon County

One of the most overlooked places to hike and enjoy is Jersey Valley County Park.

Yesterday afternoon Morris and I piled into the Subaru and took off to the Park.

We decided to explore the trail that runs around the shoreline halfway around the man made lake.  It is not a well used trail, but we sure enjoyed it.

Morris probably appreciated this trail a bit more as I was able to let him off leash to walk.  On the main trail I kept him leashed.  We actually had this trail to ourselves and while we were there we only saw a runner on the main trail.

The colors are not spectacular yet, but the sun was warm and the breeze was nice and cool.  Our hike turned out to be very enjoyable.

Morris and I found an old picnic table near the shore.  It has been there a long time, but it looked like an inviting place to stop and rest.
The picnic table served as a good place to also use my tripod to set up an infrared shot.

Infrared shot: See the patterns in the water?  That is the weeds on the surface of the lake floating about in the 30 second exposure.

We ended up taking the main trail back around on the west side of the lake instead of hiking all of the way around the lake.  I wanted to get home to cook a nice supper and still have plenty of time for helping with chores.

Before we left Morris and I ran into a farmer who brought his sons to the beach along with their golden retriever/mix named Josephine.  She was a beautiful dog and she and Morris exchanged pleasantries.

I went up onto the dam and found a brilliant spot of color along the shore.

While we were there more people began to show up to the park.  A few had dogs.  A woman tried to walk past Morris and I and her huge black lab was incredibly bad mannered and difficult for her to handle.

I picked up Morris and stepped further away from her as her dog growled and lunged nearly taking the owner off her feet.

My second worry was that her dog was going to get loose and knock my camera and tripod down in an effort to get at Morris.
I wanted to really ask her why she was taking such an ill mannered dog out in public?

I just watched and was thankful that I hadn't run into them on the trail.

By 5pm a lot of people were showing up to take walks and enjoy the nice September day.

I gathered my things and decided to return in the early morning to see if I could get some shots of steam rising off the lake at sunrise.

Well, that is for another post entirely, as it became one more adventure...

I want to get back to another beautiful county park, Duck Egg and see if I can't get down into the Bad Axe River and take some shots of the water running over the rocks.

Happy Trails!  Get out and enjoy!