Mount Baldy Evergreen
Sorry about the long gap in posts. Between it being the middle of winter (and therefore lacking bugs), a long period of connectivity issues (I think our radio link to our ISP was partially blocked by snow), and being busy with a lot of other things, I was kind of letting this slide. Anyway, here are some pictures that I took back on September 11, 2022 when we took a hike up Mount Baldy. Some people make fun of the “mountains” in Michigan, as they are pretty worn-down and hummocky, and mostly have trees all the way to the top. But, there are a few cases, like Mount Baldy here, where the tops are at least right at the tree line if not quite above it.
This is part of a ridge that runs along the Keweenaw south of Lake Bailey, and the elevation is about 1200 feet above sea level. Of course, Lake Superior is already about 600 feet above sea level, so it is only about a 600 foot climb to the top of this from ground level. The trail is a few miles long, though, so this was still a fairly long walk. With the lack of trees, there is a very clear view of Lake Superior to the north, and I think the smaller lake visible closer in is part of Lake Bailey.
There’s also a good view of the forest to the south:
The ridge is pretty cliffy, with a fairly abrupt dropoff on the south side:
If this was further from Lake Superior, it would probably be forested all the way to the top like most of the other ridges and “mountains” around here. But, when the wind is from the north, this ridge gets the full brunt of the cold gales off of the lake, and so the plants are blasted and stunted and the effective tree line is at a pretty low altitude.
The dominant shrubs up here are some kind of low evergreen, mostly less than a foot or two tall.
The needles are soft and tuft-like.
I think these are likely to be Common Juniper, Juniperus_communis. These are a widespread plant all around the north polar regions, and depending on conditions may either be an upright almost-tree, or a prostrate spreading shrub like these. According to the range map on Wikipedia, we are at the exreme south edge of their range, with them being more common up into Canada and up in the “real” mountains further west. They apparently live for a loooooooong time, with some specimens dated as being over 1600 years old. The female plants have greyish-blue berries, and the male plants have little pollen-spreading cones, but this particular specimen doesn’t have any fruits or cones that I can see. So, I’ll have to take this identification as being a bit tentative at the moment.
That’s my kind of hike. Not a lot of altitude gain and a couple of miles long in a lovely area. I hadn’t thought about the effects of lake gales on the plants. Thanks for that info!