On Sunday afternoon, I figured I was overdue for a nature hike. It was a chilly, wet, and gray day, so I decided to lean into the dismalness of it all and walk through a bog.
Onondaga County’s Beaver Lake Nature Center is my go-to option for walking in the wilderness. Its Bog Trail is one of my favorite paths, as it offers a chance to explore a complex, intricate, and somewhat forbidding wetland environment without needing hip waders or one of those air-propeller swamp boats.
I captured some photos along the way. Sadly, no animals showed themselves today (not so sadly in the case of snakes), but I got a lot of shots of the plant life in the middle of seasonal transition.
The Bog Trail is a bit out of the way. Unlike most of the other trails at Beaver Lake, it’s not directly accessible from the central hub. You have to hike down another trail just to get to it, and if you don’t keep a close eye on the marker signs, it’s easy to miss.Setting off to go trudge through some boggy goodness.Most of the trail is on these planks. I took care not to slip on those wet leaves, as taking a spill over the side would have been a singularly gross experience.That’s maybe the blackest water I’ve ever seen. If not the blackest, it’s a close second to my swimming pool when I first pulled the cover off it one spring.An observation deck with a view of the lake.The view from the platform.I think Yoda’s hut is back there somewhere.Blueberries have never looked so ominous.
Researcher. Marketer. Teacher. Father of adult children and dogs. 20th Century holdover. Central New York native. Long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan. History nerd. Traveler. Vintage advertising enthusiast. Hat wearer.
a.k.a. V.J. 
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