Pine Island at MacCready Nature Reserve

Here are some views of my glorious hike today at MacCready Nature Reserve. This pretty little place just south of Jackson offers several miles of trails. There's a little bit of everything. If you hit up the red trail, you'll find more flat, wide, and fast trails. But there are plenty of winding, hilly trails on the blue loop, and the yellow loop will take you along the bluff above a sparking fen that is truly breathtaking. 

 

By far, however, my favorite part of today's hike, however, was visiting "Pine Island". If you hike about 1 mile in on the yellow trail, you'll see a foot bridge at the bottom of the bluff. It crosses the fen to a grove of pine trees. Once there, you're transported to a mystical place, surrounded by strong, tall pines.The soft, needle-blanketed trail traverses the island and brings you back to the footbridge. I found myself never wanting to leave!

I was imagining this as a perfect place for a lantern-lit snowshoe event! Maybe I'll have to look into that. I can't imagine anything more magical than shoeing through the gently falling snow by firelight on Pine Island. But maybe that's just me. :)

Being at MacCready today was a balm to my soul. I'm so thankful for this beautiful place and for the chance to breathe in the enchantment.

Next time I'll get the GPS out and mark a few loops to share with you!

Until next time, get out there! 

Alaina