Slippery Elm Path: Portage to Rudolph

Since we moved here, Javier, Paco and I have walked/run the first several miles of Slippery Elm from where it starts in BG. Over the year my curiosity has gotten the better of me and I've walked farther and farther, first to the cemetery off the farm road, then headed for the large stand of trees that always hovered in the distance.  Paco and I walked six miles one day, a record for us, and we found ourselves crossing little bridges that spanned farm ditches and small rivers, finally coming to that stand of trees, only to discover another and another.

One Sunday the three of us drove to Portage, the little town south of BG on the Dixie Highway.  We walked past these stands of trees; fields with blond, shorn cornstalks; remnants of the Black Swamp and its surrounding woods, and found ourselves in Rudolph, "The Deerest Little Village in Northwest Ohio." We were chased by a chihuahua and that was about the only excitement to be had in Rudolph.

However, I discovered a photo project for myself.   The barren winter landscape of this region has its own unique beauty so I decided to photograph the few miles on path that stretch between the two villages.  Though I wish blogger did the photos (and my decent photo skills) more justice, below are my initial results.

Bat-ear baby