Eaton County 05/15

I had a bunch of counties that needed doing and I wanted to get home by grandbaby sitting day on Wednesday so my sister and I decided to take off Sunday afternoon and get to walking.

I wasn't too optimistic since it was raining when we took off. We were heading up 96 past Lansing to the next county over...Eaton County. I had decided that we would walk in Grand Ledge which is famous for its cliffs on the side of the Grand River. This is from the Grand Ledge Area Historical Society website:

"Some 300 million years ago Grand Ledge was a salt water sea. Sediments (sand, silt and clay) were carried by the water and deposited in layers along river banks and beaches. Time and pressure compacted and cemented the sediments into the ledges we have today. The rocks found in the area contain fossils some of which can only be found here. Veins of coal can still be found along the river path which runs from Island Park to Fitzgerald Park."


Thank goodness by the time we got to Grand Ledge the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to come out. We walked out to the park where a trail starts along the river below the cliffs. The path is very narrow with lots of roots and mud and it might have been a little scary. At one point a squirrel spooked me and for a second I thought I was falling.... It was fun though and we made it to the end of that trail at Island Park. The river was really high from all the rain we've been having. We then finished up our 5 miles by walking through the neighborhood that backs up to the river. I can't show what the houses looked like since I left my camera in the car.

We headed back out to the expressway to go to Grand Rapids where we'd walk in the morning.