A Lake and a Pond

 One small silver lining of the dreadful pandemic through which we are living is that I have explored some places close to home that I did not even know existed.  When I have the need to get out of the house I will look at Google Maps and discover someplace for a bit of local sightseeing.  Last Friday was one such day.

We are very fortunate here to have the Cleveland Metroparks system, the "Emerald Necklace" of more than 23,000 acres of nature preserves that encircle Cleveland.  On Friday I drove a short distance to the neighboring suburb of Middleburg Height to the Lake Isaac Reservation.  

Lake Isaac is what geologists refer to as a "kettle lake", a lake that was scooped out by glaciers during the Ice Age.  It is a sanctuary for waterfowl, although on this particular day I only saw one aquatic bird... some type of crane I would assume.

I have stopped at Lake Isaac a number of times.  In fact I wrote about it some time ago on this blog.  Several years ago when Alejandro was up here visiting we hiked the Lake to Lake Trail which extends more than two miles from Lake Isaac to Lake Abram, another kettle lake.  However, this time I was going to walk a trail that I had never taken before, the Lake Isaac Trail, which forms a 1.2 mile loop behind the lake.

Although the trail does not offer any views of the lake, it is a pleasant walk through woodlands and meadows.

At one point the trail passes a murky, algae-covered wetland, a reminder that, when the first settlers came here in the early 1800s, much of the region was an unhealthy, malarial swamp.  Although I did not see any, I heard plenty of frogs croaking their love songs as I passed by.

After completing the loop trail, I got in the car and drove a very short distance to another tract of land that belongs to the park system.   I did not know that this preserve, Beyer's Pond, even existed.

A short walk along a trail led me to a tiny pond encircled with cattails.

"This is it?" I thought.  "It looked bigger on the map."  But then I continued just a few feet beyond, and I came to Beyer's Pond.  Actually I would call it a small lake, rather than a pond.

The shallow edges of the pond are covered with water lilies.  Some of them were in bloom.

It was a tranquil, relaxing escape on a beautiful summer day.