On the way back we enter again a rainy stretch but it is not that bad as in the morning. On the way up we saw an interesting sign and then we researched in our map and supposedly there is a Thrombolite, type of fossil, trail on the way and that is where we want to stop. However it is raining and still raining as we approach and then five minutes out it stops raining. We decide to stop, it is still cold and windy but no rain. And no trail. The parking is well marked but there is no trail anywhere even though a sign point in a random direction.
As we are about to give up as we don’t want to enter wet grass and we do not see any other trail we notice a bridge in the distance. And the trail is named Trombolites and Marjorie’s Bridge trail so maybe that is the direction to go? There are a few houses in the way but as we approach them finally there is another sign which marks the actual trailhead and on we go on a large well maintained trail, phew, we found it.
The threat of rain is hanging over us but it is not raining even though it is overcast and cold and windy. We can barely hear each other even when shouting, it feels like we returned to Alaska really. But we are making good time as the trail is level and dry, but where are the Thrombolites?
They have to be on the shore given the photos so we keep an eye out for them as we don’t know how large there are, there is no scale to the photos. We find a few shorebirds, mostly Greater Yellowlegs. And then there it is, our first Thrombolite! They are quite large, there was no chance of us missing to see them but this one is difficult to access so we can continue on on the trail.
And then there are even more Thrombolites, these are more easily accessed and we walk to them to examine them and try to understand what type of fossils they are.
Well we have a very good informational panel here, it is quite interesting what Thrombolites are, basically the remaining evidences of colonies of tiny algae and bacteria from way back. Then we enter the nearby empty visitor center to warm ourselves before braving the cold for another look.
There are a lot of Thrombolites here and we really enjoy seeing all these quasi-fossils and then it is time to return back to the car looking for birds and seeing only gulls on the way back. We then continue south and have to make a decision, will we even try to get to Port au Choix National Historic Site or not as it will we quite dark when we arrive. We decide, why not, when will we be in the area again?
