Asylum Lake Preserve

Last Saturday (the 18th), Jess and I took a guided walk at Asylum Lake Preserve. At one time, the property was owned by the Michigan Asylum for the Insane, and some patients lived on this property and farmed it. In 1975, ownership was transferred from the State of Michigan to Western Michigan University, and it is now maintained as a preserve (although this use has been threatened from time to time).

Here are a handful of photos from that day:

Eastern edge of Asylum Lake

Looking northeast across the lake
(toward Winchell Ave)

The fence is from when the land belonged to the hospital

Lilies of the valley - everywhere!

This was a cornfield; now WMU is restoring
native prairie plants

I've been wearing a pedometer for a couple months, but have yet to hit 10,000 steps in a day. I might have done it on this particular Saturday, after cleaning our church and then walking for an hour-and-a-half at the preserve. Alas, that was also a day when the pedometer's dead battery hadn't yet been replaced...