One of the many great things about living in Michigan is getting to watch the trees change into their fall colors.  Last Saturday, we found perfect weather and the opportunity to observe the annual transformation from the sky.  It was a gorgeously sunny October afternoon with a slight chill in the air.  It was a bit windy which made the ride a little more turbulent than I would prefer, but not too bad.

As we lifted off from Runway 22 in Marine City it quickly became evident that we were a few weeks early for the peak color change in lower Michigan.  The landscape was mostly green, but we were able to find a few bright patches of trees that were beginning to change.  We needed to fly north, the colors would be more abundant  there.

Trying to get more comfortable flying in such a small plane, I took the controls from Chris as we flew toward Saginaw Bay.  Flying straight and level is a little more challenging than you would think.

The colors were starting to pop as we worked our way to Houghton Lake airport.

We walked about  half a mile down the road to the Spikehorn Restaurant for a quick lunch.

As we took off from Houghton Lake , the colors were so much more beautiful and abundant.

The Ausable River was our guide to lead us across the terrain through the Huron National Forest toward Lake Huron.

A total of six dams are located along the river generating hydroelectric power and creating large “ponds” which are used for fishing and other outdoor sporting activities.  This dam is called Five Channels Dam.

Just for fun, Chris did a touch-and-go at the Wiertsmith Airforce Base,  an old military base that had significant importance to the region during the Cold War era.  Currently it is used to salvage large commercial planes and also houses a museum.

As the hours grew long and the sun started to set we headed south toward home over Tawas Bay.  Although a week or two early for peak color change season, we still enjoyed a very wonderful fall day in Michigan.