Lab Land | Fascinating Scent

Lab Land is 30 acres where we track. It offers many types of cover from open fields to hardwoods, pine woods, tall pines. There are areas covered in thick ferns. Some places are covered with lichen. There are dirt roads to cross and buildings to go between, around and through. A large part of the land is mixed with open spaces and clumps of pines or cherry. This allows the dogs to make choices between several options so a handler can learn to see and trust his/her dog’s decisions.

: Approaching from the north

: From North

: From south

: Street sign

: Entering the drive

: Looking back toward the street

: Coming in the drive

: Moving on down the drive

: Around the bend

: Daffodils along the drive

: Close-up of daffodils and fence

: Heading toward fire pit

: Looking east as you come in drive

: Decorative boat with daffodils

: Approaching the parking circle and fire pit

: Looking north from drive

: Looking at woodpile to the north

: Looking north toward walking paths

: Northern edge of Lab Land is the treeline

: Looking toward the eastern woods

: Looking south from the parking circle

: Looking south toward the headquarters

: Looking north passed the buildings

: The Purlie Pavilion/boat storage

: Looking south behind the Purlie Pavilion

: Open area

: Brown area will become field of ferns

: Across the field to hardwood forest

: Looking east from the northwest section of woods

: In the northwest section of woods

: A bench in the woods

: This huge beach is the view from the bench

: Mixed pine woods south of the drive

: Serviceberry blooming in spring

: Hemlocks in the eastern woods

: Another bench with daffodidls at the edge of the eastern woods

: Evidence of the piliated woodpecker

: Southern edge of Lab Land

: Mixed pine woods

: Open field with scattered mixed pine

: Smaller pines next to tall Redpines at street

: Open woods on east

: Tall Redpines on the road south of entrance to LL

Here are some of the early wild flowers and photos of early spring

: Looking north

: Early spring

: Oprn woods

: Tall Red PInes Near the Road

: Mixed piines

: Mixed pines south of the drive

: Pines and open field

: Tracking field

: Tracking field

: Tracking field near fire pit

: Open woods to track through

: Woodpecker holes in this tree

: Stamd of hemlocks

: flowering trees in tracking field

: Mixed trees in open woods

: The brown area will become a field of ferns

: Along the drive

: Another bench along a path

: Woods and fields meet

: Along a path between areas of woods

: Path to north that enters woods

Lab land is very different from season to season so here are some photos showing the seasons when we track. The spring starts with open fields until the ferns emerge. There is a succession of wildflowers.

Flowers by one of the benches

Open woods to track through

Summer brings warm weather so tracking camps are limited to mini camps where folks can work half days only. We work in the early morning and/or we go back into the woods where the temperatures are much cooler.

: Looking northwest from walking path

: Looking north where 2 paths diverge

: North end where paths go back into field or into woods

: Looking through ring to headquarters and Purlie pavilion

: A fern opening

: Lilies along the fence

: Yellow lily

: Red lily

: Black-eyed Susan

: Coreopsis

: Spotted knapweed

: St . Johnswort

: Purple coneflower

Along the drive

Woods and fields meet

Path to north that enters woods

Along a path between areas of woods

Fall brings incredible color, shorter days and the return of tracking camps. Peak color is usually around Columbus Day but this may vary by a week either way.

: Dogs running down one of the paths

: Stop light tree: red, green yellow

: The drive is most beautiful

: The ferns turn brown while the tree turns red

: Yellow and green stand of maples

: Looking north down a path

: Path from the woods back to the field

: A path through the woods

: Loooking back toward the street

: Open field

: Beautiful trees on the property

: Glorious color and blue sky

: Light and shadows

: Leaves of fall

: The drive into Lab Land

: Pines add to the fall color

: Leaving Lab Land

: Kayla, Sierra, Dusty,Soda, Klu, Murphy, Purlie, Czorro, Deo, Tally, Max

Tracking stops from Nov.15-Dec.1 each year because of hunting season (rifle). Lab Land is adjacent to the Pere Marquette State Forest so caution must be used. After hunting season, we can go back to playing and tracking if the snow is not too deep. It is a rare year when we only get small amounts of snow to allow for some winter tracking. It is very near Crystal Mountain (ski resort) so we can’t track in the winter as there is usually about 2 1/2 feet of snow on the ground though midwinter.