Cover Story: Asylum Lake Preserve

NATURE’S WONDER AT ASYLUM LAKE PRESERVE

By Dave Person david.r.person@gmail.com

The busy beavers and their trail of timber have caught the attention of many visitors to the Asylum Lake Preserve this past year, including amateur photographer Sharon Koole. “I have loved watching them this past year. I was on The Point when the fi rst tree fell,” Koole wrote in an emailed report to Spark magazine detailing her regular morning walks through the preserve. “I think some people were a bit upset that they have been downing ‘favorite’ trees, but it’s always fun to go in the morning (when the lake was open) and see if another tree had fallen. “I have been lucky enough to see them several times and photograph them. I have to say that my favorite time seeing them was when there were two playing about in the water. They looked like they were having fun and we enjoyed watching them.” Koole visits the preserve nearly every weekday morning about the time the sun comes up, as has been her habit for the past couple of years. On weekends, she and her husband go farther afi eld to hike. But for Koole, an Oakwood resident, nothing matches the 274-acre Asylum Lake Preserve, located at Drake Road and Parkview Avenue, for sheer beauty. “I started walking my neighborhood and then looked to go somewhere a bit quieter with nicer scenery,” she wrote. “I’d have to say that in the summer what we call The Point is my favorite place. I love standing there and watching the sun come up. In the spring there are so many birds along the shore and the heron and swans can usually be seen nearby. Now, of course, there is also the beaver lodge near there too.” The spring and summer beauty give way to fall and winter, both with their own attractions. “Sometimes the views can be lovely in the winter,” she wrote.

“I do sometimes walk at other times of day but I enjoy the mornings the most as it is relatively quiet so it’s a great time to see wildlife,” she added. “I like going out close to sundown but it can be quite busy. “ Last spring, Koole kept running into Joanie McKinney Weaver, also a morning walker at Asylum Lake

Preserve, and the two decided to walk together. “We both found that we were walking at the same time and used to ‘bump’ into each other down at The Point,” Koole wrote. “We started chatting and that progressed into sometimes walking together and now we walk together most mornings. “She likes bird watching and looking for wildlife so it’s a natural fi t.” At the Asylum Lake Preserve, wildlife is plentiful, according to Koole. “It’s the main reason I love going to Asylum Lake. There always seems to be something different to see if you just take the time or look up and down.” “It’s defi nitely quieter in the winter (but) we did see an owl while we were walking through the woods today and there are always deer around,” she wrote after returning from a midFebruary walk. Koole has been honing her photography skills while out walking.

“I’ve always enjoyed taking photos but it’s only been in about the last four years that I got a DSLR camera and learned how to use it properly,” she wrote. “I enjoy landscape photography and – in the last couple of years – wildlife and bird photography.” Once the pandemic became widespread last March, Koole noticed an increase in the number of walkers at the preserve. “In the beginning there were so many people. I kept going earlier and earlier so it was still quiet as I missed some of the quietness I used to have when walking,” she wrote.

“Now that it’s colder there aren’t quite as many people but there are defi nitely more people than there used to be walking in winter.” For her, personally, the morning walks have kept her “sane” amid all the Covid turmoil.

“Being outside gives me a sense of calm,” she wrote. It also provided an unexpected bonus. “I guess the pandemic was good for something,” she wrote, “as I got to meet a new walking friend.” For those who want to visit the preserve, there are parking areas on both Drake Road and Parkview Avenue. Dogs are allowed as long as they are on a leash. The preserve, owned by Western Michigan University and open to the public for passive use (bicycles and motorized vehicles are not allowed), has several trails, including a 2.6-mile loop trail around the larger of the two lakes there.

Photos by Sharon Koole