SIGN 1 | TREES AND TRANSMISSION LINES DON'T MIX "On August 14, 2003, at 3:05 pm, a 345-kilovolt transmission line, near the town of Walton Hills (Ohio), shorted out on a tree that hadn't been trimmed. That failure diverted electricity onto other lines, overloading and overheating them. One by on e like firecrackers, those lines sagged, touched trees and short-circuited." - National Geographic, July, 2010 By 4:06 that afternoon, the largest blackout in North American history had impacted 50 million people in eight states and Ontario, at a cost of six billion dollars. this event started with one tree that hadn't been trimmed! For nearly 45 years, trees under the transmission lines in the Nature Area were topped rather than removed. After the power outage in 2003, the Metroparks agreed with International Transmission Company (ITC) to remove the trees permanently and establish native prairie grasses and wildflowers under the lines. SIGN 2 | A BACKYARD GONE WILD Norway spruce, norway maple, European spindletree and narcissus aren't plants that you would typically find in a Michigan natural area, but the Reflection Trail isn't "natural!" It was once a manicured part of the "Valley Creek Farm." The surrounding 150 acres served as a weekend getaway for the Charles Hodges Sr. family of Grosse Pointe from 1928 until the Metroparks purchased teh property in the mid-1950s. As you walk the Reflection Trail, imagine what would happen to your yard if you stopped mowing the lawn. Captions 1| The original bridge over Stony Creek was simply a log with a deck on top. SIGN 3 | HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLES! This pond was dug in 1928 as a birthday present from Elizabeth "Lizzy" Hodges to her husband, Charles. It was originally two separate ponds - one stocked with black bass and the other with rainbow trout. In the early years, family members swam here. Since 1964, when Stony Creek Nature Center opened, park visitors have enjoyed views of wildlife such as fish, turtles, frogs and mink. Every year, hundreds of school children learn about the pond habitat during guided fieldtrips. Thank you, Lizzy! Captions 1| Charles Hodges 2| Elizabeth Hodges SIGN 4 | FIRST THE ELM, NOW THE ASH In the early pond photo above, you'll notice reflections of elm trees in the water that are shaped like flowers in a vase. The elm trees later died of a fungal disease, which originated in a shipment of logs from teh Netherlands. In the summer of 2002, the emerald ash borer, a beetle native to Asia, was discovered in Michigan and has since killed millions of ash trees - some of which are rotting on the ground before you. SIGN 5 | A "HOMEMADE" WATERFALL When Charles Hodges made this waterfall long ago, he didn't realize that a time would come when thousands of park visitors per year would relax to the sound of water trickling downward over teh stones he stacked. Sometimes Stony Creek rises to the point that Charles' waterfall is hidden. In May of 2004, it rose up to the trail and almost carried the steps downstream! SIGN 6 | NOW YOU SEE 'EM, NOW YOU DON'T Although visitors typically see fish, turtles and frogs in the pond, the photos below show that many seldom seen animals depend on this important habitat. While visiting from Austria, Klaus Genge spent many days around the pond and managed to capture the images below. We appreciate his kind donation of hundreds of digital photos taken at Stony Creek Metropark. Captions 1| American Mink 2| Green Heron 3| Muskrat SIGN 7 | A GLACIAL GIFT There is evidence that the pond was originally a cedar swamp created by a chunk of ice that broke off a glacier long ago. Groundwater feeds the pond, which enters Stony Creek over the dam behind you. The rock on the left side of the old photo and the birch tree on the right can still be seen along the edge of the water, and yet so much has changed since the Hodges family owned the property. This pond is just one example of Stony Creek's "Waters of Change."