In mid-December I hiked around pothole lakes and over eskers in the middle grasslands area of Lac du Bois Grasslands Park.  The ground was frozen and patches of snow filled sheltered spots.    Island Lake was frozen, filling the bottom of the benchland above Long Lake.

Reeds and sedges stood above the ice but will soon be buried in winter.   When I snowshoe over them I sink because of air pockets created by clumps and clusters.

I spotted three muskat mud lodges, with reeds woven into the walls of the nest.

By a few of the pothole lakes aspens stood above the water, some with the season’s last leaves.

Spring growth will emerge in the middle grasslands in late March and will be best in May.   Taller herbs and grasses succeed in June and July.

All was quiet on this grey day.   I plan to return in winter to stomp the grasslands slopes around the pothole ponds, eskers, kames. moraines, and erratics shaped by the last glaciers of the area.