Karen Wils photos Above, wild trout lilies can be seen.

Karen Wils photos
A speckled brown trout is shown.

ESCANABA — The tale of two trout,

The challenge to be the king of spring,

The rivalry between the river and the raw earth.

Some folks claim it was a feud that began before the days of the white man and the white-tailed deer. Dating way back to when virgin white pines still swayed in the cool air and shaded the North Country. It was a competition to see who was the real “spring beauty.”

The first trout took to the water. As soon as the winter ice rumbled and groaned and made its way out of the river, the first trout smiled. Water so high, cold and clear splashed and tossed over pebbles, rocks and limestone slabs.

The first trout thrived there in the pristine waters. His streamlined body was all speckled with multi-colored iridescent spots. In early springtime, when all of the wild world was coming back to life, the trout was the fairest creature of all.

The first trout’s yellow eyes were magically bright. When he rose from his watery world to jump for a mayfly or stonefly, people marveled at him and sought him out with fishing poles, nets and creels.

Truly this first trout was the most awesome sign of spring in Upper Michigan.

The second trout wanted to outdo the first one. He knew he could not compete with this fish in the water, so he took to the land.

The second trout buried his roots deeply in the cold clay and soil beneath the hardwood trees. The woods were still wet from melting snow and vernal ponds were everywhere.

When the sunshine finally kissed the frozen ground this second trout grew fast in the fertile ground. He developed corms and a colony of speckled leaves appeared on the forest floor. Slender and pointed and one of the first green things to sprout after the long winter, surely this second trout was the fairest.

Instead of a yellow eye the trout lily opened up a pretty little yellow flower. People sought out the flower to photograph or paint its likeness.

Truly this trout lily was the most awesome sign of spring in Upper Michigan.

The U.P. is doubly blessed to be the home of speckled brook, brown and rainbow trout and the early bird wildflower the trout lily.

Even before the leaves bud out on the trees, the trout lilies open.

Even before the lilacs bloom, the hungry trout are rising.

It doesn’t matter if you prefer river trout or trout lilies growing in the earth, get outdoors and enjoy this wonderful season.

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Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.