Devil's Soup Bowl

Seems I've had my hiking boots on alot lately and I've found myself deep in the woods every week. I'm loving it. This time I went with a couple friends because it's nice to share the woods with friends, right? It's so peaceful to solo hike, but I also like having companions along to chat with about what we're seeing. I think my different hiking companions all know that if I drop behind on the trail I'm most likely taking pictures and what beautiful pictures there are out in the woods. Oh my!

So much Dogwood in bloom. Both K and M have hiked the AT and M mentioned today that she kept thinking she was seeing a shelter out of the corner of her eye, but it always ended up being a Dogwood Tree. Apparently, the shelters are silver on the AT.

I don't know if these are Cinnamon or Interrupted Ferns. I think they're Interrupted, but I know they're not Ostrich so we didn't pick any for eating.

What is this? I'm guessing a dried up flower from the Skunk Weed, but I'm not positive. Oh, and we found a snake just a few steps after this. Well, Dunnie found the snake.

Beautiful reflections in the water. It was quite swampy but Yankee Springs Rec Area has lovely board walks so you don't get your feet wet. I could have stopped at the board walk and spent the rest of my day exploring just what was close by, though I would have missed some more amazing things as we hiked further along the trail.

Thick Stalked False Morel. There are only a few deadly poisonous mushrooms, but this one will surely make you sick. Did I mention I picked Oyster Mushrooms a couple weeks ago and made a delicious Wild Rice and Mushroom soup? Mmmm...

My lovely hiking companions. And Dunnie.

 

Goldenthread.

Wild garlic. These lovelies were picked and brought home to be used in Mango Salsa. Oh, it was so good.

Aren't they pretty? If you eat them in the field you'll notice they are very sweet and have a bit of garlicky kick afterwards. Ha, just clean the dirt off first. For a disclaimer, be positive you know what you're eating if you forage in the wild. Just, be careful.

We started at the campground, picked up Sassafras Trail to Long Lake Trail, touched on Hall Lake Trail and out to the Devil's Soup Bowl. By the time we arrived back to the car we had hiked 10.3 miles. Nice!

I hiked here years ago and got seriously turned around because of the lack of trail markers. In fact, I've warned people away from here because of the poor trail mark, but I found that's not the case anymore. With the addition of all these beautiful trail markers you would have to work real hard to get lost. Go. You'll be happy for the time spent in the woods. But bring your bug dope. I suspect the mosquitoes will be vicious in a few weeks.

One of my goals a couple years ago was to learn how to forage for edibles, but the only things I knew how to positively identify were blueberries, blackberries and wintergreen. I bought a couple books and very quickly became overwhelmed with the different items to look for. I realize I know much more about wild plants now (though I still have much to learn) and the way I learned was by taking pictures of plants while on my hikes and researching them once I got home. I still don't know as much as I would like about the edibles, but in researching plants I have been lucky enough to find some that were edible. ~grins~ My favorite 'ah ha' moment was when I learned what Elderberry plants, flowers and fruit look like. I distinctly remember saying, "so that's what it is." And you know what? They are everywhere I hike and bike. Sweet!

It's the weekend again and I must go don the boots for another adventure. See you Monday.

Weirdness

I've been playing with the camera, and reflections, and kids, and critters.

It's been fun.

Sometimes you just have to put it out there with a minimum of words and let the pictures tell the story.

Miss M...Again

I love this girl! I rescued her over the weekend from having to hang with her brothers while they played football with the college guys. She would have gone to CMU with Mom and her brothers, she would have been a sport about it, but when I whispered in her ear that she could also come home with me Friday night, she about fell off her chair with delight. I mean really, who wouldn't want to hang with me?

Saturday gave us a beautiful day to play and it seems we packed it full without feeling especially busy. We made fruit smoothies for breakfast because "we always have to cook something" and then wandered into the craft room. I worked on a journal page while she practiced a new technique for making flowers for her scrapbook. Had we not had other plans for the day she probably would have made a whole garden of flowers.

It's quite simple, really. Stamp a flower image onto colored card stock, highlight some areas with white gel pen and loosely cut around your image when it dries. They're now ready to be pasted into her book.

I'm glad she liked this project because I prefer she learn to make her own embellishments than have her (or mom) go broke purchasing ready-mades from the store. Imagination rules!

I had promised her a few games of bowling at an old 2-story bowling alley near my house, not realizing that she had only bowled once before. lol Wengers didn't have a lane with bumpers open, but she was sure she would be okay without them. Imagine her delight when she got not one, but two spares! And she was jumping up and down cheering for me when I got a strike. I didn't bring my camera along and I'm sort of happy about that. It would have been nice to get pictures, but it was such a joy to experience her delight that I didn't really miss my camera. Sometimes, you just have to 'put the camera down,' right, Alex?

Mid afternoon found us walking several blocks to get ice cream. Aren't the calories free if you have to walk for it? I think so. And just for good measure, we took the long way home through the park, and since we're in the park don't you think we should climb the hills and go exploring in the woods? Ha, we thought so too!

She stopped half way up and breathlessly exclaimed, "these hills are big! My legs are sore." Well, mine would be too if I ran up the hill.

The hills are verrry big. Once at the top you can look out over most of the city. It's one of my favorite things about where I live, having the park with it's hills and woods and creek to explore.

Keep going Sis, you're almost there. She wasn't really. Once you get to the top of this, the path turns to the right and you have more of a climb.

Oh, but look what we found! Jack-In-The-Pulpit. They're only just beginning to bloom but we found a few.

Playing in the May Apples.

All this in one day. How fun is that?

Hemlock Crossing

Where did this gem come from? And why am I only just discovering it? K asked if Sir S and I wanted to go hiking with her and Dunnie...I hardly had to ask the boy. He loves the woods and he misses his own dog. "Yes," was the word.

The trail wends you along the Pigeon River bottomland and around through the uplands. "A pedestrian bridge and numerous overlooks offer scenic views of the river corridor, wetlands, natural springs and woods."  Indeed!

Beautiful, well marked trails with lots of markers and maps. You will not get lost in here. The trails are relatively easy yet provide you with a fair amount of up and down though the hills so you don't get bored, but it's nothing too strenuous. The park wasn't busy and we found plenty of solitude for watching critters and birds, and the antics of a boy and a dog.

Sir S is fascinated with streams and wetlands and it wasn't long before he was hanging over the edge of the boardwalk playing in the stream flowing under the bridge. And then, of course, the dog had to get down there in the muck to see what the boy found so interesting. Boys...and dogs....I tell ya!

That's a good sized Beech, as were many in this park. Isn't it interesting how the Beeches have such character? They watch you with their eyes, they hide images in their bark and they provide the smoothest bark for leaving your mark. We didn't do that, but you can see that many people can't resist the smooth surface.

K turned Sir S loose with Dunnie. The idea was that the dog and the boy would wear each other out running through the woods, and run they did, until the dog needed a break. We forgot to tell the two of them that we were going for miles today...nearly 7, in fact. Run, boys, run!

It's funny because Dunnie took a long nap when he got home, but Sir S went to the park to join in a pick-up game of basketball. Guess I need 2 dogs to wear him out.

Anyone want to go explore the rest of the trails?

Clinging Birds

This past weekend was a great time for viewing tree clinging birds, more specifically, Woodpeckers. We don't usually see (or hear) so many. Also unusual is that they didn't seem that shy of us in spite of our stalking them for good photos.

Pileated Woodpecker, and they are generally quite shy. More so than most, it seems, which seems odd for such a large bird. We thought they sounded much like a Pterodactyl ought to.

Hairy Woodpecker - he seemed as interested in us as we were of him/her. At first I thought it was a Downy, but he's too big. Drat, I've never seen a Downy. Guess I'll have to spend more time in the woods.

The wonderful Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Did you know they are the ones responsible for the straight lines of holes we often see on trees? They're going after the sap, not bugs. Sapsucker, get it? ha

This is the beautiful Red-bellied Woodpecker. No, I did not get a glimpse of his belly.

Okay, okay, I know, this isn't a Woodpecker. It's a Chickadee butt. But it's a cute butt! Little buggers are so darned fast that I could only capture his backside.

Next up, Hemlock Crossing.

Spring Blooms

Honestly, it was too early for some of these blooms and I suspect they may yet be killed off by a hard frost, but most of the woods is low lying wetlands so they may be fine. But Trilliums in March? Uhhh, I don't think so.

I know, it looks like raisins on a branch, but we didn't put these here. I couldn't identify the species in my mushroom book and I'm wondering if this is Purple Jelly Slime that didn't get killed off during the winter because it never got cold enough. Anyone know this?

Bloodroot pushing up already. I found out that Native Americans used this root for a red dye. Thus, the name.

Trees were furiously budding...

More Bloodroot, open and in bloom.

Spring Beauty covered the forest floor.

Trout Lily were out in abundance as well.

Another unidentified fungus that sort of looks like a Lamprey Eel. Hmm, did it crawl up from the creek and attach to the tree? No, I'm kidding, but if you know what this is I would appreciate the tip.

At first I saw some of the leaves poking up, walked a little further and saw leaves unfurling and wondered if I would see one in bloom. Yes, I did, and a lot more than one.

Here come the May Apples.

So I didn't have much luck identifying the fungus from the hike since I don't know what this one is called either. Anyone?

And here we have the quaint and adorable Dutchman's Breeches. Sir S thought it looked more like a funny alien head with eyes. I can see that.

Some of these were drawn in detail, but mostly we admired them as we walked. I realized too late that we had forgotten the magnifying glasses. It's pretty awesome to see the flower parts magnified.

Drawn

The weather held, with it's delightful and unseasonable warmth, the woods called and I responded by donning hiking boots and a backpack. Of course I was drawn to nature, and I ventured forth with extra crew both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a slow walk in the woods with a girlfriend, my daughter-in-law and three young children as we meandered along the paths exploring more of what was to be found in the woods and along the streams rather than covering distance. The children played in the woods, climbed trees, stopped for sketching, ate snacks and investigated the Spring blooms. The women gloried in the moment. I took many, many pictures.

I'm focusing on the people today and I'll post more of our adventures during the week, but there are far too many pictures for one post.

We hiked Aman Park again. It's conveniently close to town, yet the children feel like they're in a far-off  forest. I love how they seem to become more alive in the woods and revel in their freedom.

This boy would hike with me constantly if he could.

A backpack holding the necessities of the woods. He packs it himself now with whatever seems appropriate for the day but always includes a sketchpad and pencils.

Binoculars for bird watching, which were very necessary today.

They stop on their own each time they discover something of interest that needs to be drawn.

Now here's an interesting tree, which is actually three trees all growing together, Beech, Shag-bark Hickory and Maple. That warranted a stream of questions and a discussion about how this could happen.

And really, it was the perfect tree for climbing. You're in the woods, how can you not?

Ha, and we're not above a bit of humor.

Graffiti artists at work. Does it count if they used pencils and the shack is about to fall down anyway?

Practicing balance and pushing against boundaries.

Did I mention the freedom they feel out here?