Hacking chopping sawing...

That is what I do every spring in the woods. I try to clean a bit of the trail I use to hike and ride on just enough so that the berry briars and multi flora roses are not ripping me or my mule to shreds as we ride through the woods.

At this time of the year, just after the frost has gone out of the ground, a person can literally pull berry canes out of the ground.
Note:
You best have some darned good gloves!

Then there was the place where tree tops had blown down across the trail in 2007. Slowly but surely I've been cutting my way through them, or around them.

I also re-routed a part of the trail to go over a downed tree in an easier spot than we used last year. So I spent time trimming away goose berry bushes, black berry canes, and other prickly things.
Sort of mind numbing work, but the sort of work that would be appreciated the next time I hiked or rode this trail.

Of course Mother Nature provided a few interesting photo opportunities while I was out there. The moss is getting ready to blossom.....

[I have no clue as to what this moss is called...I think it may be~~~peat moss or hair cap moss]


...and I found Sarcoscypha austriaca~~also known as Red Cup Fungi.
[You have to really look closely for these little beauties!]


...and the 'common lady fern'~~[Athyrium filix-femina]
This is the most exciting time of year in the forest around here. For the next two months things begin to 'pop' up through the leaves.
I enjoy finding these things and trying to identify them.

I found a great book that is a MUST have from the UW of WI. I'm putting it on my wish list.
Wildflowers of Wisconsin