Fall Beckons.....................

After fighting a gnarly cold from Sunday morning through Wednesday morning, I decided to go kick some stuffy head a$$. When I was in my 20's and 30's I was a distance runner. I'd get a head cold and wait until I could 'just' breath and then go running. Stupid, you know? But I always felt better after getting the 'juices' flowing.

So Wednesday morning after chores I grabbed a backpack and my two cohorts [dogs] ran to sit by my car. The vote was in. I could clean house, make the bed, and dust ----> or take off and do something fun. The weather was perfect in every single way that fall can produce.

The drive to the Reserve seemed to hold the promise of something beautiful.

But since I was still not recovered from the cold [think stuffy nose and stuffy head]. I decided we'd just take it slow when we hit the trails.

And we did. I took nearly an hour for our first mile. I strolled slowly letting the dogs trot ahead looking for interesting scents.

I took a maintenance trail that is almost never used. No bikes or equines are allowed there, but foot traffic is okay.

I know that last year I stopped and photographed this wild grape vine. I've always intended to come back and see it in the winter. Maybe this year.

It almost looks like some sort of alien creature!

The shot last year was much better, but I'll have to wait until later in the year to try it again!

Last year:

The bare branches of some of the young maples under the pines held my attention as the needles have been dropping from the winds decorating the bare branches.

For fun I tried a double exposure in camera. I pointed the camera at the bright part of the forest and took a shot of my hand, then pointed at the dogs for a second exposure. The effect is rather interesting.

I swapped the camera over to B&W and serendipity gave me this view of Hannah. I liked it.

I turned and spotted this highlighted maple branch that looked like it had spikes. It is just pine needles.

We lollygagged along in no hurry, so Hannah ran off in front to be called back to me. Charlie was smart and just walked alongside me unless a smell was too overpowering.

We did greet two horse back riders. But otherwise we saw no other human. In the distant ponds in the valley we could hear Canada Geese and other waterfowl calls. 

Over the years, I usually stop at this stump on the Little Canada Trail. I ask the dogs to sit on the stump for a portrait. I think these two portraits tell a tale at the different characteristics of these two dogs.

Hannah -- a goofy face.

Charlie, so stoic.

The Dragon Tree. Or.

Whatever you might see in it!

This tree has seen so much I can tell by its expression:

It took us a long time to get this trail done, but it didn't feel like it. I'm still learning to try to NOT hurry through each of my hikes but to slow down and take it all in.

Fall:

The smells of fall, 

the dropping leaves, 

the whispers of the wind in the pine trees,

The air carried a kind of quiet promise,

the kind you only hear when the season shifts.

Every trail felt like a story half‑told,

begging to be explored.

Fall didn’t just arrive — it beckoned.

it appealed to our sense of wildness,

of adventure,

and of awe.

Sunday morning coming down....

I checked the weather when I got up and stepped outside in the predawn. It was cool, but humid. A low fog drifted across the south pasture where Siera and Sundance were snoozing in the sandy area.

I checked my to do list for Sunday and decided to take my canine hiking as soon as chores and breakfast was done. 

We'd beat the midday heat and have the trails to ourselves if we went early.

It was August 30th. A year exactly to the date when Nurse Tim told me that Rich was going on the Actively Dying List.

We headed out and when we got to the trail head at the Visitor's Center, we were the only vehicle. I parked, attached the lines to the dogs [they don't need to be leashed but I keep lines on them in case I need to grab them].

We were going Fungi Hunting.

The recent rain and humidity was prime for mushrooms to start popping along the bluffs of the river.

Even though we'd had a dry week, the nights and mornings had been wet with heavy dew and fog.

A perfect climate for mushroom hunting.

We were not disappointed. We found huge mushrooms! 

We found such an amazing variety of mushrooms that I was just blown away.

I also found a flowering plant that I'd never seen before:

Great Plains Ladies' Tresses aka the scientific name: 

Spiranthes magnicamporum

I included a link because I felt they were so special and I've never run across them before. It is  MN wildflower link. I'm going to add it to my 'discovered' wildflowers!

I headed down the Wintergreen Trail because in years' past, I've found a single Indigo Ink Cap mushroom. Back then, someone had kicked it over instead of walking around it. 

Each August-September I retrace my steps to look for this beautiful mushroom.

This year I hit the motherlode.

I found at least a dozen or more of them. Below is a photo of Charlie standing in a spot where I counted 6 of them!

Ever see a 70 yr old lady doing the happy dance on a bluff in the forest? Yep, I was doing a jig and trying to avoid stepping on the pretty blue fungi.

So, just to let you know why my dogs wear beeper collars. I get so engrossed in looking at the little things that I ignore the puppers. They stay close, but I can push a button and call them in close.

Dogs here can be off leash. But I don't want to lose them in the 8,900 acres of forest that surrounds the Reserve.

I did some Toy Photography [of course!]

We'd gone so early that no one else would be around on this particular trail.

First shot with Hannah in the background.

Patience. Hannah moved on ...

...and then we hit the area where a little bit of water flows from the ice caves in the winter and some little dog had a total brain explosion of happiness with muddy zoomies... 6 seconds of unbridled puppy joy.

This is the ice caves in the winter. I can't wait to take Hannah here this winter!

I have so many items that we found. A two mile walk took us over 2 hours because I stopped and sat on the ground to explore and look at the mushrooms, fungi, and slime molds that presented themselves along the trail.

I'm that weird person who gets excited by the unusual slime mold, plants, or mushrooms. I stop, I look, and I explore.

My cohorts and I spent time sitting quietly at the end of the Wintergreen Trail. They had treats, I had a protein bar. 

Eventually we headed back. We could hear the traffic increase on Highway 131. The motorcycles were headed to LaFarge for the Chicken Q dinners at Rockton Bar.

It was time to evacuate the area and return home.

More fungi will come in the next posts. But I might be out exploring in the mornings this week. It is supposed to be unseasonably hot and humid. Perfect for fungi/mushroom hunting.

The dogs were silent on the way home and took long afternoon naps. I think they are ready for bed too.

It was a good Sunday morning. 

Weekend Wanderings

Yesterday morning, we went early to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. It was quite cool out still so we hoped to avoid the worst of the mosquitoes. 

August is a great time to hunt for mushrooms and odd plants on the Wintergreen Trail, especially after rains and humidity.

I think this is a Russula mushroom of some kind. Most of the ones I found were only about an inch tall. There were quite a few of them!

Here is chicken of the woods with slugs on it.

I have no idea what this is but it was inside a log and I had to use my cellphone flashlight to light it up.

Perhaps this is White Coral Fungi Jelly. It is quite rubbery feeling.

I think this is a type of Coral Fungi too, but it is still slightly different in shape and texture from the typical Coral Fungi I normally find. It seemed to be also growing from the earth which could have wood under the debris on the forest floor.

These below are the normal Coral Fungi that I am familiar with.

I have no idea what this is, but I liked how the texture appeared in the photo.

This in not a mushroom or fungi. It is actually a slime mold called Wolf's Milk.

These are not fungi, they are plants that don't have chlorophyll and go by various names. Indian Ghost Pipes are one. It was the name I learned as a kid. They actually do flower and drop seeds.

Then they turn black and whither away.

I also found Rattlesnake Plantain which has the most beautiful leaves.

It was a fun morning, we were at the Reserve before anyone else showed up and were leaving as the people started to show up around 10am. 

We found so many things to see and enjoy. 

I'll probably go back or to another similar place this week to enjoy looking for the odd things one can find along the bluffs of the Kickapoo.

The rest of the day was spent with boring yard work and getting Sunshine a pedicure. I was so busy visiting with Danny and Kristi that I never took any photos.

Oh well.

All is good. It appears that we are in for an all day rain.

Sunshine and Forest

Sunshine still likes to ride on trails.

According to an internet search 28 years old is like being 83-87 years old in human years. I hope to be in as good of shape as she is when I get to 87!

Right now she is showing off her glossy red summer coat and in a few weeks, she'll be starting to grow her winter coat.

I'm able to ride her a couple of times a week and our rides are not difficult or demanding. 

The next shot is of Sunshine's new pasture mate, Willow. Willow is half Halflinger. 

Willow is beautiful! She is also the same height as Sunshine. If I were to have a horse, it would be Willow. 

Sunshine gets along with her just fine. When Cash sees Sunshine though, he does whinny and carry on. Equine are so funny with their attachments.

Sunshine is getting a pedicure from my farrier this weekend. Kristi is going to have Danny [my farrier who learned from his dad Dan] trim her horses and probably shoe Willow on her fronts.

I decided after a busy week of doing 'stuff' and exploring, that we'd have a quiet day. How much quieter can it get than an afternoon in the forest with a good book? Nothing but birdsong and the whisper of a breeze to keep us company.

Oh. And both dogs did get up in the hammock with me while I read. I think I feel asleep in the gentlest of ways and took a short and deep nap.

We went back after supper and hung out watching for wildlife and enjoying more quiet

Apparently, they both believe they can fit in my lap at the same time.

I do live in a quiet area and do have a nice porch to sit on.

But in the forest, there are no walls and almost no cell service which eliminates the clutter of the modern world.

Happy Friday.