The rest of that day ... and Sunday

It was a dreary cold windy morning... I traveled along the Kickapoo River and its backwater ponds. People would say it wasn't a beautiful warm spring day and maybe they would have avoided hiking. But I don't mind most weather. 

I will say I won't hike in storms. But drizzle, overcast, cold, breezy? That all works for me. I can even find interesting things to explore in poor weather.

The photo below is one of the ponds I haven't been able to get to before. I had some considerable brush busting to get down to the edge of the pond. Unfortunately, with the harsh wind, no waterfowl or even turtles were out.

The sky started breaking up when I got to the Kickapoo River. This river often turns back on itself and has been dubbed The Crooked River. Kickapoo means 'wander here and there', it fits this river perfectly. It is mostly a quiet unassuming river.

However it can become a raging river when there is heavy rain. The river often expands and floods extremely quickly because it resides in a steep valley.

Canoeing and kayaking along this river is a great past time. I would love to kayak it again.

By the time I wandered down to this spot where Camp G used to be, the sun was starting to show itself. 

This is not far from where I found a tiny skull in the grasses. Most likely a young 'possum skull. It reminds us about the hardships of life.

Back at the ponds with the sunshine out, I spotted some more ducks. I moved to a wet trail with a lot of cover on the eastern pond and got a shot of this duck. May...be a Blue Wing Teal? I'm not up on my waterfowl, but that is what I found when I looked it up.

More of these at another pond???

I stopped once more at a well hidden little pond to see if the turtles had come out to enjoy the sunshine.

They did! I was so tickled!

By now it was early afternoon and bicyclists, dog walkers, and a few teenage type humans were wandering down the blacktop path. I was standing there watching the turtles and listening to the waterfowl in the next pond over when the kids walked by and gave me a funny look.

You know, that look when they see an older person staring off at something that they can't see and they give you the roll of the eyes.

I smiled thinking maybe one day they too can slow down and just look to see what they can see.

I'd found so many cool things while just wandering slowly on my long hike.

I now know where to go back to photograph hundreds of Cinnamon Ferns...

Below is something called 'Old Man's Beard' which is actually a type of wild clematis. A plant I never knew existed. It actually is considered an invasive species and I don't know much about it. It's scientific name is Clematis vitalba.  I'll have to see if I can find these while they are blooming.

On the way back to where I parked, I took a back route around a bluff to  see the magnificent wintergreen tree root that grows horizontal along the bluff.

 

Seen from below, this looks odd and very cool.

Below the tree is a really neat fern that stays green all winter long. It is called a Rock Polypody [common name].

Along the bluff are little nooks and crannies that tell stories of eons of erosion and water.

My Lego Minifigures would fit inside those tiny tooth like features. Jason wasn't with me to tell me the why or how they were formed. But I just think of them as great little hideouts for gnomes, trolls, fairies, and spirits. 

Why not?

And that was that. I made my way back to the parking lot and past kids with their parents getting ready for an afternoon stroll now that the sun was shining.

My feet were tired, I was relaxed and happy. I was ready to go back home. The only thing that was a negative was that I was aware of all of the things I felt I was missing.

However, I also realized how lucky I was to have this time.

And now on to Sunday's fun! Digging and prepping, raking, transplanting, and picking up more gravel.

Neat Ferns

Behold! 
The Cinnamon Fern!

I get excited when I see these guys as they are large and really stand out in the spring. So far in the past 28 years I've only found 3 places on our land where they come up. They like to grow near a wet area. Last year was so dry that I don't recall them coming up near our creek bottom. Or I missed this plant?

I just love how a fern comes up in a tight curl.
 

Close up of the same fern curl as above.
I've heard of people who look for these in the forest and collect the not so hairy curls to eat. They call them Fiddleheads.

I have not tried it as I'm still in the learning stage about fern plants. Plus there are not enough of these in my forest to harvest and eat.

Close up of the leaves inside the curling head of the fern. Ferns fascinate me as they have such symmetry to their leaves!

More Cinnamon Ferns found at
Duck Egg County Park
on 4 24

I found these on a south facing hillside
high above the water
but in a moist area.

The brown 'stuff' is supposed to 
be spores according to 
information on these ferns.

Another fern that I am very familiar with is the Maidenhair Fern. They are my favorite fern in the forest.

This group emerging from the forest floor 
looks like they are literally

dancing.

Maidenhair Fern, come up red
and turn green.
They spread out like a beautiful spiral
after they mature.

A mature Maidenhair Fern:

There are other ferns, but I don't know enough about them 

--> Yet <-- 

to put a name to them. But I do enjoy finding their beautiful curls in the spring and admire them through out the year.

Even in winter they add a bit of interest to the forest
Photo from the winter of 2011:

Chores are done! Yard is mowed!
And it look like I can go out again today and explore.

Who knows what we will find?

Goat Photo Bomber...

I was testing out a feature called *in camera HDR*. I put the camera on a tripod and set it up.
Sven managed to dart into the photo on one of the shots.

Now that the forest floor is springing to life, Sven is in goat heaven on our walks.
He nibbles and catches up. Today he learned a bit about soft creek banks as the dirt collapsed under him and he rode a pile of dirt and rocks down the ravine.

He shook his head and soldiered on.
Charlie kept a sharp eye on him.

We have been extremely wet this year. So wet in fact that when the township graded the road on the ridge -- they do this to fill the pot holes in with loose gravel -- ...and then it rained and rained more...
well.
When I went to town yesterday, imagine my surprise when I turned off our little dead end road and suddenly felt like I was in a road rally with slushy mushy gravel mud conditions. The Subaru handled it but it weaved and wobbled and bobbed side to side all the way out to the black top. The vehicle is now mud colored and no longer blue....

Anyway back to the goat adventure. Sven was ecstatic about being out with us and ran up and down the trail doing goatie things like bouncing, running, leaping, and doing sideways jumps. He even got exuberant enough to come up to me and try a head butt. His head met my stick and he decided not to mess with me.

He stopped often to nibble and experiment on different flavors that the woods offered.

I can see where goats would be incredible for cleaning up forests. They will eat the unwanted plants. My Dexters did the same thing however they left larger poo piles.

Donkeys did much of the same thing, but they and the Dexters cost much more to feed in the winter time.

Anyway.
We had an excellent walk about the land. I went into different sections of my property that I don't normally get to because by mid summer it is just too overgrown.

These were pretty neat and very different than the other ferns on our land. I think they may be Cinnamon Ferns. Not sure, but now that I know where they are I can make my way back to see them as they unfold.
Sven didn't eat them.

However, as I knelt to take some shots of Anemones ...

And then sat back to adjust my settings...

A curious goat walked up and stared at me then proceeded to eat all of the blossoms of this plant. I swear he winked at me as I moaned to him.

Later on I set up the tripod at the creek. Charlie wandered around and then sat on a rock next to me.

I set this shot up and took a few versions of it.

Next thing I know, I feel the gloves being pulled out of my pocket. Sven. He then reaches over and starts to nibble on the camera strap.

SVEN! NO!
He was unimpressed and very goat-like. I bonked him on the nose and he just shook his head.

I can say this. I am having fun with both Charlie and Sven and going on our walks. It sure kept my mood upbeat on a dull dreary day. I started my day with CrossFit learning a new skill and got to enjoy time out in the woods.
Even IF I had a Goat Photo Bomber/Pest along.

Friday is a new adventure. I'm going to be a *guide* for another photographer and take him to a few different spots so he can enjoy what our area has to offer.

Today? Off to the VA after CrossFit this morning....