The Spring Rise

It is mid April and the weather has been quite wonky. Normally, the Maidenhair fern doesn't rise out of the forest detritus until the end of April or the first week of May.
This is a photo from 2018.

I visited Duck Egg County Park on Friday with Bill and took him on my favorite trail to hike. It drops into the steep valley and then makes a zig zag back up the hill to a look out.

It was a great hike, we ran into several trout fisherman who asked to pet Charlie. Charlie was beside himself at seeing people. I think the hardest thing for him the past year has been the lack of seeing folks!

So without further ado.... I'm just going to label the photos I took.

Hepatica found on NE hillside.

False Rue Anemones found in the bottoms by the ponds.

Spring Beauties aka Virginia Pinks south facing hillside.

Maidenhair Fern curls south facing hillside.

Mayflower/Mayapple ... all over!

Ostrich Fern curls. East facing hillside, deep in a ravine.

Dutchman Breeches. NE facing hillside among some very shaded areas. Midway up from the valley.

Okay. Not a plant but the red speck?

Get grossed out....

A Juvenile Chigger!!!

Found in leaf litter in a moist area. I did have a 60mm macro lens and really zoomed in for your viewing pleasure. 

Views from the Lookout. Duck Egg Dam in Infrared.

Zoomed in ... not IR.

You can see the much used and loved picnic area for hikers and equine folk under the giant oak tree.

Overview of the valley. And yes the water DID reach the top of the dam in 2007.

And last...because the sky was so incredible and interesting. Some Infrared shots of the prairie.

Charlie, our Trail Master and Fearless Leader.

Duck Egg Upper Prairie Trail.

It actually is a pretty neat trail once the summer prairie flowers start to blossom.

Duck Egg is a hiking and equine county park. The West Trails are for advanced Hikers and Equine Riders as the trails are very steep and very rough with several water crossings. Map.

We have ridden that section and indeed our mules got a great workout. This ended up being our favorite place to ride in the last years that Rich still wanted to trail ride.

Photo of Rich riding Siera through the Bad Axe River. This was at a time when she had decided that water would kill her. She got over it after this ride. Photo 2009.

No April is complete without a visit to...

Duck Egg County Park

Everywhere the spring plants were poking up through the leaves due to the warm temperatures we'd had. I imagine the rain we had helped the plants burst forth also.

Blood Roots

 Dutchman Breeches

Hepatica

No fancy photowork here, just trying to document the flowers for comparison to their emergence in the last few years. 
Conclusion.

Weeks early!

False Rue Anemone with Blood Root in the way!

In the last few years I've found the Dutchman's Breeches and other flowers pictured here between the end of April and the start of May.

What I found most fun was using the 850nm filter which really only allows the camera to record in IR black and white. That means foliage is white and water is black!

I think it is wickedly cool.

The pines are white and the dead grasses are reflecting light. The water absorbs most of the IR light-waves and appear black which is pretty startling.

Lone Trout fisherman walking along the trail 

around the smaller of the two ponds.

The trees and trout fisherman reflecting in the water was really a neat catch.

The white areas are where the grass is turning green and leaves are budding in the trees. 

I like it.

Pretty wild looking and a different twist on black and white.

Today was boring. I reset several steel posts and built a lot for Sven and the Pony to do some trimming. 

Return to Duck Egg

First, a morning walk with Charlie to enjoy the morning sunrise and colors.

Below the view at the mailbox on the ridge.

After our walk and breakfast for Rich, I proceeded to wash the siding on the north side of the house and discovered that a broom dipped in Murphy's Oil soap totally cleaned off the moldy green colors with almost no effort.

Next came the gutters once again and then a scrub of the back step which has lichen and green ick growing on it from being in the shade all year.

Then, I left Charlie to watch over Rich during his nap time.

Now this is funny! 
Rich takes a nap right after lunch. I may lay down to read for a bit and during that hour of quiet time Charlie is allowed on the bed and snuggles in and lays as still as can be.

When I left for Duck Egg, Charlie whined and cried when Rich laid down. He said he lifted Charlie up on the bed and gave him a blanket. Charlie slid under the blanket and never moved again until Rich got up from his nap.
OH, I think Charlie has HIS number! 

Our temperatures were supposed to hit 80 degrees and I figured it would be a bit too hot for Charlie to enjoy the hard hike I had planned.

Duck Egg Trail drops into a very steep valley.

The colors were incredible even with a hazy and overcast sky. I got to the valley and came around to the back of the dam.

I don't recall which year it was that where I am walking was under water. The water was to the top of the dam in front of me. It may not look like much from this vantage point, but it is.

The other side of the dam. 
I stopped at the picnic table under the oak tree not far from the horse tie rail. I ate a snack and an apple before moving on.

I headed across the foot bridge. Horses have a path alongside the bridge. The water runs rather fast and after a hard rain it does run hard enough to sweep a dog away.

I headed along the valley and over the foot bridges before taking on the trail that went back up to the ridge. It was hot in the valley and I was happy that I hadn't brought Charlie. 

I'd passed a couple heading the other way and we talked for a moment. They were headed to the old oak and picnic table for a picnic. The gent thought I was taking the steepest and hardest trail. 

I smiled and said that I had intended to do that.

The trail was steep and had a few switchbacks. I tromped on up it to the Lookout. I think all the leg work and workouts I have been doing helped tremendously. It didn't feel so hard.

See that hand? It is pointing to the Oak Tree at the bottom of the dam. The horse tie rail is next to the tree.

Isn't that quite the view?

In this photo, the green is the west end of the dam.

Here is a shot of the valley flooded so you can get an idea why the dam was put into place.

Impressive isn't it?

August 20, 2007. 

The rest of my hike was quiet but enjoyable. I walked along the ridge top prairie and back to the parking area.

MapMyHike said I'd hiked 2.47 miles and changed altitude of 429 feet. I don't know if that was 200 ft up and down? I think it was. All I know is that it was fun and I can't wait to do it again in cooler weather with Charlie.

Duck Egg. What an odd name, but cool place.