Respite day

I finally got the cot I ordered and set it up. It looks pretty cute where I put it. And it is handy. I have a nice light to read by and it is almost comfortable.

I ordered a more comfy cot mattress as this one is a bit thin. I can feel the supports underneath me as I sleep.

My friend Jason showed up early on Saturday morning. For him to come out, it is a 2 hour drive. I should say now...our friend as he and Rich really enjoy each other's company. The guys shooed me out the door and Charlie and I took off.

I hit the trails walking. Charlie and I stopped once to talk to a dude with an extremely impressive long lens and a shiny new tripod attached to his shiny new Canon with a huge flash on its top. He was by one of the ponds I'd been to last month that had been filled with a variety of ducks and Canada Geese. I said hello and asked if he'd seen any cool birds.

He said he'd just seen Canada Geese in the ponds. I said that he'd see turtles in the afternoon once in warmed up and perhaps he could find more birds if he took the field trail towards the river. He said he was staying on the old 131 trail so he wouldn't get lost.

I asked if he'd seen the Virginia Bluebells yet. I'd passed some walking towards him. He said no, they weren't up yet. 

He commented that it was a nice sunny day. I commented that my favorite days were slightly overcast as the sky became a softbox.

He asked me what a softbox was and then he shrugged and said "I'm new at this." I directed him towards where I'd seen the Bluebells and the Virginia Beauties next to the trail and bid him good luck.

Charlie and I were headed for a deep narrow valley to look specifically for wildflowers.

We were not disappointed. This valley has a tiny creek running through it. It is perfect for producing massive growths of Skunk Cabbage plants.

Once we made it to the south facing rocky hillsides, we found Virginia Beauties everywhere and a huge area [s] of Dutchman Breeches. 

I was literally in heaven. 

As always, my sidekick and photography assistant helped me out...

I didn't care, I was in a huge patch of these beauties.
Ever try to walk through a huge patch of wildflowers and not step on one?

Before I left this valley I found Blood Root, Dutchman's Breeches, Skunk Cabbage, and Virginia Beauties and a plant I hadn't found before. 

Here is a Cutleaf Toothwort. Now there is an odd name. I saw large patches of this on what used to be a county road over 55 years ago. The road is gone, but these plants grow all over the place.

My regret is that I won't see them flower, but will add their location to my list of places to see next year...I hope.

[cell phone shot]

I may or may not get to see the Trout Lilys flower this year, but I did get to see some buds. I think they are some of the most beautiful little flowers.

After explored this valley, I climbed the bluff and went to the pine forest on top to explore. I'll save that for another day I think.

Hopefully this monster storm will leave us intact. I have a few things to take care of to prepare for it. The Hospice Team called today [Sunday] to see if we were prepared for bad weather with all the meds and O2 tanks in case the power went out. She assured us that we could call their number if we needed any assistance at all and they'd send someone to help.

I assured her that we had a plan and I was dealing with that at the moment by moving the things we could need into the basement along with a way to get my husband down the stairs and back up the stairs safely.

Whispers of Love ~~~

A Botanical Symphony that fills the forest with harmony~~~~

I took advantage of hubby sleeping in late on Wednesday and went for a morning forest jaunt. I was just amazed by the colors and the light.

Maple trees in morning light:

Gooseberry bushes blooming:

Apple Trees doing their beautiful thing:

Mayapples or as we called them May Poles:

Tulips in the yard:

Stunning Trillium on Hay Valley Trail:

Bellwort on Hay Valley Trail:

Truly, I cannot get enough photos of these Virginia Pinks before they disappear!
In the pine forest at Hay Valley Trail:

There were hundreds of Trout Lilies plants, but I only found one that was blossoming!

Hay Valley Trail:

[Other things that are going on at our farm? Not much. 

I built another two summer lots for both the little stud pony and the mules so I can do a bit less mowing. I spent all morning working on fencing and then took the afternoon to work on cleaning up the little flower gardens.

I brushed all the critters with a shedding blade until my arms fell off.]

It is the weekend now so I may take a day just to chill out!

Ephemeral

 Ephemeral: Lasting for a short time; short lived.

Dutchman's Breeches:

April 24th 

Duck Egg County Park

Rue Anemone 

April 24th 

Duck Egg County Park

Rue Anemone

April 20th 

Our woods

Spring Beauties

April 25th

Our woods

[Sorry, I just can't get enough of

these wild flowers!]

Spring Beauties

Our woods along the trail

April 27th

Blood Root

April 24th

Duck Egg County Park

Trout Lily

Tainter Hollow DNR Land

April 27

Meanwhile in the tree department.

I think the oaks are ahead of themselves this year. They usually are after the maple trees. I was going to go out and take a peak at the oaks and the maples along with some bushes this morning, but it looks like we'll have a long rainy day instead.

Hay Valley & Washout Trail ~ Trail Challenge

Hay Valley & Washout Trails, Sections 41 & 44. 1.86 miles & 1.30 miles respectively. Not extremely difficult, but nice long uphill and downhill grades.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome back to Hay Valley Trail. 
Bill and I headed out from the trail head from Campsite U.

We are trying to get Charlie on all of the trails with us. It might be a BIG feat for such a little dog, but he is a surprising little hiker. 
He does wonderfully in cooler weather, don't we all?

This is trail section 44 which is a gradual but steep uphill climb . According to the maps, it appears that the climbs are up and down of about 200 feet.

Without the leaves and undergrowth obscuring the terrain, we could see that we were going around rock formations. 

If we weren't on a time schedule, I'd have gone exploring once we made the switch back at the top. But both of us have responsibilities.

We found the stone foundation just as Aurora and I did last week. This week there was a surprise waiting at the base of the foundation.

Ginger plants in blossom!

When we got to the intersection #10, I explained to Bill how the Bailout Trail went south and ended back up on Highway 131 just north of Bridge 9. Following the Hay Valley Trail would take us south towards Rockton.

Washout Trail would take us back to where we parked our vehicles. We'd have more gradual uphill sections and down hill sections that would take us across a small stream.
The Trout Lilies were just appearing in the valley.

 

In some spots, these spotted leaves were spotted all over along with so many Blood Root blossoms and Hepatica.

Below is one spot along the Washout Trail, Section 44 that had an amazing amount of Maypoles or Mayflowers sprouting up!

Our total hiking distance was about 3.5 miles.

Section 42 from Campsite U on to Billings Creek Trail head is a 1.87 mile walk alongside Hay Valley Road to County Road F. We will save that for a day we feel like walking on roads.

That area will still be scenic. There is the river to cross at Bridge 6 and some pretty little ponds alongside the road.

Next to where we parked the Virginia Bluebells were all along the roadside coming up alongside the Cow Parsnip which has white flowers in the spring. Wild Parsnip has yellow blossoms. It is a good habit to leave all wild parsnips alone while they are blossoming. 

The Trail Challenge actually has 3 road sections which I am okay with as ... back in the old days we had to ride the roads to get to different sections of the 'Government Ground' as it was called before it became the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

Finding Peace

It is a strange world out there and I imagine so many people are fatigued by the daily news which has overtaken every which way we turn.
Daily death counts.
Maps of infections.

Worries. Isolation Fatigue.
And I wonder how long social creatures like ourselves can stay un-social. I know my husband hasn't been bothered and I have found a work around sort of.

Yesterday early morning, I did some work in the pasture then some work in the little new garden.
By the time late lunch rolled around I was ready for something different.

I loaded up my back pack and headed the two miles down the gravel road to the DNR public land. Tainter Hollow or I as I call it, Tainter Land.

I was hoping to be able to find some of the more incredible spring emphemeral plants like the Trout Lily and the Virginia Bluebell.

At first I walked along the stream and noted the cow parsnip that was coming up in the areas that would be in full shade once the trees got their leaves. A reminder that come mid summer the best way to explore this place would be to stay on mowed paths due to the wild parsnip and cow parsnip.
However, spring is one of those times that a person can venture off path without much harm.

I found white anenome flowers spritzed in with the cow parsnip.

I didn't find Bluebells.
I didn't find Blood Root.
I didn't see Trout Lilies.

I turned and head downstream along the worn footpath. In some places it is worn from trout fisherman and in other spots, it is worn from the beavers.

I walked on towards the place where Bill and I had seen the Bluebells coming up earlier this week. I also vaguely reminded myself to keep an eye out for Charlie's camouflaged leash that I'd dropped somewhere.

I'd brought my mini tripod along and an ND filter. I thought I'd grabbed the proper polarized filter, but I hadn't.

I thought I'd experiment with the filter anyway and take some long exposures. I should have had my tall but very heavy tripod. But I didn't want to carry something that cumbersome while skipping along beaver and deer trails.

So here are some efforts just for fun.

These were okay, and sort of fun to do.

But nothing worth displaying as my best work at all. Just fun. In the last photo at least you can see the swirls in the streams current. I thought that was pretty neat. Come mid summer, the grasses and the weeds will be about 8 feet tall on the banks.
Perhaps it would be worth it to come back with tall boots and stand in the shallow parts of the stream. Heck, I wouldn't mind getting wet as hot as it gets in this steep valley.

Anyway...on I went.
I found the Virginia Bluebells! Some blossoms were just beginning to open up.

 

The stream slows down and widens out at the base of this cliff. I was fascinated by the almost pure reflections in the waters.

I came around the corner where the stream took on a new course and I spent a while exploring the new twists and turns.

The stream cuts back and forth in a zig zag pattern here. I had to climb through old log jams and piled up brush from previous flash floods to follow the bank.

I eventually got to where I really wanted to go. IF I'd been wearing high waterproof boots and had a walking stick, I'd have crossed the stream at this point.
Instead, I stayed on the bank and did what was sensible.

I've seen this spot more than once and just felt I needed to come and take a long exposure of the stream bouncing along these rocks.
I am pretty sure I can cross safely here and get another angle. However since this is a cell phone dead zone and a fairly remote area, I should wait until I have someone with me. Or next time I just will bring my stick...and cross.

Something about this spot. The angle of the twisted tree, the rocks, and the opposite shore makes this a spot begging to be 'shot'. Well, at least in my mind.

I spent a lot of time here just watching and listening to the water music.

I hiked back out to the gravel road and put everything away in my backpack and walked the short distance back to the parking area.

I swear! Someone tricked me!

Not 10 feet from my Subaru I found Trout Lilies hiding in the Anenomes!

Well now....

Seems I had to go the whole route around the stream to come back to where I started to...
find
what
I had been looking for!

As I pulled out of the parking area, I glanced towards the opposite side of the road and spotted Dutchman Breeches and Blood Roots.

I headed home anyway happy with my adventure and a longing to come back in a few days to explore again.

The land is so peaceful and comforting.

Shallow waters tumbling
over the rocks
Drown out today's news
and sorrows....

...and I didn't find the leash!