Again, I wander

This is the new header👇

 It is the top of a rock that I took my friend Pat to Friday morning.

Here it the bottom of the rock....👇

I go here a few times a year. The path to this place is not for the light hearted. The narrow footpath travels through dense woods.

In August and September the forest on each side sports amazing fungi. [Of course! I love mushrooms!]

Beware though. The trail is lined with Poison Ivy on both sides. The narrow trail is rough but well worth it.

I took Pat through and cautioned her not to put her hands down in the brush on either side of her until we got to a clear area.

Photo of Pat looking back at the trail that winds up to the top of the rock.

The first view as we emerge from the forest on top of the ridge.

A walk out to the edge.

Me taking the first photo and the new header for the blog.

For this hike I only used my cellphone camera, it was quick and easy. That is Charlie's rear end next to me.

Both hounds came with us of course.

My friend may be as crazy as I am. I invited her to do a pre sunrise hike to the Rock Top where we could sit and have some coffee and watch the valley come alive.

She nodded and said she wouldn't mind doing that. 

About 4 years ago I convinced another hiking friend to do just that. It was the blue hour when we hiked to the top. It was his first and only time experiencing this amazing place.

He was speechless.

I will be going again soon. My last visit there for a breakfast granola bar and coffee was two years ago with Charlie.

We hiked up in the dark. We waited, listened, and watched the world awaken.

I cannot even describe immense emotional feeling of watching the sun rise and listening to the forest below wake up.

My heart slows, my eyes widen, 

my breath is deep,

 and my mind goes quiet and lives purely in the moment.

It feels magical and I don't want to leave. 

Rain, we got rain!

 Thank goodness! We have had two rainfalls this week!

Rejoice!

This morning we received an inch of rain! Delightful!

It looks like I can get out in the forest and look for awesome cool fungi!

Things have been so dry ...

See photo below, this is what our meadow looked like last week. There is nothing left there and I am keeping the mules out of it. 

Today we had an inch of rain so far and more is falling this afternoon! There are times when I don't get too excited about rain but not this year. Any rain is appreciated.

An inch of rain meant that we'd have some water in the creek for a little while at least.

The total rainfall for the whole day ended up being an inch and 1/10th. Whoo Hoo!

It is too late in the growing season for hay fields to rebound except for perhaps one last cutting. I see that the price of hay has gone through the roof figuratively. It may become a very harsh winter with the food source being scarce and very expensive.

Okay, enough of that.

The flowers are enjoying the rainfall as well as the grass. We may get to mow the yard this month!

Cosmos with an Ambush Bug waiting for breakfast...

Cosmos in the morning light.

The morning glories are finally blooming and  adding color to the old Wagon Wheel I have out in the yard. 

I think the variety of poppies that I got in the wild flower seed packets are my favorites this year. They are so stunning in their pinks and reds.

I'm going to collect their seed heads for next year and see if they sprout!

The Nasturtiums are in their glory and spreading their vines like crazy.

With the humidity and the rain along with some hot weather this weekend, the fungi, slime molds, and mushrooms ought to be bursting forth!

Bolete from before the rain.

Way to go Fani Willis!

Fungus Among Us!

I went back to the 'Billings Creek' trail Monday afternoon. I had a hunch that there would be a lot of fungi to see.

I was also curious as to whether or not the KVR folks had removed the trail marker on the south end of the trail. They had.

I just wanted to hike out to the spot where the bluffs were and watch the river below. That particular area is perfect for all sorts of fungi.

The climate of the bluffs and the river make for a perfect 'fungi' wonderland.

The panoramic photo really doesn't do this justice, as it makes a rather curvy area take on a flat look. The little bluffs stuck out at angles not shown in the shot below.
However, Charlie and I dumped our stuff there and then took an hour or so to wander around under the trees and explore.

We also sat on the bluff and watched kayakers and canoers on the river below.

Everywhere under the pines there was fungi of all different kinds. The yellow ones stood out on this one bluff.

The new ones emerging looked like this...

I think they are Yellow Fly Agaric Mushrooms. Deadly or hallucinogenic? Well, there are all sorts of opinions about that. These little buggers are notorious for people trying them and ending up in the ER.

I think I will pass.

Here is one I have not seen before. I think it is a Flat topped Coral Mushroom/Fungi.

They were so abundant in one small area that I had to watch my step.

I found beautiful coral fungi in all sorts of stages. The old ones were withered and littered another area, while there were tiny fresh ones popping up all over.

I found Boletes? 

They literally lined areas of the old trail. And in other places they stood out with their brilliant colors. There were older ones all over the forest floor, but I was attracted to the colorful ones.

We took our time. I just had wanted to explore the bluffs and search for cool fungi and I hit the motherload.

It was a fun little jaunt.