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. 

Buggy Adventure along the Wintergreen Trail

I was going to try and identify all of these before posting. That is what I normally do. 

Some of these are going to get a general guess of what they are like the following that I found along the Wintergreen Trail in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. 

Rich said he was 'ok' with me going for a morning hike. He didn't seem to like it or really agree to it, but I promised not to take a llllooonggg trail and I would get back before lunch time.

Since the Reserve had up to 7" of rain in spots, I knew that it would be buggy. The river had risen out of its banks and blocked several roads but those were open again. I thought I'd take the Wintergreen Trail since it runs above the river.

Right off the bat, I saw some cute little fungi. So I squatted to get a closer look and The Killer Mosquitoes attacked. I realized that I'd forgotten bug spray and wanted to kick myself. 

I finally dug my head bug net and dropped it on over my baseball cap. Let the little buggers swarm me! 

Charlie and I sought relief at one of the bluffs overlooking the river. The sandy soil was not conducive to the skeeters and we spent some time gazing at the muddy 'Poo and mourning the huge cottonwood that had succumbed to the latest flood.

I made the executive decision to continue on. Most people stop at this point and return to the parking lot. The trail is really rather easy but mushy in spots and there are some stairs made out of rocks. The terrain is not bad at all, but nicer without the bugs. Fall, Spring, and Winter are the best times to hike this. I wanted to find fungi though and knew I had to brave the bugs.

My hands suffered and it was a new experience to 'shoot' while looking through netting.

I didn't do anything fancy but took quick shots and moved on.

Once we got into the pine forest on the last bluff, the bugs weren't so bad. Still, a person didn't want to stay still too long. I gave Charlie a treat for being so good. I looked down the side of the bluff and eyed some places I'd like to climb down into when it wasn't so buggy.

Some of our cool finds on this part of the trail:

I don't know what these were at all.

I'm pretty sure this was one of the Coral Fungi

They hadn't grown very tall but I was really happy to see them. 

Now this next fungi/mushroom was pretty cool. I actually braved the bugs to get a decent shot. I found them also underneath pines and in a damp area. There is a small spring that runs over the rocks nearby on this part of the trail. In the winter it looks like this....

...where the ice ends, it is a drop off of about 10 feet.

So Sunday morning, I found this!

I believe it is Lacatarius Indigo or more commonly known as Blue Indigo. It was stunning and there were more hiding in areas around the trail and up into the woods. 

That was quite the find.

I can't wait to go hiking again, though the next trail will be on dryer ground and not in low areas. 

I am still catching up on all of the cool slime molds and other things I found in the days right after the rain. It was hot and muggy which the slime molds used to their advantage. 

Fall is Fungi season if all works out right!