Just stuffss

 They started on the woods to the east of me....

I know the absentee landowners needed $$$ for their taxes. They've leased out the land in sections for hunting and farming. Apparently it doesn't pay enough.

Sigh.

This was one of my walking trails... 
I guess I won't freak out because it IS not my land.
They need the money.
The understory will grow back in.

But damn, it looks ugly.

These are the tops of the magnificent oak trees they cut down. The tops are left where they land and the oak logs are taken.

I know all of this, it has been years since I've seen another section of this land logged. 

The stump of one of my favorite oaks. The sunlight pours into the forest now with these grand old oaks cut down.

However, my creative thinking says this would be a perfect dystopian backdrop for some of my toys.

Right? What better place to show off the damage to the earth.

This logging is not for forest health. It is for cash and quick money.

My neighbor who is a 'forester' goes around our county and helps people manage their forests for a healthy forest.

His biggest concern was the logging company taking oak trees in the spring.

Oak wilt is a huge concern and spreads with this activity in the warmer weather. He wished they'd done this work in the winter.

I calmly explained to him that the owners are not stewards of the land. They only want money for leasing and money for profit [I think]. Someone pointed out that a lot of land owners log off their forest before selling the land.

Uffdah. 

The dynamic of the forest will be changed. It is not my land but I know it so well from walking it for 29 years. Last summer......

How it will change remains to be seen. 

Things change and we have to adapt.

Lil' Bear looks at the stump and at the forest....

~~~~~ 

I had meant to show off some birds we've seen in the past few days. But this was on my mind.

I wonder how it will affect the two families of the Pileated Woodpeckers in this forest. This was one of them visiting just the other day. Chipping at the deer skull on the tree for some calcium perhaps?

Another spot I've followed ....

...through the years.

I went hiking on PeeWee's. The large tract of land next 'door' on Saturday. I wanted to check out one of the first ice formations I discovered.

The hike to there is done through two valleys and a ridge and across a large field that used to be pasture for cattle. It is now cropland that is rented out.

The hike to this spot is 1.5 miles. To get an idea of how remote this spot is...

well there are no houses or roads anywhere nearby or within sight. 

The guys that inherited this land call the area below this dry run... The Lost Valley. 
The valley is very remote. It is steep and narrow. More on that in another post.

This is another favorite spot of mine. It starts at the top of the ridge and drops about 150 or so feet down into the Lost Valley.

I've followed this spot over the years ever since I've discovered it. 

Some years this part of the dry run gets an ice sheet over the opening of the rock shelter. Racoons, love to use the 'cave' as shelter in the winter.

This black and white shot is from 2019 when I was brave enough to take a rope and climb down into the gully.

Close up to the jaws of ice...

2011 another time I climbed down into the gully. I couldn't climb out of the dry run so I had to scramble over boulders and ice to follow the dry run to where it emptied into the stream below.

[The reason I now take a rope if I am going over the side.]

And when spring arrives...the ice loses its beauty.

I shot this shot last year leaning against the same tree as I did for the second photo.

This next shot was taken in November of 2001.

I climbed up the dry run from the creek in the valley wondering where it went. I had a Pentax K1000 with a broken light meter but I was able to guess at the exposure.

This shot may have been the very beginning of my love for Ice Caves, Falls, and Ice Formations.

If we get moisture in the form of snow and rain, this may develop into a more spectacular ice formation by late February or early March. 

The hike took me to the west side of this ridge and a newer ice falls. During the huge and devastating flash floods of 2016 and 2018, the small dry run turned into a huge ravine.

To my utter amazement and delight, this too had ice formations. I'll have to check out a safe way to get down into the area, but color me happy to find more ice.

The edges of this dry run in the spring have the most amazing spring flowers. I also visit this area in the spring to see all the Hepatica, Trillium, Skunk Cabbage, Spring Beauties, and more.

It was a long and satisfying hike. The ice falls/caves are doing well but need more moisture!

Falling

 

The leaves are falling everywhere!

Oh no! I feel like I am going to miss it. Wait miss what? I'm not exactly sure. But Fall makes me feel like I am missing out on something as the leaves drop and blow away leaving the trees stark...

...and
amazing in their winter garb.

But until then I will enjoy their colors and the leaves dropped onto the forest floor. With winds gusting up to [40 mph] according to the weather sites, leaves came down in a hurry around here. My gutters filled up with locust leaves and pine needles. 

I won't clean them until the rest of the leaves are down for the year. The yard is done. I mowed two weeks ago and it has frosted and been so dry that the yard won't grow much.

Below ~ Our first hard frost October 8th:

Since then the leaves went into hyper drive change mode. That is the one thing I wish they would not do.

Wouldn't it be nice to see the leaves change slowly and give us more time to enjoy them? 

So during Fall, I chase the leaves. Last year I chased the leaves at a few county parks, this year, most of my color/light chasing has been done right here around home.

I chase the leaves, I chase the light. I want to skip meals and just soak up the forest around me in these precious Fall days.

Charlie has no objections to it either. He likes wandering the forest and finding neat hidey holes for 'possum, raccoon, and other critters. 

Hubby knows this is my Fall routine and that I get on a roll and can't be stopped when Fall is here.

Maybe it is the shorter days that make me feel like I can't miss a thing. By midwinter I seem to adjust well. 

Even the leaves on the ground are amazing. Below are macros of Maple leaves.

Yesterday, we had rain. A long awaited rain. Just enough to settle the dust for a few minutes. 

Then a cold front swept through in the late afternoon and dropped temperatures drastically along with some 40 mile an hour gusts of wind.

Everyone got in on a bit of goofiness. 

Fat Bottomed Girls

 ...you make the rocking world go round...

I have no idea why that came to mind. Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?

This tune did and I hummed it while getting Sunshine ready for a forest adventure.

That butt! It makes me laugh! Sunshine inherited some of her mom's body shape and most of her Dad's common sense. 

I pulled the britchen over her butt and started humming about Fat Bottomed Girls. I kept it up throughout our adventure into PeeWee's Woods. 

At one time it was a breeze to ride through my neighbor's land. There were great cow trails and the underbrush was grazed by his wild and crazy beefers. His cattle were experts and jumping barbed wire fences or ducking in between the wires.

For about 5 years after my neighbor died and they removed the cattle..., I was still able to ride the old trails. 

Then the 4 wheelers came and made some nice trails but they were not supposed to be ripping up the property. I gave up a lot of riding because their load machines were out there so often. However, I road at dawn when I knew they wouldn't be out.

Now those guys were kicked out and Mother Nature has been wicked at taking over.

I thought Sunshine and I'd take the driveway out to the snowmobile trail and head into the valley.

In the shot below there is a young doe eating in the soy bean field. She is on the curve so the photo probably won't show her. We nearly walked right up to her before she bolted.

Sunshine saw her before I did. Love those large ear signals.

I didn't take any shots going through the cropland because it was tricky enough to avoid the plants. The 'snowmobile trail' was somewhere under Parsnip plants that were as tall as we were. 

We made it to the woods 'entrance' where the cattle gate used to be. 

Sunshine is not a mule to hurry along and frankly I wasn't in a hurry. She knows this trail by heart. We've been travelling it for nearly 20 years together. 

She is watching a buck that was watching us.

We headed down the long hill.

I'll stop for a moment and take a trip back in time to 2008. My husband is riding Sunshine with 2 yr old Dennis in front and I am on Badger with Ariel behind me.

We are in PeeWee's valley.

Here is what it looks like today.

However, Sunshine knew where the trail should be so she didn't hesitate except to shoulder her way through the tall weeds. I totally had a minor freak out because I was slapping Parsnip with my shoulders.

The creek appeared to us when we stepped down into it. Well, I should say, SHE knew it was there before I did. We had an awkward moment where her front end was in the creek and the hind legs were on the bank.

She had a notion that the grass that was in her face was worthy of her attention.

Tilt! So glad for the britchen.

Once we got back into the forest, the trail was a bit clearer except for the downed trees.

This was the best part of our ride. We were in the dips and doodles section. We had two dry runs to cross and a steep climb. True to her mule-ness, she just did her thing. 

I was so tickled with her performance after her butt-headed-ness the other day.

We got into the oak/maple forest section and went hunting for mushrooms or other cool stuff. I took her to the Hugging Tree for this  cell phone shot:

We then headed back out to the gravel road to get the mail and go home.

Sorry if this sounds like I am bragging on my old gal, but she lifted my heart and made me sing.

I'd figured I'd have to give up riding, but it seems that maybe I can eek out some nice little rides to warm my soul. 

I know for sure that the valley trail along the creek is out of the question at least until there has been a killing frost.

My other Fat Bottomed Girl will be taking me out later this evening for a stroll. 

Muddin' with Siera

I promised myself I'd take Siera riding today.

I even put it on my 'to do' list. We've gone 36 hours without rain so I thought it would be a good time to take Siera on the 4 wheeler trail to the creek and all of the way down the valley.

Siera hates black muddy muck. She has told me that she is sure that the black nasty smelling stuff was only put there in the trail to suck her mule soul out through her hooves.
I have assured her that it is just mud. In the valley where the 4 wheelers have torn things up? Well indeed, it may just be sucking black muck that would pull you down.
However, since the trails those guys made are pretty decent except for low branches, I decided to take her to the end of the valley and back.

We slid down the first incline into a puddle of green slimy water that was at the bottom of a dry run. Well, it appeared more like deep rutted wash out with gobs of gunk in it. See Siera with her head turned? She knows that home is up over the ridge and to her left.

I told her how proud I was of her, she was taking on these slippery inclines and rutted ditches like a real trooper.
She was not impressed with my voice at all.

We made it to the creek and the path we normally use was partially submerged in ages old black dirt that had turned into quagmire.
She tried turning around to take the trail home and I asked her to go up and around.

She is a pretty good mule. Some of the branches I had to duck under had me laying over her neck and slightly to the side to avoid the saddle horn.

Here I gave her a choice. Walk in the soul sucking black muck or walk in the creek.

She turned her head again as if she'd rather go home. I told her that she couldn't head back until we'd gone to the end of the valley.
Hmmm.

Fine.
The creek, it was. We rode to the end of the valley and I made her stand still.
Normally she'd be a bit calmer with another mule along, but she was solo.

On the way back she was in a hurry and stepped over a tiny sapling that was bent across the trail. It slapped her between the hind legs and she did this buck/jump thing. Since Siera is terrible at bucking, it felt more like a trip than anything else.

I took the opposite side of the valley and intended on coming back a different route when we got stopped by a literal 'sea' of black sucking muck mud. I figured we could get around it by edging up towards the woods, but going through wild roses, thorny apple trees, and berry briers didn't look like an option to me.

Siera knew that she had to cross the narrow valley to get back to solid ground and we back tracked as she peered at the maze of gouged 4 wheeler ruts that were black and filled with smelly green oozing water.
I let her go along to seek a way to get across. It was if I could tell that she was really examining things or perhaps she was seeking the spot she'd safely crossed just a few weeks ago.

She made a decision and through the nasty stuff we went.

I could just hear her saying over and over.. 'Nasties! Nasties! My hooves are going to get dirty! Knee deep in smelly wet mucky muck!'

Her hooves did make sucking noises as she crossed the ruts and we got to the creek.
Big Sigh.
I like it when she sighs.
She is relaxed then.

We had two hills to go back up that we'd slid partially down. At the bottom of the hill I gave her her head and let her make her own way up the hill. I wished in a way that she'd had a luxurious mane to grab hold of ... but she doesn't. Up we climbed.

After the last climb we stopped. I wanted to let her catch her breath. The day had turned very humid.

When we got to the gravel road, I dismounted and loosened her cinch.

Siera sighed again and we stood in the road while a nice little breeze cooled us off a bit.
I walked her home.

She had really put out a great effort for me. Mud and water had always been a huge issue for her. Steep hills and tough terrain are also a bit harder for her than a mule out of a quarter type horse. She is gaited and doesn't have the incredible back end strength that Sunshine and Mica have.
On the open and flat terrain, she can really move out.

I tied her to the shade tree in the yard and took my time letting her cool off and brushed her until she was dry. She does like attention. I figured she deserved it after the hazardous adventure she'd gone on.

With dry weather coming up this week I hope to get some more rides in with Sunshine and Mica also. They handle the ditches and the mud in a different way, nearly a bored attitude.

The weather is to turn warm and muggy again so our rides will be early or late along with more round pen work with Sundance.

When I let Siera go she walked away slowly. The red headed sisters crowded me as if to ask for some attention. Sundance smelled my shirt which was spotted with black dried 'valley' muck.
Siera rolled in the dirt...
I took a shower.

...and I had to clean my saddle...
And it was a fine day.

Guest Blog by Ariel

 Shouldn't leave your laptops open when I am around. Word of advice.😆
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah, the Saturday morning before our parents arrive and that peaceful feeling of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! MOM AND DAD ARE COMING TOMORROW." *Cough, cough* is in the air. The donks are braying for their breakfasts, ye olde Fred is busy with Sundance, and Fifteen is standing next to the catchpen while everyone runs around putting on cowboy boots and prepping for a nice ride in the neighbor's hay field.

Since the V had asked the R if one would like to join the V, A and D for a ride and the R had said "Sure". Everybody was in hustle and panic mode.

After gathering four leads and halters the wonderful catching of ye olde Fred, ye younger Mica, ye even younger Sunshine and ye youngest Siera. Then comes the fun part of tying everyone to the trailer and...

Brushing them out.

Dun, dun,dun.

Oh wait, we can't start just yet! Sundance decided to crunch the top of the catch pen! Now how did she think she could jump that five foot high fence of rails? On to the naughty tree you go!!  

*An hour and a half [or so] later*

Bridles, check (yes! Got Siera's on myself!), saddles, check, helmets, check, pants,check, Dennis, check.

"Let's go."

Up, up, up the driveway we go and cya later, Sundance!! Have fun on the naughty tree!!

(If you look carefully next to the catchpen (not the crunched one) you should be able to make out Sundance. That is why the picture is blown up so big.)

Onto the hay field we are.

We rode for a few minutes then discovered Scrawny (Dennis) cannot sit straight in the saddle unless you get after him...A lot....Also discovered he sits back too far in the saddle when trying to get Fred's head up when he's trying to eat. (Le sigh.)

After we got the 'minor details' out of the way, we had a grand old time. After riding the hay field in full, it was high time we went home and got lunch after putting everyone away!

Or so I thought.

We came home and I started taking Siera's tack off when Grandma comes around the corner and goes: "Nu uh! Hang Siera's bridle on her saddle horn, we're going to eat then head out again without the boys."

...OK, sure, why not?  We have an afternoon to kill, Grandpa's going to sleep anyway. So suuuuuuurrrrrre!!!!!

*Boring lunch sequence, watches Fred and Sunshine get put up, yada, yada, yada.*

"We're going down through the soybeans and into the woods, K?"

"K."

Little did I know, we were not just going down to the creek and back, oh no. We were going down to the back valley.

(Face of someone who didn't know we were going all the way back to the back valley.)

We rode down the ridge road and down next to the creek where we went left instead of right, hmm, I'm getting the sneaky suspicion this is going to be a longer ride today.

Going left we encountered the 'dreaded' creek, Grandma made Mica cross instantly while Siera...Stopped. Decided 'nope, not today' and I spun her in a half circle and made her try again.

"Ooh! You are not going to make me cross the creek? Sure! We can go home!"

"Don't let her go home!"

Spun her around again and tapped her on the sides and told her she would be fine. "Nope. Nada, zilch. Forget it! Not today! Not today!"

Next thing I know Grandma and Mica have crossed again (note: Mica doesn't like it either, but she still did it) and Grandma is doing everything she can to help without tying Mica up.

"I don't see any trees closeby I can tie her too."

So we kept working on Siera and I ended up in another spot entirely then...

"Keep her going! Keep her going!!"

She crossed but we ended up only halfway. Grandma hollering instructions and telling us to keep riding right. Sure. I can do that. Gets in knee deep mud for Siera. *Insert loud sucking noise and Grandma spins around in the saddle thinking Siera fell*

We walk up close and I nod. We keep going. However we had to bust brush as the weeds and Wild (dead) Parsnip were up really tall. Mica put her head to the side and walked forward, while Siera plowed through like it was nobody's business.

Sweet. We got through. Now what? More snowmobile trail? Sure!! Uphill? Why not?

We rode up through the woods and then we came to a cornfield. Can you say 'middle of nowhere?' I sure could! (I honestly had no idea where we were besides that we weren't too, too close to Awesome Creek anymore, I vaguely had a sense of where to go if I needed to get back myself though.)

(Note: While we were riding up said woods all of the sudden whoosh! We are in a hole and stumbling out.

"Oh yeah, watch out for the hole."

So helpful indeed.)  

We came to another mysteriously hidden trail head and were traveling downhill again. How nice it was to look down and see a really wicked steep looking drop off and seeing dirt and water below.

We rode until we came to a downed tree, we found a trail through the underbrush and went around it. Then we came to the ice cave. We stopped (first previous photo) and let our mules rest.

"Check your gear, ...Oh look at your pants."

I do not wear jeans so I had a bunch of those icky green things stuck to my hems. Eww. (Took an hour and a half to get those things off.) Time to consider a pair of jeans…

We headed back and no one had any problems. Siera crossed the creek without issues in round two and we headed back home.

We stopped at the head of the driveway to dismount and walk down the steep part of the driveway. It took two attempts for me to get out of the saddle. (That was my longest ride to date.) We walked back, tied Siera and Mica to the trailer and that was that.

What a nice Saturday afternoon.