18 September 2014 Compton Peak and Marys Rock

There was no eagle sighting to start the day, but Ali made a nice spotting of this snake. We didn't notice the snake's damaged tail until we were looking at the images.

Today's journeys were a couple return visits. Our first stop was to Compton Peak. We planned to complete the earthcache we started during our last visit, but we mainly wanted to see the amazing columnar jointing in this area again.

The view from the peak is also worth the journey.

Our return to Mary's Rock was a journey to look for native chestnut trees. On our last visit we spotted chestnuts for the first time on trees along the trail. Alas, five years is a long time for a mature chestnut tree to withstand the blight. We located the area where the trees were, but only one had any chestnuts, The tree had clearly become afflicted with the blight and would be gone before our next visit. I had hoped at one time to see tall, healthy chestnuts again in my lifetime. Now, I'm not do confident. Ali by a tall chestnut

Chestnut Blight

The views from Mary's Rock were still very good. The weather was much better on this visit. The haze of a week's work traffic was starting to reduce the view.

On the way down we stopped to see this nice view out of the shadows.