4 November 2023 Walking a Stream Near Union City

Even grey, rainy days can provide beauty and peace.

24 February 2023 South Fork and Arabian Mountain

Our last vacation day started off with blue sky and sunshine.  I enjoyed the opportunity to bounce on a significant suspension bridge.

 

The mountain is an outcrop of granite.  It's mostly an easy hike.

More very early trout lilies greeted us on our journey.

Yellow-bellied sliders were a treat to see.

Diamorpha smali was just starting to fill the pools during our walk.

Rain increased as we continued our journey.

As our day wrapped up it was time to go home.

31 May 2021 Visiting Tanbark Trail

 We were locked out of PA in 2020 so we missed our hike along the Tanbark Trail.  This year we were able to return so we were happy to take this favorite hike.  We try to time the hike so we can see painted trilliums in bloom.  This year we were a week or two later so we knew we might be too late.

Starflower is usually a good indication there will still be painted trilliums in bloom.  It wasn't a good omen today.

The clintonia was past time for blooming, but there didn't appear to have been a blossoms this year.  As long as the plants are here there's hope for blossoms next year.

There were still signs of spent blossoms from the rose twisted stalk.  We were happy to see the plants are still present.

It was a very pleasant walk.  Hopefully, we can make the hike again next year and see the painted trilliums in bloom.

17 May 2021 Starting With a Climb

We had a busy day planned to start off our week.  Our first stop was one of our favorite hikes at Bearfence Mountain.  It is a relatively short hike, but is mostly climbing through the uplifted rocks that make the 'bearfence." 

The awesome views make the climbing worth all the work.  This is one of the few 360 views in the park.

This was a week to spot towhees.  This one was popping around in the vegetation as we started back down.

Spring wildflowers were plentiful.

The trail flattens quickly after leaving the rock formation.  There were so many wildflowers.

On to the Flowers...

We had made the Bearfence hike in the fall and later made a down and back hike to the edge of the park.  We saw many orchids long past blooming on that walk, but were back for a hope that our timing was right to see them in bloom.  We were rewarded for our effort.

We started with violets...

We soon started walking by the showy orchids.  They were amazing.  It was easily the most orchids either of us had ever seen in a day.

Perfoliate Bellwort in bloom.

We usually don't move around so much, but actually being fully vaccinated and being on vacation seemed like a release.  We made a drive to Elkton to visit the local park and hike the trails to find a number of caches in the park.  Elk Run was a pleasant stream.  I missed a picture on the kingfisher working the water's edge, but it was still nice to see.

I missed an image of the duck in the nest near the top of the tree.  The nest was in a postion where people walking the trail walked directly below it.

Solomon's Seal in bloom.

With the longer days of spring we still had time to return to the park and enjoy sunset together at an overlook.