5 November 2022 Hiking Along the Tanbark

Lizzie, and the rest of us, were dressed out in our safety orange today as we headed off for a hike along the Tanbark Trail.

It was a grey day with bare trees getting ready for winter, but we enjoyed our journey.

This is one of the Tanbark's shelters offering rest and shelters for distance hikers.

24 May 2020 Looking for Wildflowers

 We started our day with a walk in our woods.  We expected most spring wildflowers to have finished blooming, and they had.  We were able to enjoy wild geraniums and rue in bloom.

I was hoping we would still be able to spot painted trilliums along the Tanbark Trail while Ali was hoping to spot clintonia in bloom.  We were both happy at the thought of a walk along an old favorite trail.

The stream was flowing strong with the cascades filled with water.

It was a good day for spotting wood thrushes.

We found clintonia in a few places we expected.  The blooming was past, but the plants are strong and hopefully will be waiting for  a visit next year.

We were happy spot twisted rose stalk again in the area where a couple shared their find with us last year. It to was past blooming, but we happily wait until next year and hopefully better times to see it.

We missed other wildflowers blooming included starflower, but painted trilliums were plentiful.

The Tanbark is one of the nicest hikes in the ANF.

Our last stop on the way home was a quick look for orchids on a walk with the dogs.  Some years, they are plentiful and blooming.  There were fewer plants than usual this year, but at least a few had spikes.

19 May 2019 Along the Tanbark

Our May weekend together always includes a walk along the Tanbark Trail.  We're on the hunt for painted trilliums, but happy to see any spring wildflower along the way.  We won't pass by an opportunity to see a peaceful waterfall either.

For some reason spotting starflower on the Tanbark means there are painted trilliums nearby.

We met another couple on the trail.  They were also out looking for flowers.  We were able to identify fringed polygala for them.  They returned the favor by telling us they had spotted clintonia on the trail.  We were searching on the way back and spotted not only the area they described but a second stand of clintonia.  We were a few days early, but enjoyed a few open blossoms.

22 September 2018 Tanbark Walk

We started this walk in early August with the dogs. There were two new caches and we planned to hike to both of them. We had nearly reached the first cache when Phineas had a seizure. We were able to stabilize him and he seemed to be pulling through when he had a second seizure. I'm used to a beagle with seizures so I knew what we needed to do to assist him. We waited with him until he recovered. He was too weak to walk and we were at least a couple miles from where we were parked so I picked him up and carried him. With the heat and his weight, we needed to stop every quarter mile or so to give me a rest but at least we were able to bring him out. We weren't far from the vehicle when he decided he was ready to walk again. It was a slow stroll back, but he was recovering quickly. A stop at Sandstone Springs and we were ready to go home.

Today was much cooler and Phin was ready again for the trail. He was great today, and we all enjoyed a trip through the awesome rocks.

Phineas has been with us now for over half his life. It has been five plus years since we rescued him and welcomed him to our home. His first rescue family surrendered him back. He is happy and friendly and a little loud. :O His muzzle is all white and his ears are turning, but he has heart and a desire to be on the trail. We were happy to have him along today.

6 June 2016 Visiting Tanbark

There aren't many days where my world is unscripted with really nothing to do. The week prior my team had finished a months long project so I was able to take an Monday away from the office. Local cachers gave an unexpected surprise with new caches placed along the Tanbark Trail. It was an amazing day to just head out with Ali and the dogs and enjoy a favorite trail.

26 May 2014 Visiting the Tanbark Trail

Before a visit to the Tanbark Trail, we walked our favorite loop at our property to see what spring had brought us.

Whether she's on the trail geocaching or waiting for us to hunt for wildflowers, Gwen knows how to relax. The turkey eggs were gone from the nest. We're hoping that meant a successful hatch.

The spike on our orchid was progressing nicely. Another spike had fallen victim to some woodland animal's appetite.

A nice solitary tiarella

I was hoping to snap an image of the yellow warbler that kept flying around the patio, but was happy to settle for an image of this phoebe busily working on nest building.

We knew we were at least a week late to walk the Tanbark Trail to look for wildflowers. We expected most of the painted trilliums to be gone or past their prime, but hoped to see a few. As it turned out a few was all we got to see. Star flowers and most white trilliums were gone too. The waterfalls were filled with water from a recent rain and quite attractive.