I woke up this morning at 5:45, and figured that an extra 15 minutes of sleep was pretty unnecessary, so I rolled my ass out of bed, fed Lola, had some coffee, fetched my gear, dumped out, and was on the trail at 6:50.
It was a pretty perfect warm spring morning, and I hadn’t even made it onto the bridge leading to the trails when I spied two unfamiliar-looking black and orange birds doing some sort of fighting/mating/playing mere feet in front of my face.
It turns out they were American Redstarts, and one was gracious enough to land in some nearby brush for a photo. Not sure if it was the early morning light, or what, but the orange markings look way lighter in my photos than they were in person. Still, I had never seen one before, nor ever got an image of one, so I’ll take it.
I no sooner put my camera back on my pack when I saw a Spotted Sandpiper coming in hot over the river water and land on some rocks just below me as I stood on the bridge. I’ve seen plenty of Pipers, but can’t say I’ve ever got any images of any. Well, at least any that I remember.
For the next mile or so, I wasn’t seeing too much to photograph, but I was enjoying the early morning in the woods.
Then, at about mile 2.5, as I crested a hill, I saw some Morel Mushrooms growing on the trail. I’ve been hiking and riding in the woods for pretty much the last 30+ years, and have NEVER seen a Morel.
Having said that, at least once or twice a spring/summer, a trail user will ask me in a secretive, hushed tone like they’re trying to sell me a stolen Venezuelans baby:
“Hey, um, question, so, have you seen any Morels?” *looks nervously over shoulders*
“No, sorry.”
“Are you sure? Someone said there were Morels here.”
“Yeah. I’m sure. Sorry.”
Who knew wispy woodsy foragers could be so interrogative AND so wispy? And because of that ‘tude, I’m not telling which trail I saw them on. Am I sure… I’m sure I’m not tellin’, nerd.
I continued on, enjoying the warm morning and anxious to get home for breakfast, but not before I stopped at one of my favorite trailside logs to have a look-see under in search of salamanders, and SCORE! I spied a Red Backed Salamander chillin’.
Then, not more than half a mile later, I saw another Green Frog (Rana Clamitans) on a log doing whatever it is that frogs do when they sit on logs. If it weren’t for the fact that it was on the other side of the trail, I would have sworn it was the same frog as yesterday. Not to be a froggist, but Green Frogs all sort of look alike.
A mile and a half later, I was just about to the parking lot when I saw an Amish dude and his kids parked in the lot, fetching water from the river for their horse, who was cooling off in the shade.
The kids were cute, and the man was surprisingly smoking a cigarette as he carried the water up the riverbank towards the horse. I had no idea Amish folks were allowed to smoke, but some quick Googling said it’s not encouraged, but not illegal.
I so wanted to get a pic of the kids, but the Amish aren’t keen on having photos taken. I think it’s something about if they have their image taken, Satan will burn their eyes out with a hot poker. But I could be wrong on that.
Instead, I opted for a quick pic of their buggy when the kids were on the other side. You can see their feet, so I hope that doesn’t get ol’ Beelzebub’s blooomers in a bunch.
I finished the hike with 5.75 miles in my feetz and 24.93 miles on the week so far. Should be able to hit my 30-mile weekly goal tomorrow.
The week so far has been a good one for lumbering and picture takin’ and the sort of week I endure six months of cold and dark for. Looking forward to doing more tomorrow.
Later.