Friday, February 27, 2015

Winter Walk: Fort Yargo State Park – Section B To The Dam (Part 4)


February 10th. (Continued from…) I was able to take another walk at Fort Yargo State Park before the bad weather set in again.


I decided to walk from the picnic area at Section B to thedam and back; this walk is about three miles. This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my previous walk from the group shelter to the Old Fort but it was another pretty day to enjoy the walk.


By the time I got to the bottom of ‘The Hill,’ the sun had worked its way around to the west so that the beach, which was in the shade when I walked in, was now in the sun. 

  

Signs of spring. Leaves of Indian Strawberry (Duchesnea indica) leaves pushing their way though the leaf litter. 



Looking across the lake. The deciduous trees in the center of the photo are actually on a small island that is separated from the mainland when the lake is at full pool. A pair of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) often nests on this island. 



A small patch of Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides). There was no sign of new fronds yet. 

  

Several leaves that I initially thought were Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) but which lack the longitudinal ribbing characteristic of this orchid. It’ll be interesting if I can figure out what this is in summer. 

  

The trail continues through deciduous trees before… 



re-entering a grove dominated by pine trees. 



The last shade before… 



heading out into the open to complete the walk. This part of the walk isn’t too bad at this time of year but is very hot in the summer. 



The view of the pedestrian bridge to the parking lot is very welcome at the end of the walk, and… 



particularly so when you’re actually on it at the end of the walk. 


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Thursday, February 26, 2015

Winter Walk: Fort Yargo State Park – Section B To The Dam (Part 3)


February 10th. (Continued from…) I was able to take another walk at Fort Yargo State Park before the bad weather set in again.



I decided to walk from the picnic area at Section B to thedam and back; this walk is about three miles. This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my previous walk from the group shelter to the Old Fort but it was another pretty day to enjoy the walk. 


The trail parallels the lake shoreline. New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) blooms near the trail just north of the dam. Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) plants grow along the trail but I’ve never seen them bloom. 


This tree has a wonderfully large gall. 


The trail crosses a gully over a bridge. 


An impressive patch of moss hangs onto the embankment above the gully. 


Some furry creature, probably a squirrel, forgot to clean up after a meal of pine nuts.



I always enjoy this open, sunny section of trail. Bicolor Lespedeza (Lespedeza bicolor) bushes bloom near the trail just where it turns west. 


A small patch of Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) leaves. Although I’ve seen leaves of this orchid along this trail, I’ve never seen them bloom or any sign of seedpods in the fall. 


The trail goes back into woods dominated by pines. At one point along this trail, I’ve seen as many as 20 Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)  Orchids in bloom on a slope. It looked as if someone had stood at the top of the slope and thrown plants down and they had grown where they landed. One year, I found a couple of Green Mouth Adder (Malaxis uniflora) Orchids in bloom right beside the trail.


The trail turns and climbs very steeply up 'The Hill' to complete the loo. It’s quite a climb. 


Looking back down the hill. 


The climb is deceptive. When you think you’ve reached the top, the trail drops. A very welcome bench has been strategically placed at the bottom of the dip before… 

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The trail makes its final climb to the place where the trail split. This time, I can take the downhill trail to the lake shore again. Then I can retrace my steps on the trail back to the parking lot with a different perspective from the trail coming in…


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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Winter Walk: Fort Yargo State Park – Section B To The Dam (Part 2)


February 10th. (Continued from…) I was able to take another walk at Fort Yargo State Park before the bad weather set in again.


I decided to walk from the picnic area at Section B to thedam and back; this walk is about three miles. This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my previous walk from the group shelter to the Old Fort but it was another pretty day to enjoy the walk. 


From the split in the trail, I took the took the trail to the right to begin a loop. The trail continued uphill and then dropped before climbing through a grove of pine trees. 


I found another jelly fungus on a fallen limb. This time it was yellow Witch’s Butter (Tremella mesenterica). 

The trail topped out and split again. I took the trail to the left which dropped down to the dam, but not before passing through an… 


open area where, even now,.. 


Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) were starting to leaf out, and… 


small ferns appeared to be thriving in almost perpetual shade. 


The trail entered the woods again and continued down to the dam. 


I had been on the outer loop and would complete the loop by taking the inner loop trail, but first I wanted to walk out… 

onto the dam to see how low the water level was. 

The overflow tower is located near the dam and showed that the water level was about 30 inches low. 


The outer loop, used mainly by mountain bikers drops down below the dam and curves around by the dam overflow outlet before continuing out into the woods. 

I returned to the end of the dam to take the 


trail that followed the… 


shoreline to complete the loop before returning to the parking lot. 

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Monday, February 23, 2015

Winter Walk: Fort Yargo State Park – Section B To The Dam (Part 1)


February 10th. I was able to take another walk at Fort Yargo State Park before the bad weather set in again.


I decided to walk from the picnic area at Section B to thedam and back; this walk is about three miles. This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my previous walk from the group shelter to the Old Fort but it was another pretty day to enjoy the walk. 


The walk starts by crossing a pedestrian bridge to reach the other side of the lake. Looking back across the lake. 


As I started out, I found a particularly nice lichen complete with fruiting bodies. 


The trail heads inland. When we first moved here almost 30 years ago, the trail ran along the lake shore where a small creek was crossed on a bridge. Maintaining this bridge was difficult since the ground below was soft. The bridge was abandoned and the trail was re-routed inland to cross the creek over a culvert. 
  
Heading into the woods which are largely deciduous with a small section dominated by pines. The trail heads back down to the lake shore.



Looking across the lake to a picnic area on the other side. A flock of gulls is sitting on the water; we know winter is here when they arrive each year.


Benches are located at fairly regular intervals along the trail.

I was a little surprised to find a brown jelly fungus ‘growing’ on a fallen limb. 



The trail heads a little distance way from the lake shore to avoid another deep gully which is ‘lined’ with Christmas ferns (Polystichum arostichoides0. I’ve also found Southern Grapefern (Botrychium biternatum) growing and fruiting by the trail just beyond this point.


I found more Hazel Alder (Alnus serrulata) blooming along the edge of the lake shore. Since the water level was low, I was able to walk along the ‘beach’ to photograph them. 

The male catkins, and the… 


female flowers.


These plants still retained empty seed cones. 


I was intrigued by these cones. It looks like a lichen has established itself on old cones. 


I found this intriguing seed head near the trail. I don’t know what it was but it was pretty. 
  

I found this leaf by the trail. At first I thought it was Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) but the leaves lack the longitudinal ‘ribs’ and are slightly mottled so I’m not sure what it is. 



The trail climbs steeply to avoid another deep gully and ‘splits’ at the top of the hill. I took the route to the right - literally the trail less traveled - to begin a loop. 

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