Another Day on the Trails

It was just too nice to stay indoors, so I headed out on the Rich Lake Trail. Lately I've found something new each time I went, so I was looking forward to expanding my horizons.

First I had to photograph one of the squirrels who make our platform feeders a regular part of their diet. This poor little guy didn't know whether I was trustworthy or not. In the end, I left before he had to make the decision to leap or not.


Down along the first bit of shoreline there was a boulder with its own personal garden growing on its surface.

There didn't seem to be any soil at all in which these plants could've taken root, but a careful look at the base of the plants showed small cracks with just enough soil to make it possible.

All the recent rain was a gift for the mosses. Up until now they've been pretty crunchy, but today they were all lush and oh so green!

Another detour to the shoreline and I found shrubby cinquefoil in bloom. Potentilla. Very popular in gardens.

I should know what this one is, but it escapes me. I was very taken by the red veins, however, which stood out so beautifully against the green, like blood vessels. Try as I might, though, I just couldn't get a clear photo - the breeze was too strong.

We think this is a native phragmites, but we've never had confirmation from the state plant people.

It was all lit up beautifully by the sun, though.

The winterberry fruits have formed. They'll turn bright red and look so beautiful come winter. Several birds will then consume them. How plentiful nature can be.

Mosses weren't the only plants rejoicing in the rain. The wintergreen was looking especially shiny and bright.

What could've made this mark on the cedar tree? It's very distinctive.

It was a log chain. This chain once held a boom that ran across the outlet of Rich Lake to keep the logs from floating downstream until "they" were ready to send them. This is the original chain, although we've losened it to give the tree a little more room to grow.

Okay - what is this?

I love trees on stilts.

Came across this wonderful web, complete with spider sitting in the middle.

Here's the top view of the spid:

...and a view of the underside:

When I blew on the web, the spider scuttled very quickly up to the hemlock branch above, using on the front legs to climb; both back legs just went along for the ride. Hm - do all spiders do this?

View along the shore:

I was very surprised to find turtlehead in bloom! It seems a bit late in the season, but these were in prime condition.

Here's a close-up of the mouth:

Ever wonder what the inside of one of these flowers looks like? Well, I did, so I gently squeezed the edges. To my surprise, there was a "guest" inside!

Here's a good look at the interior structures. It almost looks like a ribcage!

This poor frog was trying its darnedest to squish itself into the rocks and vanish.

The pipewort was also rejoicing in the rain. All summer the flowers have been very small, but suddenly they are huge (by pipewort standards).

I was very surprised to see these: nodding ladies tresses. At least I think that's what they are. These are blooming now near my house, and they are one of the latest bloomers in the ladies tresses clan.

I think what really threw me for a loop was how robust the plants were. The ones by my house are much more delicate.

The leaves were visible, which should be another clue to the species.

Nearby plenty more were getting ready to bloom. I'll go back and check them again later, just to verify the flowers.

Lots and lots of sundew, dewing what they dew so well. Y'know, I don't think I've ever actually seen one with a captured insect. Hm...

There were also lots and lots of small white asters. Everywhere.

Another little frog posed long enough for a photo. This one is a pickerel frog (the other was a green frog).

I'm not sure what this plant is, but I was struck by the wonderful contrast between the green leaves and the red buds.

And I just really liked the colors here, the sun shining through the woods onto the striped maple leaves.

A couple kayakers were out enjoying the day, too.

My attention was first grabbed by the bloodred berry on the left, but then I also saw the spotted berries on the right. They are both Canada mayflowers, only the red one is ripe, while the others aren't quite yet.

I only saw a few dragon- and damselflies today. This one kept flitting about, as dragonflies will do, making it difficult to photograph. I believe it's a green darner, but my dragonfly books are not here at work. Will verify later.

Finally, we have this gone-to-seed flower. It looks like an avens, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm hoping Jackie will know her seedheads as well as her flowers.

I've included the leaves here, too, which also suggest avens.

And that was today's Rich Lake walk. It's now time to go home and feed and walk the dog. It will be a beautiful evening for a good long walk.

Mid-morning Trek

The snow was so nice that I simply had to go out and snowshoe a trail or two this morning. I headed out the Rich Lake Trail, and was having such a good time that I added the Peninsula Trail.

On our scale of difficulty levels, the Rich Lake Trail (RLT) is our shortest and easiest trail: 0.6 mile loop and flat, once you get to it (access is downhill via a series of switchbacks). The RLT connects to the Peninsula Trail (PT) about half way around. The PT is 0.9 mile loop and rugged - considered our challenging trail because of the hills and stairs. I tell visitors that if they climb mountains, it is a piece of cake; if they have bad knees, they don't want to do it. The nifty things about the PT are its old-growth conifers and the impressive rock-faces along the ridge (you'll see 'em in a bit).

There weren't many tracks of note today : squirrel, mouse, some old and drifted coyote. There were some nice fox tracks, but for some reason they just weren't photographing well. I had my eyes peeled for more deer bones (companions to the skull previously posted), but no such luck.

Something about clear ice just makes you want to photograph it.

Here we are looking down Graveyard Bay and out towards Rich Lake proper. Despite the cold temperatures and the very likely frozen water here, I'm not so sure I'd tempt fate and cross the bay. I've known this part of the lake to have soft spots, and I'd hate to fall through. Therefore, we post the shoreline, discouraging visitors from heading out onto the ice.

This fall the winterberries bore a good number of bright red fruits. A few remain still, but most are gone. Robins and other birds fill up on winterberries to get them through the cold months. Winterberries (Ilex verticillata), aka black alder, are a member of the holly family. Unlike the holly associated with Christmas, with its spikey-tipped swoopy leaves, winterberry is not evergreen.

The RLT is the windiest of our trails. On bitter cold days when the wind is gusting, I steer people away from this trail; otherwise, they come back frozen solid. Still, the wind makes for some wonderful snow dunes - sculpted mounds of snow formed as the wind gusts between the trees along the lakeshore. These are a couple views of the actual trail, covered with snow dunes, waiting for me to wade through and make the path visible once more.

The Graveyard Bay Overlook is on a cliff many feet above the water. Looking at the snow down there on the ice, you can almost feel the wind that formed the crusty snow-waves.

A lone white pine stands sentinel at the Graveyard Bay Overlook. It's banner, or flag, shape is a direct result of years enduring the wind on this point.

From many places along the trail you can catch a glimpse of the Goodnow Mt. firetower. We had a trio of visitors in first thing this morning whose destination was the firetower. I hope they had a good climb.

Every time I walk by this tree, I think "my goodness, but the woodpeckers have been busy." One of these days I will have to actually record the holes and then check on subsequent visits to see if any new ones are added.

We come at last to the floating boardwalk, which isn't doing much floating these days. Socked in for the winter, it gives us access to some interesting wetland plants.

Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is probably the most common plant out here. Even in winter, it is easily recognized but it's buttony flowerheads.

I think sweetgale (Myrica gale) has some of the prettiest buds out there.

Steeplebush (Spirea tomentosa) is pretty easily recognized. In the summer these flowers are a delicate shade of pink. Now they are a dark, crusty brown.

I came across this toppled spruce, all covered with snow. This tree has been down for a couple years, but it really stands out in stark contrast in the winter.

Here's a close-up head-on.

Stretching out as high as I could, I could not reach the toppled trunk. This should give you an idea of how big it is.

I just loved the pattern in the wood where it ripped apart. The jagged edges remind me of marbled paper.

The brown checkered heart of the tree suggests rot. Could this have weakened the tree?

Doesn't this look like pale broccoli? I'm not really sure what it is: moss or lichen. It was soft and spongy, which to me suggests moss, but it is awfully pale for most mosses I've seen (with the exception of Bryum argenteum, which is a lovely silvery green). Whatever it is, there was a lot of it, all along the underside of a fallen-over tree, which has been down for quite some time. Hm...maybe they're liverworts?

You can probably guess why this part of the PT is roped off. Can you imagine snowshoeing stairs? Every winter we close off the stairs and reroute trekkers through the woods - a bushwhack that isn't usually available (if you stay on the trails as we request). When the PT was first built, there were no stairs here - just a scramble up the cliff. The stairs make it more easily accessible to everyone.

Every year I tell myself that I should explore this rock face, but I never do. It certainly wouldn't be easy to navigate; in fact it would be downright difficult, but I bet there are lots of nifty things to discover. The variety of mosses and lichens alone might be worth it.

These icicles were hanging further along the rock face. The longest ones might easily be as tall as I, and I'm just under five-and-a-half feet tall.

On the way back to the building, I passed a group of cross-country skiers. Should you put the VIC on your list of destinations this winter, please keep in mind that while all our trails are snowshoe-able, only the Sage Trail is a ski trail. To get to the Sage Trail, you have to ski part of the Sucker Brook Trail, which can be a challenge, even for expert skiers. And if you don't have any snowshoes, that's okay - you can borrow a pair from us at no charge.

So pack up the family and come on out. I hope these images have tempted you to make the Newcomb VIC one of your winter trip stops this year.