Terri of the Trails: March 2015

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The Second Walk: Ouabache Trails Park

The Second Walk: Ouabache Trails Park

January 18, 2015

At last, I was able to get back out to Ouabache Trails Park, my favorite local natural area, for the first time since The Ankle Incident in early October.

Richard went with me on that Sunday afternoon Winter Wandering. I felt better having someone with me this first time back. I had walked our home woods on January 2 (my first nature walk since October) by myself, but Ouabache Trails is much larger, the hills are taller and steeper, and it is about eight miles of so from our home.

We started on Trail 3, a short but hilly one. It dips down to Trail 4, perpendicular to Trail 3. Trail 4 overlooks the big creek and runs all along the upper edge. One can eventually wind left on Trail 4 to the park road or turn right and walk the large bridge over the creek, then take the meandering Trail 5 to the road. We chose the second option, as we wanted to get over to Trail 7, our favorite area in the park.

Along Trail 3 we found leaves of Puttyroot Orchid. There are a great number of Puttyroot in the park forest. These pin-striped leaves will dry and shrivel away in May as the new flower stalk rises.

It was good to see them again.

Steps down a Trail 2 slope as seen from Trail 3

False Rue Anemone seedling.

The blooms will be profuse this spring, especially along Trail 4.

The big creek below Trail 4, as seen from the big bridge, a good place to watch wildlife from water to sky.

After the bridge, we wound along Trail 5 to the road, which we crossed. There we met with Trail 6, a linear trail across a slope, perpendicular to the circle road below.

The end of Trail 6 took us to the start of Trail 7, near Sacajawea Shelter House. Here began our favorite trail, down to the creek and wetland, then up into the highest hills in the park.

Trail 7 lowland and creek, looking upstream. I always find it interesting to follow this creek all the way up to the park property line, near the creek's origin from springs on the other side of the fence.

Trail 7 wetland and creek, looking downstream. This is one of my favorite views in the park, which I often photograph. It is not only a beautiful spot full of wildlife, but also the mood of the view reminds me of the wild places of my childhood. I plan to follow this creek along its whole route this year to see where it empties.

Now, across the creek and up into the hills:

Messy old nest along Trail 7

A new Puttyroot Orchid leaf below last year's stalk, with seed pods

Winter canopy along Trail 7, with young American Beech leaves from last fall

Pileated Woodpeckers are active in these hills. We found evidence of their work in a rotten tree – a hole gouged out while the bird searched for bugs and worms, and a pile of wood chips below. We heard various woodpeckers calling and knocking on wood.

Richard coming to the top of the tallest hill.

Somewhere in the distance, well below, is the Wabash River.

Tree shadow stripes n the upper Trail 7 hills.

Beyond that horizon is the adjacent farm land.

Patches of green moss showed through the old leaf layer and on the bases of some trees.

The weather over the winter had often been very cold, but there was never any significant snow fall.

Richard takes in the view as we follow Trail 7, winding back around toward the creek area.

Ironically, Richard used a walking stick the whole time, and I did not. It is my habit to not use a stick, and a sign of good healing that I did not need one that day.

The last view of the upper Trail 7 hills before heading back down

For myself, it was a successful first walk back at Ouabache Trails Park, and a good test. Though it was a momentous occasion, somehow we never took a photo of me on that day.

Richard especially enjoyed getting away from “people noise” and commotion, and having a good stretch of the legs on a cold winter day.

I was especially glad to return to one of my favorite places, and happy about the prospect of many more walks here, and other places, throughout the year.

I look forward to more adventures and challenges this year, which will include a trip with a friend to the prairies of Kansas and the mountains of Colorado.

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In February, we had a great deal of snow and ice. I would love to have seen Ouabache Trails Park during that time, but the conditions prevented me from negotiating our country roads or even, at times, our driveway.

I am just happy to have gotten through it all without another mishap.

(Knock on wood ...)

The First Walk: Home Woods

The First Walk: Home Woods

January 2, 2015

Walking in the woods had hardly seemed so special as it did on this day.

Since October 4, 2014, I had not been able to do this. Such things were out of the question after I had broken my ankle and severely twisted it. At best, I had looked down into the home woods from the relatively safe, level outer edge. I had occasionally scanned it from west to east, gradually taking mental photos from one section to the next, trying to stitch them together as one broad, panoramic view. I had peered into it from the edge, watching and listening for animal movement, trying to pick up extra early spots of green or the various colors of fungi, looking for a difference in pattern on a tree limb that might belie the presence of an owl. I could only imagine the very tiny things scurrying under leaf litter, burrowing a rotten log, or squiggling around on the creek mud on a warmer day.

This day was cold, the trees were bare, and the ground covered with old autumn leaves. Still, on this day I could be inside the forest. My first nature walk was here, in my home woods.

My ankle had to be in pretty good shape to go here. Though our woods is small, it consists almost completely of slopes that can sometimes be a challenge even when I am completely strong. My feet are almost always placed in some awkward angle. The only level places are the low, very soggy floodplain and a small space on a ridge top. The latter is the only spot I have ever found that would be suitable for pitching a tent. There is also a small, open meadow area near the front of the woods.

I moved through our slanty woods, a sharp pinch still happening in my ankle now and then, but very able, at last.

Two things I wanted to do were to get a closer look at my favorite haunts and to see the small things that I couldn't see from a distance for three months.

I like to check this big old two-trunk Sycamore tree in one of the low places. It is down hill from the road and across the creek, so it is not very far from a woods entrance. Surely, some wildlife uses this huge maw at the base for protection now and then. I would like to hide nearby and keep watch.

However, instead of finding definite signs of wild animals, I found a couple of beer cans in there – not a sign of the kind of wildlife I want in my woods. We do need to put up a barrier and No Trespassing sign again. Maybe they sensed that no one had been checking the woods for a long time.

This den has intrigued me for some time. It is on a slope below the west edge of the woods, below the barn. I sometimes see vague prints or objects in this little space, but I have yet to see what animal uses it. It seems a cozy spot, and the entrance is well used.

Behind the tree are piles of brush. Within the brush piles are various entrances. I suspect there is a network of tunnels and dens in here, connected with the space in the tree.

Extending along the slope from the den is a well worn trail. Once in awhile I see an animal print in the dirt or snow, but they are usually not very clear. This is another place where I want to hide and watch.

Another unusual tree I like to visit is the four-trunk Red Oak located on the top of another slope in the northwest part of the woods (the fourth trunk is not visible in the photo). There is always a collection in the bowl-like center, which is obviously a choice spot used by wildlife.

A variety of scat is always found here, though I don't know what kinds of animals leave it. How neat they are, to contain it all in this nice little “outhouse”.

Someone has been feasting on Persimmons and left the very tough seeds behind.

Orange seeds were deposited on a log in another part of the woods. If these are from the very invasive Oriental Bittersweet, a real scourge in our woods, then I need to get rid of them or we will have even more of those vines choking the trees.

Oops, here are some more orange seeds, in yet another designated animal “outhouse”.

Other signs of wildlife - where animals had been searching for food in rotted wood.

The creek still had patches of ice on top, but some water was running clear.

Sediment occasionally puffed out of this tiny hole in the creek bottom mud. Was this a sign of some underwater wildlife?

This was one of the tiny things I had not been able to see for three months.

I looked for more very small things, such as emerging plants ...

First leaves of Spring Beauty and Harbinger-of-Spring

Uh, oh - a bit of Garlic Mustard was peeking through. I pulled it up by the roots before it would take over this section of the woods. For a few years, I have been vigilant about pulling up plants from huge areas of Garlic Mustard, but occasionally one shows up that I missed.