Training was over at 4 pm, so I had decided to go for a short hike afterwards. I drove up to Miner’s Castle and headed out on the North Country Trail, heading west. It was amazing how dark it was under the trees.
This flower was almost green, which seemed to confuse my camera.
For scale, some of these ferns were well up to my waist.
I ended up having a very brisk walk because there were clouds of mosquitos, and while they couldn’t seem to find me while I was moving, the moment I stopped to take a photo they were all over me! This despite insect repellent!
I actually developed a technique where I would see a flower, for example, turn around and walk back about ten feet and then head back to the same spot, all while getting my camera out and turned on and ready to focus the shot so I could take it as quickly as possible!
This is a nodding trillium. Its flowers hide underneath - I walked past quite a few of them, thinking they were large-flowering trillium that had finished blooming, before I noticed there were flowers down there!
Jack-in-the-Pulpit!
False Solomon's Seal.
Baneberry, with forget-me-nots in the background.
Canada violets - they're white from the front but purple underneath! The forest floor was covered in these, and also yellow violets.
After about 15 minutes I came to a little side trail with a clear view over the edge of the cliffs. I might have gone further along the main trail but it got very squishy right after that, and I was just wearing regular shoes.
I didn’t see a lot of wildlife, but I did see a monarch butterfly float past – and there were a number of very suspicious rustling noises. You start to recognize such things – you’re walking along, and there is a pattern to your step and to the things that rustle as you step, and suddenly there is a rustling noise that is NOT part of the pattern, and you have to freeze and see if it rustles again! Most of my rustles went unidentified, but I did spot this lovely large toad…
And then, chipmunks! Two different chipmunks in two different spots, although they look pretty much alike. Notice how they’re up on a log? Chipmunks and other ground squirrels love fallen trees – they make a good lookout post, and they can be used as a sort of expressway when running along the forest floor – a nice smooth clear path!
Can you spot it in all the pictures? It was worth a few more mosquito bites to watch them!
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