Hiking the Oscar Blevins trail

This week I'm off on Sunday-Monday because we have training starting on Tuesday. I finally went on another hike! I waited a while to leave this morning, because it looked like it might rain again, but the gray sky got brighter, even though it was still cloudy. Which meant it stayed fairly cool, even though it was quite humid.

I hiked the Oscar Blevins Farm Loop Trail, which is about 3.7 miles around. It starts at the Bandy Creek Campground trailhead, so it didn’t take long to get there! I went around it clockwise, as recommended in the hiking book we keep at the VC, and it worked out really well.

One of the first things I saw after I started out was a box turtle, trundling his way along the trail ahead of me! I’m afraid I disrupted his travel – I stopped, he stopped… I got a little closer to take  a picture, he ducked partway inside his shell… I went on past him, and looked back to see him booking it for the side of the trail. "So much for the easy route!" he seemed to say!

The accusing stare

They're really a lot more alert these days!

Getting crowded!

Over the moon

I finally saw my first luna moth here! People kept saying they'd be around, but this one was on the ground just outside the visitor center door, so I got a good look.

I didn't want it to get stepped on, so I got a piece of paper and sort of nudged it underneath the moth. Then I went and set the paper on the railing. It was just clinging to the paper and quivering. Since the wings looked a little banged up, I wasn't sure if it was going to be able to fly.

I did not realize at the time that I was capturing the shadow of those feathery antennae. Amazing!

I went to use the restroom since I was out there, and when I got back the moth had flown.

They're getting big! Fully feathered, and for once their eyes were open!

Checking out the Chimney Rocks

Yesterday I was bummed because it was supposed to rain, so I skipped my hike. Then it was sunny most of the day.

Today I needed to go back to town for a few things I forgot, and I went for a drive first. I'd been meaning to check out Station Camp Road, which is along the way to town. It goes north and ends at the river, at Station Camp Crossing. It's a horse camp, where people can camp with their horses when they come to ride on the trails in the park.

I figured it would be a scenic drive, and useful to know what the road was like... And I had happened to see online somewhere that there were some interesting rock formations near the end of the road.

Station Camp road is even more twisty and winding than any of the roads I’ve been on so far – a real roller coaster road, where driving 30 miles per hour feels recklessly dangerous! It’s not actually that long, but it took a while because I had to take it slow. It was a fun ride. About halfway along, it entered the park and turned to gravel, and I was even more careful. Once I passed the horse camp I started looking for the rock formations that were supposed to be near the road. I was afraid I would miss it, but there it was, right by the road! There was even a little parking area, with a sign that said "Chimney Rocks."