An Adventure with a Teachers' Hiking Club

When I received the invitation from a friend of mine to go on a hike with a group of teachers, I was excited.  These teachers are friends of mine, and I hadn't seen them in awhile.  The afternoon was to be almost 50 degrees which would be perfect for hiking.  And they were going to a place unknown to me...a new adventure.

The place was Clifty Creek Conservation Arean near Dixon, Missouri.  We parked in the small parking lot and prepared to hike. 

The trail was a 2.5 mile loop out to a natural bridge and back.  It was listed as moderately difficult, but we took our time, stopping to check out scat, rock formations, and the scenic beauty along the trail.  So it didn't seem too hard to me.  For most of the trail, we could look down and see the creek below.  It was relatively low; this has been a dry year.  And we commented on that fact along the way.

When we came to the natural bridge, it was breathtaking.

With this as a back drop, I felt pretty small!

Crossing the creek and continuing on the trail, we were rewarded with the first spring wildflowers that I have seen this year.  They covered one hillside. At the time I forgot the name, but later remembered it was the Trout Lily or Dog-tooth Violet.  No wonder I forgot...it has two common names.

Later, I looked this species up in a field guide, The Audubon Society's Field Guide to North American Wildflowers, Eastern Region.  In Missouri it is called the White Dog-tooth Violet. This name refers to the tooth-like shape of the underground bulb.  We were on a natural area, so I did not dig up to see the bulb.  I'll take Audubon's word for it.  The other name, which is more appropriate since the flower is not like a violet at all, is Trout Lily.  This is due to the distinctive leaf markings that resemble a brown or brook trout. Whatever you call it, the spring flowers were a welcome sight.

We continued on the trail and soon returned to the parking lot.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon.  To me, there is nothing better than sharing nature with friends.

As we parted, we thought this should be called the Teachers' Hiking Club.  And with this group, I'm sure there is another adventure in our future.

Sub-zero Hike Reveals One of Nature's Mysteries

The thermometer was not to reach zero, but I decided to take a quick walk in the woods anyway.  According to the news, I would get frostbite in less than 30 minutes.  From the inside, the bright blue sky and white blanket of snow were calling me.  So I bundled up and headed out.

The blue sky looked bluer than I had seen in many weeks.


And I liked the way the sun bouncing off of the trees created shadows in snow.

 
There were no other tracks ahead of me so it was an adventure. 


What would I discover?  Where were all the animals?  The previous day, with warmer temperatures, I had seen many squirrels scampering about.  Today none were visible.


I headed down the familiar trail to the ravine, my favorite place on the property.  The place where my husband had discarded deer heads from his chronic wasting disease project.  Many animals had visited this place in the past, so I was anxious to see what would happen after a foot of snow had covered the heads.

As I approached, I saw tracks!  But with the deep snow, they were hard to identify.  And it looked like 3 separate tracks indicating 3 separate animals.

All three continued over the trail and into the ravine.  As I looked below, I saw one of the heads had been pulled out of the snow drift.  Due to the size of track, its meandering course, and knowledge of animals of the area, I thought these were bobcat tracks.  My husband had seen 3 similar size cats earlier, probably siblings.  Where are these animals living on our property?  I wanted to find out.  So I back tracked, following the meanderings through woods. 

This proved more difficult than I thought, however.  It was still very cold, and the tracks went through some brambles covered with snow.  They also continued for quite a ways.  With the drifts, brambles and cold, it was hard going.  I started to wonder about the size of a bobcat's territory.  Maybe I couldn't follow this trail for that long.  I saw several spots of "yellow snow", indicating I was within the territory of these cats.

Finally, I was rewarded with the site!  The mystery...where do the bobcats live....was solved.  There were many tracks around the base of this old dead snag.  The base was huge and many dead logs on the forest floor at this point.  It was located at the edge of our property, next to an open field.  Across the field, I saw tracks as well.  Good hunting grounds for the cats.

Now that I know where they are, I can't wait for warmer weather and better visibility.  Maybe I'll set up a tent near the site to get a better look at these marvelous creatures.

But now it was time to head home.  I no longer followed the bobcat tracks but had to blaze a trail of my own through the brambles and snow drifts.  This was hard going, and I was getting cold.

Finally, I saw the house ahead of me.  I was glad that I had braved the elements, solved some mysteries, and made plans to visit again, but now it was time for that warm bowl of soup and a hot cup of coffee.  Mmmmm good.

My First Post

This is my first post.  I have been toying with the idea of blogging for quite some time.  At times, it seemed that I wouldn't have enough to share, and at others, not enough time.  This spring has been one of those times with so much to share but not enough time to do it.  So I thought I'd dive in anyway.  There is just so much happening this year.

So here I hope to document some of the usual and unusual things I observe in the outdoors.  It occurs to me that I spend a lot of time outdoors but still can see things that are new and different.

And I like to go to new places in the outdoors like Little Grand Canyon in southern Illinois.  My husband and I took a hike there a couple of weeks ago.  It was a strenuous hike down solid, slippery bedrock. Over three miles in length.

But what pure beauty.  Photos just can not capture how awesome this place was.  It was the first trip for us, and we were not disappointed.  Our dog could not climb such steep slopes, so we had to carry her in spots.

We saw many of these white trilliums in bloom.  These are not found in our woods so it was something new and unusual. All in all, it was a great hike and one I would repeat.