Thrills at Boch Hollow State Nature Preserve

On September 21st Joan and I chose to revisit Boch Hollow State Nature Preserve for our weekly get-out-of-the-house hike. We started at the North trailhead,

and then worked our way towards the still unopened West trailhead. Very early on Joan spotted a spectacular caterpillar, the saddleback.

Those spiny hairs can leave you with a blistery rash that will linger, so do not touch! As spectacular as this critter is with its lime-green blanket, it turns into an undistinguished brown moth, Acharia stimulea.

As we drew close to the West trailhead Joan and I gingerly walked around a bright yellow "Trail Closed" sign. The last segment of the path as we knew it was virtually invisible, filled with branches and brush, and a newly hacked trail veered off to the left. It became apparent that we were headed for a new bridge to the West parking area.

Coming out of the woods ...

The bridge itself.

The parking area it led to was not finished; yellow tape forbade cars from entering, and the bulldozed ground still needed reseeding. A few workers were there so Joan and I did not nose around too much. However, a berry-hunting flock of Swainson's Thrushes on the west bank caught our attention. These birds only migrate through Ohio; they nest further north.

We turned around to see how far east we could go before returning to the North trailhead to be home in time for an on-line event. Soon, however, we stopped to admire this coral-tooth (sometimes called comb-tooth) mushroom colony.

Hericium coralloides

A closeup. This fungus is edible, exhibiting a mild nutty flavor when fresh, but turns sour as it ages. Joan and I did not sample it, and neither should you, unless you're an expert.

Tromping east, after several intersections we came to a screeching halt for another caterpillar, a Hickory Horned Devil, in the middle of the trail.

These critters are 5" to 6" long and 3/4" wide, huge!

They have a fascinating story. They spend all of their life as a caterpillar up in the tree canopy, munching away. In their final instar (skin) they descend to the ground to find a good spot in the earth to tunnel into, and pupate over the winter in their snug subterranean abode. No forming a chrysalis hanging out in the open for them, no sir! It emerges as a regal moth.

Image from ourbreathingplanet.com/regal-moth

A closeup of the head. As fierce as it looks, it's utterly harmless, unlike the saddleback.

I had to capture its locomotion.


Joan was concerned that other hikers might not look favorably on our Devil, and, coaxing it onto a stick, moved it a few feet into the woods behind a rotting log. Later, on reading about the Devil's underground metamorphosis, we realized Joan had given it an assist.

This was our second astonishing caterpillar/moth find in the easternmost part of the preserve, the other being the luna-moth we saw  a few months earlier.

We hiked on as far as the top of the descent to the East trailhead, then turned back. Passing a pond for the second time, one of the frogs, who always jump into the water and hide from us, did not. It scooted to a new spot and hung motionless.

A Tiny Fellow

The jack-in-the-pulpit flowers of spring produce eye-popping red berries in September.

Joan and I had our final snack sitting on a log, gazing out at the rock formation underneath the next bend in the trail. This part of Ohio is full of lithic features created by erosion of the underlying sandstone.

Some in Boch Hollow are quite large.

Caterpillars ... fungus ... frogs ... swainson's ... what more could you want?

Canada (2019) Part Three

Time again for reporting on our September 2019 trip to the Canadian Rockies. This is the third post (the first post is here) and will cover the third and fourth of our five days at Lake O'Hara. There was, of course, no 2020 trip.

September 10th began with low clouds and variable rain.

Joan and I decided to climb the Big Larches trail, after a brief stop at scenic Mary Lake.

The Big Larches trail is a favorite because of its views and the good chances for seeing a pika or marmot, but there was no such excitement today. Our legs felt tired on the climb up to Schaeffer Lake; perhaps it was due to the five prior days of hiking! Deciding a more relaxed day might be appropriate, Joan and I continued through the meadow and then turned around, taking the boring but expedient Schaeffer Lake trail down through innumerable switchbacks and past the Elizabeth Parker alpine hut,

Reservations thru the Alpine Club of Canada

to reach our cabin and enjoy a porch lunch while we dried out.

The volume of rain continued to go up and down. After lunch we shoved off on a counter-clockwise route around O'Hara, observing diminutive and proximate nature, including mushrooms and this mossy log on the edge of the lake, rather than distant vistas.

We took the spur trail to the Seven Veils falls, seeing dippers and fungi along the way. These falls had been off-limits for years to prevent further damage, but a new route had recently opened complete with a small terraced viewpoint.

 

Or, as seen with an assist from DeepDreamGenerator.

These waters orginate from the heights above, including Lake Oesa, and travel largely invisible under thick layers of scree but emerge after hitting an impermeable layer.

Zooming in ...

A video visit to the rushing waters ...


Rejoining the main trail we soon passed a submerged tree, ripped out of the ground and cast into the waters by last winter's avalanches.

Joan and I took a short side trip before completing the O'Hara loop, heading down a trail paralleling the outlet stream, going as far as the first large pond, where we saw several ducks.

This completed a soggy but interesting day.

On September 11th Joan and I got off to a late start, 10:00, and headed for the West Opabin trail again. If the weather held we hoped to climb to Sleeping Poets Pool.

A Lake O'Hara panorama along the way.

The canoes tied up at Lake O'Hara seemed to float on air.

We had good duck sightings on Lake Mary before the climb up to the plateau.

Looking back at Lakes Mary and O'Hara after gaining some altitude.

 We had better pika sightings than last time!

Rather than detour to the prospect we continued south on the West trail, through the rock formations we call the "wrestling marmot stadium" after an encounter during one of our first visits to O'Hara. Joan and I bee-lined for Opabin Lake and gave it a good look.

The vista back through the plateau wasn't bad either.

Click on the image to enlarge; the west trail is just left of the lake.

We returned down the East trail just far enough to catch the Yukness Ledges junction. We executed the boulder-hopping that began this alpine trail, and then tackled the steep, unofficial and unmarked goat track up to Sleeping Poet's Pool. With careful footing and a hiking pole in each hand we eventually reached the ledge containing two small seasonal pools and the larger Sleeping Poet.

GPS reports that we're at 7900 feet. There are a few short ledges before the sheer drop, offering good sit-spots.

 Joan and I settled in for a lunch with a view.

Our sandwiches were in plastic tubs with a green lid, preventing any leakage while hiking. A ground squirrel was attracted to Joan's green lid, but after a couple of squirrel snatches Joan rescued it for good.

The would-be thief.

The only way off was to backtrack, tenderly and carefully, to the Yukness Ledges, a somewhat retrograde motion. From there we continued on the much wider and gentler official alpine trail, heading towards Lake Oesa and treated to a continually changing panorama.

A view down to the Opabin Plateau and Prospect.

From a vantage point further along, Lake O'Hara spread out beneath us.

Zooming in, the trail around O'Hara and up towards Oesa is easily visible.

We continued until reaching the Lake Victoria cutoff; the main trail heads off to the right to reach Lake Oesa. The day was getting late, so we took the shortcut.

It winds down to the left through boulders until reaching Victoria, one of a chain of small lakes fed by the outflow from Oesa.

Proof we were there.

We arrived back at our cabin after 4:00 and gladly put up our sticks and cleaned up for dinner. Tonight's tablemates were good for conversation, and so as often was, we were one of the last two tables to leave the dining room!

Canada (2019) Part Two -- and Post #500

Now it's time to resume reporting on our September 2019 trip to the Canadian Rockies. This is the second post and will cover the first part of our five days at Lake O'Hara; the first post is here. There was, of course, no 2020 trip.

This is also post #500, yes, the five-hundredth of this blog; the first post was in June of 2009. That's roughly one post every eight days. Who would have thought I'd stick with it so long?

Lake Oesa ...

Joan and I drove up Kicking Horse Pass and reached the parking area for Lake O'Hara in good time. A warden, Lorraine, was there to explain maps, options, the lodge bus vs the campground bus, and the 11km walk uphill to the lake if you hadn't already booked a spot -- with no guarantee of a bus ride back. No bicycles. Even so, Lorraine informed us, during the long summer weekends there were up to 140 walk-ins a day!

Joan and I had a lakeside cabin, which wouldn't be available until 1pm. We picked up a bag lunch at the lodge and took what is a traditional first-day hike for us, up to Lake Oesa. We hoped to see mountain goats at some point during our visit, but to our gleeful amazement they were visible on the Yukness Ledges from the Oesa trail.

With binos the sight was even better.

We pointed the goats out to other hikers and we all had a good look, passing binoculars around.

Along the way we admired the late-blooming flowers, including harebells, and various fungi. In September the birds were silent and the marmots were hiding, maybe hibernating already, but the autumn has its own charms. The larches turning yellow are the counterpart of the autumn colors back east.

Lake Oesa spread out before us. The weather graciously permitted us to eat our lunches perched on a flat rock, a treasured spot up here; today wasn't crowded.

Joan and I decided to return via the initial stretch of the Yukness Ledges alpine trail and the Victoria cutoff. This photo looks back at the Oesa outflow after descending to the alpine trail.

We met several people on the trail, including a German couple who got separated when she went ahead while he took photos and chatted with us. When she couldn't find him on the Yukness Ledges, she decided to pursue the Victoria Cutoff, where we also went. Then he backtracked, she spotted and called to him, and I wish I understood German ... but they went on to complete the Ledges after having hiked in from the parking area and up Wiwaxy Pass and along the Huber Ledges to reach Oesa. Whew! Young, strong, and well-trained they were.

Not far from Victoria Lake the outflow transforms into a tumbling cascade.

From here we spotted our 9th mountain goat, a solitary male.

We finished our hike by completing the loop around Lake O'Hara itself. This photo looks up from that path to the Seven Veils falls.

Then we reached cabin #4 and began unpacking. That evening at dinner we swapped stories with our table-mates about hiking glaciers, biking, and so forth, plus Lake O'Hara tales.

Opabin Prospect ...

The next day (September 9th) began with rain showers teasing us, off and on, during breakfast.

Joan and I decided to hike to the Opabin Plateau and see how the weather developed; Opabin is lower than other destinations, and it's usually easier to bail out from there. Because of the precip the kids decided to stay behind.

"We'll be fine, thanks!"

We started for the west trail, which skirts Mary Lake by just a few feet. Mount Schaffer had its head in the clouds.

This is a look at the lower part of the west trail, which hugs the bluffs of the plateau. Click on the image to enlarge, and you may spot the path, starting about 1/3 of the way up the left-hand side.

The marmots may be dozing, but the pikas were still out harvesting. They are so fast, though, that getting a sharp picture isn't easy when they are dashing back to add to their larder.

From the west trail we went across to the Opabin Prospect, which usually offers a spectacular view, but not today. The Prospect consists of large blocks with cracks and gaps in between and a sheer drop at the edge. Joan slipped on wet lichen on one slab, banging her shin, but didn't fall into a crevice or suffer any serious harm. We began walking up the plateau. This photo looks back towards O'Hara, but you can't see anything beyond our surroundings.

From above the Moor Lakes we spotted a couple of american dippers, hurrah! This bird feeds on various invertebrates by walking and swimming underwater.

Joan and I crossed the lakes

Pop down from here to cross to the central ridge.

on a footbridge and headed up the plateau on the Highline trail. Showers came and went, light and sparse, and then grew heavier and steadier. Joan and I reached our favorite rainy-day lunch spot up here, a small clump of trees split by the path, only to discover that it was already occupied. We continued past the Yukness Ledges terminus and reached Lake Opabin in a steady rain.

We paused momentarily to absorb the view, then returned and found the lunch spot open. Two of our table-mates from last night, Greg and Nancy, trod by as we ate. Joan and I were astonished to learn that they were attempting the entire Alpine Circuit today, Lake O'Hara > All Souls Prospect > Opabin Plateau > Yukness Ledges > Lake Oesa > Huber Ledges > Wiwaxy Gap > Lake O'Hara. Bad weather for it, we thought, but perhaps this was their last chance.

We returned to Lake O'Hara by the east trail, boring compared to the west but only a stone's throw away, and hence the quicker choice. Back at the cabin we spread things out to dry -- there are never enough hooks -- and at dinner had a new set of table-mates. At O'Hara your dinner partners are changed by the management nightly, unless you have a request otherwise. Joan calls it speed dating.

We'll see what tomorrow's weather brings.