Wildflower Pilgrimage, Day 2

On the second day of the Wildflower Pilgrimage, April 16, Joan and I had breakfast at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary's Forest Museum, and then drove to the Fort Hill Earthworks and State Nature Preserve, managed locally by the Arc of Appalachia, for our group hike.

 

We began by leaving the parking area (top center in the map) on the green Fort Trail and soon changed to the Gorge Trail, marked in brown, for much of the hike. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

For a long way, as the map shows, we followed Baker Fork. The intervening drainages made for frequent ups and downs.

I took some photos along the way, but these pics are by no means a complete review of all we saw. Get ready for some flowers!

 

Of course, there were plenty of Large-Flowered Trillium.

Sharp-lobed Hepatica.

Virginia Pennywort, a member of the gentian family, which has a symbotic relationship with fungi, and little photosynthetic activity.

A carpet of Dutchman's Breeches.

Rue Anemone. How pretty!

A geological feature of this hike were the frequent outcrops of the underlying, erosion-prone limestone.

On one of these an intrepid searcher found the tiny Walter's Violet, a state-endangered species known only in Adams and Highland counties. Sadly, no photo from me.

 

American Greek Valerian, or "Jacob's Ladder."

An abandoned cabin!

Showy Orchis popping out. Orchids are always a treat; too bad this one wasn't blooming yet.

All the limestone slump blocks are smothered in green.

Inspecting a cliffside, down close to the flowing creek.

Trail intersection, and a lunch spot.

There's a keyhole that penetrates the ridge on the other side of Baker Fork.

Our group found logs or rocks to sit upon, and tore into our lunches. Afterwards, moving on, we soon saw -- finally! -- some Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), the only columbine species native to to eastern North America. It's visited by butterflies and hummingbirds.

We weren't the only ones taking a break in this stretch.

It takes a village to locate the elusive red bat, which imitates a leaf or pine cone during the day. We'd all hoped to see a red bat, and our group was large enough that one of us spotted the critter. Everyone clustered around the tree -- but not too close. Don't disturb a sleeping bat!

As the trail turned away from the creek and uphill, the forest floor was smothered in green.

Dwarf Larkspur. Click on the image to enlarge, and note the spur  pointing backwards from each flower.

We reached the junction where the Buckeye Trail (a state-wide trail) split off, and then the Deer Trail. Here those who were getting a bit footsore, or had a deadline, took the Deer Trail, which moseyed more or less gently back to the parking area.

The rest, including Joan and me, climbed up to the earthworks, with a couple of steep sections, and then followed the trail along the western edge of the interior. Studying and speculating about the structure and the Native Americans who built it would have to wait for another time, or event; we were tired and the day was getting on. We did stop briefly to inspect a couple of vernal pools (ones that dry up in the summer), but it was largely a hike back to the car, and I didn't take any more photos.

 

We drove home well satisfied. Joan and I are looking forward to the Wildflower Pilgrimage in 2023!

Wildflower Pilgrimage 2022, Day 1

On April 14th Joan and I drove south to the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, part of the Arc of Appalachia, to attend the first evening meeting of the 2022 Wildflower Pilgrimage. There Nancy Stranahan, director of the Arc, gave a presentation on why we would have a wonderful time over the next two days regardless of which hikes we'd signed up for. One aspect I hadn't fully appreciated till now was that in Ohio, the areas with limestone and karst formations at the surface are rare, and many of these are in the two-county area where our hikes would take place. In this image, the zones of interest are in red, and we're in the southern Ohio cluster.

On the next day, Friday, Joan and I drove to the meeting spot for the Otter Banks hike. Otter Banks features limestone bluffs along the Rocky Fork Creek and the flora particular to that environment. From the meeting spot, we boarded a van to drive us to the Mennonite farm adjacent to the bluffs. Otter Banks was secured by the Arc when a much larger property came up for sale, and a deal was reached whereby Mennonite families would acquire the arable land, and the unfarmable river bluffs would become a new Arc preserve. A very eager dog from the farm, barely out of puppyhood, joined us as we set off.

 

The route for a future trail was marked by occasional pink tape dangling from trees, and the footing, kept damp with water runoff from the bluffs, was occasionally treacherous, especially at side drainages, but our leaders kept us under control (except the dog). The purpose of the hike was to examine the flora growing on or near the limestone/dolomite bluffs. Many of our hikers were more knowledgeable than I am, but the leader of the hike was the naturalist Jenny Richards, who works at Shawnee State Park.

 

Here, a cluster of Dutchman's breeches.

Dutchman's and an occasional trillium.

A blooming wild ginger. Don't forget to click on the image to enlarge.

Trillum. Lovely!

Starting to see some trout lilies.

Consulting the handbook.

Those in the lead spotted a wren bursting out of the bluffs. We all admired its nesting skills, snug in the stone!

Differing vegetation "cheek by jowl" on the vertical surfaces.

The tiny blooms of miterwort.

A mystery flower ... if only it were a few days further along. If you have an idea what it might be, leave a comment!

A cliffside garden:

Blooming bloodroot.

Shooting star ("pride of ohio"), not blooming yet.

Sullivantia, a tiny cliffside rarity first discovered in Ohio by William S. Sullivant (or possibly his second wife, Eliza, but Bill got the credit).

Yellow corydalis starting to come out.

More trout lily. Love the speckled foliage!

A ragwort. There are dozens of ragwort species in Ohio, and I don't know which one this is.

Bluff face and tumbled timber.

Tiers of flowers on any spot more horizontal than vertical.

No flowers here, but a view from the bottom of a natural bridge, with a tenuous mini-bridge connecting it to the mainland. Water always wins, it just takes time.

Had enough of trout lilies? Just one more, a horizontal one.

After a long meander, we descended to the narrow stretch of flat to rolling terrain next to the stream for our return. A phalanx of turtles were out sunning on the opposite bank. Then it was time to climb back up to the farm and our van.

We had a decision to make once taken back to our individual vehicles. A short distance away, not far from the Paint Creek dam, there's a short (0.5 mile) nature walk, and our naturalist Jenny would lead a group if any of us wanted to check it out. Most of us still had enough energy left for a short (distance) walk.

Almost immediately we spotted a heron in the creek. Good luck with the fishing!

It may have been only a demi-mile, but there was plenty of growth on the forest floor to inspect; the walk took at least an hour. Passers-by would hear Jenny or one of our more adept hikers discussing identifications, and several joined our mob. I was suffering from photo fatigue (perhaps you are by now?) and have this one offering. Leeks were common, and invaded the top of this photo of wood poppies and blue phlox.

We had time to clean up back at the cabin, and have dinner (one of two shifts) at the Arc's Forest Museum before driving into Bainbridge, for the evening's presentation at the Paxton Theatre. There we were treated to Laura Hughes, Ohio naturalist, field ecologist, and videographer presenting Filmed Wildlife Encounters Like You’ve Never Experienced Them. Her camera traps have recorded videos of creatures from small invertebrates to larger Ohio mammals such as bobcats. Many of these videos have documented surprising behaviors that run counter to contemporary wisdom, including social interactions within bobcat family groups. Joan and I would have happily watched an extended version.

 

The next day, another hike!

Big Trip, Day 3: Rock Run Preserve

On Day 3, June 7th, Joan and I drove down to the Rock Run Preserve, part of the Arc of Appalachia, to hike the new trail there. We drove from the Murphin Ridge Inn down to US Highway 52 and proceeded east, parallel to the Ohio River, until reaching a gravel drive and parking lot on the north side, just beyond Sandy Springs.

The sign

A small roofed structure resides near the start of the trail.

A little further on the trail is adjacent to the McCall cemetery.

The cemetery dates back at least to the mid-1800s, and there are many stories told by the dates on the stones.

Civil War veterans, young women and their infants, all aspects of a hard existence we don't appreciate in the 21st Century.

Back on the trail, this tree caught my eye.

A thousand tentacles

We steadily climbed and encountered a boundary stone, a survey demarcation. This hillside had been an important chunk of property for someone. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

A very curvy tree trunk.

Eventually we reached the loop junction,

where a jumbled sandstone pile, perhaps from old quarrying, greeted us.

This was an excellent place to pause, with a view -- peeking between the leaves -- down to the Ohio River.

Other interesting lithic samples lay by the side of the trail.

Joan and I continued counter-clockwise on the loop, paralleling the river, passing by square-cut sandstone bluffs formed by quarrying, and the pools at their feet. Sandstone from southern Ohio was used extensively through the state for construction, including capitols and courthouses.

 

Next we encountered another boundary marker.

With a few switchbacks we gained the lip of the ridge, and an old settlement site, including a modest well dug into the ground. There were wet spots in various depressions, perhaps borrow pits from a century or more ago.

From here the route descended into a small valley, with one fallen tree to clamber over or bypass. We spotted a species of tree that puzzled us.

We were astonished to later discover that it was an Eastern Redbud! We've all admired the showy spring flowers, but here it was just leaves and the pea-like seed pods. The redbud is unusual in that although it is a member of the pea family, it does not "fix" nitrogen; it fails to take N² from the air and add it to the soil.

 

Eventually the loop turned around and took Joan and me downhill again. Here's a photo that displays the tendency of sandstone to fracture into layers.

At the loop juncture we paused again, and watched a tugboat push a couple of barges upstream.

On the final leg down to the parking area Joan and I spotted this example of new life emerging out of old.

Then it was time to drive back to the inn, clean up, have dinner, and (ugh) pack up as much as possible for tomorrow's drive down into Kentucky and the Red River Gorge.