We went to NW Georgia for today’s big adventure. We parked at the Keown Falls picnic area—lovely, under the trees—and ascended to check the falls (dry), and ascended further, to the top of Johns Mountain. Then we followed the trail south along the spine of Johns Mountain, then, well, as Bill said, it’s all downhill from here.
We found the fall color glorious, brilliant in full sunshine, with few leaves fallen. Spellbinding in every direction….
We took advantage of the picnic area to down some calories, both solid (mmmm good salsa!) and liquid.
Part of our route followed the Pinhoti trail, which, I have now learned (courtesy of the internet—scroll down for map), apparently is the longest foot trail system in GA, and extends into AL for another 136 miles. It connects with other trails to make a walking trail from FL to Canada. So they say.
Georgia mountain woods, in my experience, lack many rodents, birds, and larger critters relative to other North American woods I’ve spent time in. Today was no exception. Our most exciting critter sighting: several busy dung beetles.*
* Get this: one of my recent birthday cards referred to dung beetles….
Posted at 7:51 PM |
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Back on this day in 2004,* I was wandering the ATL Bot Garden admiring the Chihuly exhibit. I was spellbound. In many cases, I found the glass pieces integrated into the vegetation with extreme cleverness, so that I had to look carefully to determine what was glass and what was living.
Your turn!
* I visit the past because I have spent today unsettled by the windy conditions. Give me another year, and maybe I’ll be inured to blustery weather.
Posted at 5:49 PM |
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A clover blossom pretty much always makes me smile!
Posted at 10:22 PM |
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Resurrection fern (Polypodium polypodioides). As I mentioned before, one of my favorites….
Somehow in my twisted brain, this fern matches my sentiments at the moment…dried, curled tendrils, maybe….
Posted at 10:51 PM |
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I walked the garden at Mom’s with her and The Botanist, who led a lively discussion of diseases of maples.
Posted at 10:22 PM |
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Chapel Lake, view west across south end.
Today’s adventure was a loop walk around Chapel Lake, in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The breeze was offshore and we could hear the wind in the canopy as we walked through the mostly maple woods. We saw two little snakes (snakelets?; possibly hatched this year?; one probably garter/garden; other unknown), no fur bearers, only a few other hiker/walkers, no campers, many chipmunks. Notable plant species include Doll’s Eyes and moosewood (no time to find links). We also saw Chapel Rock.
Posted at 7:29 PM |
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All week I’ve been watching the LBBs* working on the barberries. Since there still seems to be a bumper crop on the branches, I think they’re not particularly efficient.
* Little Brown Birds.
Posted at 10:22 PM |
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One of today’s big projects was scavenging apples from here and there about the orchard (none of the trees had many apples that we could trust to be tasty), then converting them into applesauce. Yum!
Posted at 10:22 PM |
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Without a doubt, the glorious red of an autumnal maple is iconic. I also find fields of harvest-ready crops a comforting seasonal stereotype.
Are you amaized? [hardy-har-har]
Posted at 7:22 PM |
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I swear: this is the true color of a morning glory that I saw just over a year ago….
Posted at 4:56 PM |
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