Walking the Other River Trail

This looks at first glance like the walk to Michelle's house, but it's the opposite direction on the river. Again, the walk starts in the  upper left hand corner, only this time I first walked a short trail that we mow in our back woods, and I noticed how the wooly adelgids are really flourishing on the hemlocks.  Well, too bad, but we are just going to let nature take its course-- $700 to treat them, and the treatment lasts for only three years.  We treated them once and now they're back.  We can't put poisons down in our yard because the adjacent field is part of the organic farm.  Along with the adelgids, we are hosts to several families of groundhogs.  I drew a few of their mounds and holes, down by the fence line.  I think about tossing a cherry bomb down some of the holes, but that would probably just cause them to move closer to our house.

Still in the back yard woods I saw a pretty stand of bluebells and so many Mayapples.  On through the broken stile and out onto the hillside the mountain view is gorgeous.  A lone Canada goose was strolling around;  then it took off and flew into the wheat field.  I walked along the road a short bit in order to cross the bridge, and right after that comes the trail.  One of the first little places along the river , which this trail follows, is the spot where J and I put in a coracle that we made a few years ago and tested it out.  It floated!  We played in the little boat all afternoon, the culmination of two summers of making that coracle.  We may remake it so that it's easier to paddle this summer.

The trees along this part of the trail are amazingly animated and hung with large liana-like grapevines.  It's a very rain-forest-like place.  Soon I came to a rocky part of the trail that climbs up high above the river.  Up here there were many wild flowers including crane's bill, Mayapple flats, blue asters, spring beauties, and Solomon's seal leafing out.  I passed a picnic with a guitar player on some rocks in the river;  then on the right I could see the white barn and some sheep sitting in the field facing the west.  It was getting ready to rain, very dark and cloudy, and the sheep were acting like cows before a storm.

Then I passed the spot where Michelle and I rebuilt our cairns this past fall, and I am happy to report the cairns are still stacked for the most part, and the plants have filled in so that the cairns will not be so easy to reach this summer.  I could see a field of something bright yellow in the distance-- mustard?  When I reached the River Bend area I hit 1.5 miles and turned around, making this an easy three mile trip.  The rain held off until right after I got home.  Oh-- the yellow on this page comes from the stem of the golden celandine in my garden.