Spruce Knob

I’m taking a leisurely road trip through West Virginia. The main destination is Charleston as this trip will add the West Virginia State Capitol to my list of state capitols, as I am trying to see them all. Along the way though, I am just enjoying the drive and finding detours and stops to make along the way. The first detour in West Virginia was Spruce Knob, which is the peak of Spruce Mountain and the highest point in West Virginia. It is a lovely drive to get there, as long as you don’t mind curving mountain roads including the final part which is forestry road and not actually wide enough for two vehicles. At the top of the mountain, there is a short trail that you can take to give you several wonderful vantage points of the surrounding area. There is also an observation tower of which I don’t understand the point because it provides views of the surrounding trees and that is about it. However, the views from the trail are worth the detour from the road.

Green tree covered mountains and a blue sky

View from Spruce Knob

Green tree covered mountains and a blue sky

View from Spruce Knob

Green tree covered mountains and a blue sky

View from Spruce Knob

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary

I went on a tour of Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary today, which sits along the Patuxent River on the east side. I have lived in the DC area for over a decade, and I am still discovering neat places to visit of which I just was not even aware exist. There are lovely forest and wetlands trails to see. Besides educational outreach, they also do scientific research on the wildlife and even archeology. It is a rather busy park really. On our tour, we also were able to go on a pontoon boat ride along the Patuxent River. There were so many red-winged blackbirds and ospreys along with lots of other birds that were difficult to see.

Jug Bay (in the morning while it was raining)

Spatterdock

Spatterdock flower

Jug Bay

Red-winged blackbird among the wetlands plants including cat-tails, wild ride, and spatterdock

Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary trail

 

Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area

We spent the say at Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, which has lots of hiking trails to see the area. Some of the trails are to provide good views of the glacier, some are for hiking in the woods, and some are few viewing the salmon and the bears when the salmon are spawning. There salmon were not here yet, but we got really lucky and saw a momma bear and her two cubs. The visitor’s center has photos and a film that shows just how much the glacier has retreated. One of the trails we hiked on also has markers showing where the ice used to be, and the retreat of the ice is incredible. The area is lovely, and one thing I liked was how basically anything that was not moving was covered in lichen and moss.

View of the Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls

Mendenhall Glacier

Nugget Falls

Steep Creek. Streams from mountain runoff are everywhere

Steep Creek flowing into glacial lake

Black bear and one of her cubs

Second black bear cub was originally sleeping in the tree before joining mom and sibling

Lichen and moss on a boulder

Lupines

Lupines

Small waterfall on Trail of Time trail

Small creek

Ketchikan hiking

Ketchikan has lots of hiking trails, and many of them are close to the town. We went hiking on the Rainbird trail this afternoon. Ketchikan is located in a temperate rainforest, and the Rainbird trail goes through that temperate rainforest ecosystem right to the side of the town. The trail is located in an area that was last logged over 50 years ago, so it does not have the old growth trees, but it is pretty none the less. The northern trailhead warns that the trail is not maintained, and they are not kidding. We lost the trail a couple of times. The southern half of the trail is maintained and is much easier to hike.

Ferns and moss growing on a fallen tree stump

Moss and ferns growing near a stream

New tree growng on top of a fallen tree

Cedar trees and ferns everywhere

Trail through the forest

At the south end of the trail, there are spectacular lookouts

Moss growing on a fallen tree

Berries

Wild flowers

Shenandoah Flowers and Insects

Last weekend I went to Shenandoah National Park to take photos of Comet NEOWISE, which of course, can only be seen at night. During the day I did some hiking, driving, and took lots of photos. Across from the northern visitor’s center, there is a small field that while I was there was filled with wildflowers, especially milkweed, bee balm, and thistle, and consequently also flying insects visiting those wildflowers. I spent a great deal of time taking photos of the flowers and the insects visiting them, one of my favorite activities. I am not completely positive about the identity, so comments with any needed corrections are welcome.

Field of wildflowers across from visitor’s center
Red Milkweed Beetle
Milkweed with bee
Milkweed with bee
Bee balm
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Hummingbird Clearwing
Hummingbird Clearwing
Thistle with bee
Sunset over the Shenandoah Valley from Skyline Drive

Caterpillar Conga Line

While on a hike today in Sistiana, Italy, I saw an entire convention of caterpillars. One group was marching in a conga line on top of a wooden fence. The other group was further down the same length of the wooden fence and were gathered together in a mass. I have never seen anything like it. If anyone can identify these caterpillars and state if this is normal behavior, I would be happy to learn about it.

Caterpillar mass
Caterpillar mass
Caterpillar conga line
Caterpillar conga line
Caterpillar conga line
Caterpillar conga line

Baja California

During the short amount of time I was able to enjoy my cruise in the Sea of Cortez, I was able to do a little hiking as well as view some beautiful scenery from the boat. The geology reminds me of Arizona. There are some beautiful red rocks and layered sedimentary rocks. There is also scary but interesting plants including cactuses.

Baja California

Red rocks

Desert landscape

Desert landscape

Desert landscape

Cactus

Red rocks

Red rocks

Acadia National Park

While visiting Maine, we took a whirlwind trip though Acadia National Park. The park is spectacular. There are wonderful views from Cadillac Mountain and along the coast. While we were there, a fog rolled in and provided mysterious and obscured views. Based on the views, I have come to the realization that Maine’s coast is just a series of rock outcroppings.

View from Cadillac Mountain

View from Cadillac Mountain, to the left is the sand bar of Bar Harbor.

View from Cadillac Mountain

View from Cadillac Mountain

Pink granite cliffs

Pink granite cliffs with river rock beach

Fog settling over boats in harbor

Beach Rose

Scattered across Maine’s Blue Hill Peninsula and Deer Island is a pretty plant known as beach rose. A bit of internet searching leads me to understand that unfortunately this pretty plant is invasive. It is still pretty though, and I enjoyed photographing it.

Beach rose

Beach rose with beetle

Beach rosebud

Beach rose hips, immature

Beach rose hips, ripe