Five years ago about now, I walked the same woods that my trusty Sidekick walked a few days ago It's one of my most memorable recent walks, and I can replay it in my mind almost step by step. I had a slightly different destination than Sidekick though, I was aiming to get all the way out to this cliff and the recent rockfall that shows up to the left.
I was walking through that distant bush on top of the cliff, and trying to see if I could get to the bare gap in the cliff in the centre left.
This is a closer look at that rockfall. It happened 7 or 8 years ago when a whole slab of cliff crashed to the talus slope below.
I did get there and this is what I found, looking down over the cliff edge. A jumble of car-sized (or bigger) boulders, about 60 feet high and 100 feet wide. It will take a century or two before this is all treed again!
When I headed in the forest floor had its first flush of green, though there were certainly no leaves out on the trees yet.
But there were lots of wildflowers, like this Hepatica, one of the very first to bloom here.
Trout Lily was everywhere, though mostly just the leaves, a few plants had blossoms.
On the side of this big boulder I spotted the Dutchman's Breeches, another early bloomer.
When I did get to the cliff, the view was spectacular!
Our previous home would be just out of sight over the horizon just to the right of centre. Here we're looking south, and that's the Beaver Valley Ski Club.
And that's a Turkey Vulture flying at the same height as I am, while on top of the cliff. As I said, one of my most memorable hikes.
Today's not memorable though, at least I hope it's not - just cold and rainy, not what the first week of May is supposed to be at all!
What a great hike that must have been. You had to be pretty high up to get such a beautiful view. Love the wild flowers, things I never really paid much attention to before moving up here to the country. :) Hepatica is pretty but that trout lily is what I think you said was up the road from me. Such gorgeous flowers!! I still haven't got down the road (it isn't as far as the corner) to dig some up. Thanks for the walk.
ReplyDeleteWonderful shots and great memories for you!
ReplyDeleteAmazing views.
ReplyDeleteThat was a beautiful trek and view for sure. Quite a rock fall!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to be able to look back on walks you've done in the past - I quite often lose myself for a while in the pages of my own blog or notebooks I've kept. Glancing at maps can also throw up all kinds of memories. And last night was an ideal evening for such dreaming, as most of the rain that we should have had in April decided to arrive in May - very windy and bleak out there this morning too, so nice to enjoy photos from your hike.
ReplyDeleteThose distant views. and the huge moss covered stump, I can see a prehistoric animal crouched over, or maybe to others just plain moss. Every flower is magical as they show spring beauty in every photo.
ReplyDeleteThat was a good memory on what was, indeed, a wretched weather day.
ReplyDeleteMemories are good to have, especially of interesting places or happenings. For 50 years now I've kept a journal -- it brings back good memories and corrects the misremembering that comes with the passage of time.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos and great memories of your hike. I've never seen any of those spring flowers - they are all beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHope the sunshine we have here makes it way to you shortly.
Such a wonderful place to visit, either in memory or in person. We call the flower you label as Dutchman's Breeches bleeding hearts. They are pink and purple here. :-)
ReplyDeleteWoW!! how gorgeous!! memories like this are the best!!
ReplyDeleteThe trout lily is a new one for me. I will check to see if we grow them wild here. It is a rough looking terrain.
ReplyDeleteAs humans we certainly are fortunate to have such great memory capabilities. Well most of the time anyway. That looked like a mighty fine day for a hike.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful trip!
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