Not really too much to report, other than listening to spring peepers, some turkey hen clucks, watching some wood ducks, and seeing both deer and bear sign.
As it was 70 out, I went out with just my sandals on. Mind you, my initial thoughts were to walk to a local stream, and simply fished. But, I kinda got sidetracked. So, what I DID do, was decide to see how well my luna sandals would hold up in early spring new england woods. Well, I put a little over a mile on them (according to my phone pedometer, about 6000 steps) , and the verdict is, they held up fine. Of course, with open sandals, in the woods, you deal with things like thorns, dirt, sticks, etc, getting between your foot and the sandal-but thats as simple as shaking it out. One thing I did notice, is I slow down-far more careful about foot placement. Although, was never concerned about the dampness of the ground. I crossed several streams (and walked through 2 swamps) with them, and they held up fine. So, anyway, here are a few pics I took:
There is still snow in the woods!!! Not much, just little patches that are in cool, shaded areas.
A TRUE New England sign of spring is the blooming of skunk cabbage!
When walking through the woods, in sandals, your feet WILL get dirty. And wet. And muddy. But, at least you dont have to deal with wet socks!!!
Also, cleaning them up is a breeze. Find a stream, insert dirty feet-problem solved!
New England woods look sparse before all the foliage. It makes for fairly easy walking during the shoulder seasons, as the ground is clear, and its FAR easier to choose a walking path. Even without trails!!
I found this while wandering. Something was searching for grubs!!! I had ran into a bear about a mile from here, as the crow flies, digging for grubs last fall. Looking at this rotten log, and the destruction, I'd hazard a guess this is from a bear.
Just a random, cool tree. Nothing special, it just caught my eye.
These little seed pods are all around the pine trees. I have seen them all my life, but am unsure what trees they come from. Any help would be appreciated in identifying them. The woods are predominantly pine. I would hazard a guess they are from birch trees? But am not sure.
The area I hiked was once a training area for the Army-specifically, training during WW2 and VietNam. There are still signs of old foxholes, and, in some areas, even whole trenches, that you can come across just wandering around.
This is an old trench line, mostly filled in with debris now.
The local river, which was my original goal-but, I took to wandering aimlessly instead :)
There is a lot of history with the Nashua River, here in Massachusetts. One largely of industrial waste, and the cleanup project that continues to today. Its the greatest environmental success story in New England, and maybe in the entire country. The Nashua was so polluted, the river changed colors regularly, depending on the dyes used by clothing mills and newspaper printers-we used to play games, as kids, guessing which color it would be. Today, its been cleaned up, fish and amphibians once again inhabit the waterways. Egrets, ducks, herons, turtles, frogs, and several species of fish have returned. As a result, predatory animals now inhabit the area too-fox, river otter (their hole seen below), and several varieties of hawks and owls now hunt the shores and waters of the Nashua. Even the fresh water clams have returned!
Anyway, that was my little trip for the afternoon. A well needed walk in the woods! I hope you enjoyed the journey!
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