Whalechaser's Musings

No Matter Where You Go...
There You Are
Make the Best of It

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Hobbs Conservation Area - Shaddox Hollow Trail

Today, I went with a group sponsored by OLLI for a hike at Hobbs State Park Conservation Area on the Shaddox Hollow Trail which is a loop trail 1.5 miles in length. It was my first real outing since my accident and I was concerned about my ability to handle it, but it went pretty well. I did the hike and enjoyed the cruise around Beaver lake on a pontoon boat, then lunch at War Eagle's Bean Palace. We caught a thunderstorm for our return trip, but our driver handled it very well. I have to admit that I was pretty tired when I got home and a little achy, but I am hoping that I am healing well and will be getting better as time passes. I know I am much better than I was when I first got home from the accident a month ago.

What was really special about the hike today was that there were so many wildflowers blooming. I felt like I was walking through the pages of a Tim Ernst book...wildflowers everywhere! So without further ado, here are some of the shots I got on our hike:
I will attempt to label them, but I know very few plants...any help is appreciated!
We took a group vote on these and concluded that they are phlox...
This is wild Iris, and just too pretty to behold!
A sassafras sprouting..what makes this unique is that (if you look closely) there are actually 5 different shaped leaves coming up from the same plant...most unusual!

Jack in the Pulpit, so...amazing
ok...here is where I can use a little help
A mayapple bloom
Half the group (including me) had already walked right past this fellow...probably only six or so inches away from our feet was this Pygmy Rattlesnake; fortunately someone in the group asked "what kind of snake is this"?  Yes, it is as poisonous as a copperhead.  He was ready to strike into action, but fortunately none of our group gave him (her) a reason to.
A little more identification help needed here...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures! Glad that you are now recovered well enough to go enjoy the outdoors :)