::sunday hike::

We enjoyed a hike at Latta Plantation Nature Preserve,
browsing the fairy houses and making a few of our own.
(See the second picture!)

~ labor day in the woods ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

South Mountains State Park....

High Shoals Falls Trail.......

~it's cold~

~splash~

~rattlesnake orchid foliage~

~under the rodedendrons~ 

~cardinal flower~

~moss waterfall~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~carrie~

~ star gazing ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My partner and I have always been interested in the night sky.

We would catch all the meteor showers,

usually in a sleeping bag with a thermos of coffee.

Now we don't stay up that late,

but we still hold hands in the backyard,

looking at the Moon and the planets and the stars.

And during our many camping trips, 

we make sure the girls have the chance to see things our light-polluted city hides:

the Milky Way and all of the stars.

On the night of the full Moon, they have a sweet treat and usually stay up to see it rise.

This March full Moon, the Full Worm Moon, or the Full Sap Moon,

was rising under a partially cloudy sky,

so even fewer stars than normal were visible,

but the movement of the clouds was very beautiful.

We moved into the darker backyard....

we protect our eyes as much as possible to preserve our night-vision.

Planes occasionally moved through the clouds,

appearing as streaks on my camera.

I like to focus the camera into a very dark place,

then release the shutter on the night sky.

I also increased the white balance and my ISO.

The line of three stars marks the belt of the hunter Orion.

The top left star is Betelgeuse and the bottom right is Rigel.

Not visible is the sword of Orion, hanging down from the belt.

In the sword area is the Orion Nebula, where stars are born.

With our regular binoculars (as good or better than the early telescopes used by Galileo!)

we can see the nebula as a hazy cloud.

A good trick to using binoculars is to to focus your eyes on the object

and then raise the binoculars to your eyes.

The light pollution is something that I didn't anticipate when moving to a neighborhood.

I look forward to the leaves budding out and blocking these street lights.

But other constellations are still visible, 

and we point out Castor and Pollux of Gemini to our twins,

as well as the Big Dipper/Ursa Major, Polaris the star and Canis Major and its bright star Sirius.

Jupiter and Venus are in the western sky right now.

They are the brightest objects, next to the Moon of course,

with Venus (on the bottom) being even brighter than Jupiter.

With our binoculars or spotting scope, we can see some of the many moons of Jupiter.

The summer time will bring less interesting constellations,

and more haze,

but we'll still stretch out under the stars, either on a blanket or snuggled under one.

~carrie~

~ sunday hike: mcdowell nature preserve ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, we decided to take our Sunday Hike on Saturday,

and I decided I didn't feel like posting it until Wednesday.

We hiked the Shady Hollow Trail at McDowell Nature Preserve,

and then connected with the Cove Trail, 

for a nice, long (for kids) hike.

We found some of the first Spring ephemeral wildflowers!

I could go on and on about these, 

but I think I'll save botanical stuff for a separate post.  

Maybe I'll even get an in-focus picture of these little beauties, eh? 

Daddy knocks on this hollowed out tree to see if anyone is home.

It looks like the perfect flying squirrel residence, but we didn't see anyone.

Dead standing trees, called snags, are a very important part of the ecosystem.

Winter allows you to gaze through the forest.

This forest is not that old, 

but the fact that it isn't choked with saplings and invasive species is a good thing.

We come down the hill and walk along the shore of Lake Wylie for the rest of the hike.

Lela and Liv ran ahead, while Laurel took her time to poke among the stumps at the water's edge.

We pause to play and explore in a little cove.

Lela has found a catkin of some sort, washed up on the shore.

It was a bit more of a reddish color than this picture shows.

Many different trees produce flowers like these, and they're a lot of fun to play with!

In the little cove, the banks are steep and covered with beautiful mosses and lichens.

Their forms are exquisite and near-endless in variation. 

Below, little reproductive stalks lift the moss spores above the fray. 

Mosses have an other-worldly quality, at least to me.

I get my nose as close down to them as eyesight will allow,

and notice spider silk floating over what I imagine are tiny trails and burrows.

I feel as if I could stare at it for hours, 

gently probing,

and feel certain a little faery would poke her head up.

The mosses and lichens crowd each other, 

growing as closely to one another as they can.

Lichens are a fungus and an algae, growing together for mutual gain.

I imagine that their cooperative spirit is contagious, 

and the resulting neighborhood is friendly and helpful.

Maybe this little lichen sends up its little spore stalk (the cup-like object near the middle)

that can also double as a bird-bath for tiny faery-birds.

I can definitely see little pixies lounging around this acorn cap hot tub!

I have to move on from my magical macro world,

and unscrunch my back and legs.

Zelda is always watchful, and keeps her eyes on the girls.

She's just about the best dog in the world!

Laurel finds more spring wildflowers!

  A beaver scent mound marks territory....we're getting close to their dams! 

  

About the point on our hike, I ripped the end of my toe badly with a stick.

My eagerness to wear my Chacos on this warm afternoon.......

Walking around in a bloody sandal (yuck) 

meant that I missed taking pictures of the vast beaver activity along the creek.

Another post.....

Even more spring ephemerals!

I will be sharing more about these beauties soon.

  

 We rounded off our hike with a few minutes of creek exploration.....

 ......and grapevine swinging!

This is such a great park! 

If you're in the Charlotte area, you should definitely visit McDowell Nature Preserve!

~carrie~