Another 20+ mile hike wasn't in the stars today and frankly I don't think either of us were up to it, so we opted for only just under 10 miles back on Wheeler Refuge again with our two youngest monkeys. All sorts of new things are blooming and quite a few of them are edible, if not darn tasty.
First up, honeysuckle. Good ol' dependable, honeysuckle. Not just for the nectar anymore!
Esther and I nibbled on some wood sorrel and dandelion too.
In a bit of luck, Esther found that random roll of screen that she's always been looking for...
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| Now we can have a fancy porch! |
The trails were swarming with dragonflies on the hunt for gnats and other small bugs.
We did run into some rain on this hike, but nothing like our hike a few weeks back at the same location. We were just rounding the bend to the elevated portion of I-65 and had plenty of time to duck for cover while we put on our rain jackets and wait it out a few minutes.
Esther spied with her little eye what may be a very rare flower under the bridge. Clematis is a genus of about 300 species in the buttercup family, one of which is the endangered Alabama Leather Flower, Clematis socialis. The flower she found may or may not be this same plant, but it is closely related at the very least.
We are hoping to hear confirmation of her find soon from some local experts.
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| Gratuitous. |
After the hike we circled back around towards Decatur and pulled off 72/20 along Bibb Garrett Road to get some pictures of the crimson clover (over and over...) that's been planted in the cotton fields.
We also saw a GE locomotive pulling a long row of boxcars on the nearby tracks...
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| Right, because now I can tell GE locos from the others. |
...and found a geocache at this tree.
We wrapped up the day with cheap tacos and apple empanadas in town.
A whole bunch of other pictures can be found at the gallery by click on THIS LINK right here.
The tracklog of the hike can be viewed in Google Maps right here.
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