Monday, May 31, 2010

Walks

I have decided that the walks at Whiting Road are going to be my exercise. Some of my friends do the "athletic walk" thing, round and round on a track. That's just not my cuppa. Too boring for me, though, they love it. So, to start at least, I am going to go on a trail walk every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. With the walking I do at the track on Saturday, that should help strengthen me up.

Last Wednesday, I did the Blue and Yellow Trails. There was lots of stuff to stop and take pictures of.

Fleabane



Elderberry



Canada Mayflower



Blackberry



I found where somebody had dined on fresh greens.



And saw a mass of baby spiders, getting ready to set out into the world.



The Blue and Yellow trails are probably the most popular of the trails there. They're the easiest, and go through different terrains. When you see vistas like this, I can see why people love to walk this trail.



Friday, I did the Orange trail. This is the trail that goes through the Great Meadow for a good part of its path. Bikers like this trail because it is quite long, and it has some grades. It doesn't seem to be so popular with walkers, maybe because you're out in the sun for a good portion of the time that you are walking.

The Hawkweed was out in force.

Yellow Hawkweed



Orange Hawkweed -- Not as common as the Yellow, and I only found a couple of patches.



Many Yellow Hawkweed.



There were flowers everywhere.

Creeping Buttercup



Multiflora Rose



Nightshade



And, this weird thing. I'm not even sure it's a flower. Every plant of its kind had this thing on top of it. It's not leafy feeling, but, rather, hard. So it's either a flower, or some kind of disease. If it is a flower, poor thing, to always have people wonder if you are a disease.



Here is a video of the Great Meadow itself





The Great Meadow used to be an orchard, and, along the perimeter, I found this remnant, still valiantly putting forth apples. I bet the deer love this tree in the fall.



The meadow is threatened by this plant -- Black Swallowwort. It's a plant that used to be planted in gardens at the turn of the 20th century. It escaped, and now represents a real problem. Unfortunately, it's practically impossible to eradicate.



Oh, and the spitbugs are flourishing.



Whiting Road is in an area that, long ago, was part of Lake Ontario, when it was much larger. So, the soil is very sandy. I'm including this picture because you can see that it can look exactly like beach sand.



I thought that this was kind of neat. These bushes only produce leaves at the top. Underneath, the horsetails have found just the shelter they need to survive in the Great Meadow.




But, the Orange trail isn't all through the meadow. It transitions quite abrubtly into woods. It's like walking from one world to another.




So, the last part of the journey is through cool, dark woods. Up and down a bit, also.




The Orange Trail is very long and I was pooped at the end. But, now really, isn't this better than walking around in circles?

Today, the Red Trail -- all deep woods.

10 comments:

Tina said...

WOW how nice, isn't it more fun to walk there then on the sidewalk and blocks in your neigbourhood? I would say so. Do you have to drive a fair distance to get to these trails or are they close by? Do you know all the flowers as you take pictures of them or do you take the pics first and then find out what they are? Just curious...again i know nothing about flowers and plants whatsoever...so I am learning a lot and am always happy when I recognize a picture you posted as something I have seen lol.

Neville Henry Fotheringham said...

What a lovely place to go for a walk!

Upupaepops said...

absolutely, I agree with you walking or running in circles is a dreary thing. I am so pleased you have a program of walking. You will get to know the details and make wonderful discoveries. You will need a good pair of weatherproofs so you dont have to stop due to rain. I like NEOS ( New England Over Shoes) by company of same name. They live in my trunk and slip over whatever shoes I am wearing. water and weed proof.


get a little magnifying glass so you can snoop on the details, like the baby spiders or the inside of the flowers.

Louise said...

Tina, the trails aren't too far from where I live, and it's a lovely drive, so I don't mind making it.

I started taking note of the flowers around me because of Upupaepops' blog "Meandering Washington" http://meanderingwa.blogspot.com/. I love following her adventures on the trails out there, and she suggested I do the same for the eastern trails. The only difference is that I decided I would concentrate on one set of trails, and follow them through the seasons.

Most of these flowers I have seen all of my life, but never noticed, if you know what I mean. I have had a wonderful time actually looking around and learning about what I'm seeing. I try not to put too many up that I haven't found out the names for though I have a flowering shrub right now that I'm struggling to identify. You could probably find quite a lot to study right at the Donkey Sanctuary.

Upupaepos, thanks telling me about the NEOS. I'll get a pair. I'm looking for the small magnifying glass.

IsobelleGoLightly said...

Lots of lovely things to eat up there! Very pretty tooo!

Sharon said...

I agree that walking trails are so much better than a "track" besides seeing the beauty around you, you are working a variety of muscles that you wouldn't simply going round and around a flat surface.

Nice pictures! (No ah-choo!)

allhorsestuff said...

Hi there!
Your plan sound like a goodie!
I too hate the round and round stuff...give nature's variety!
Love you photo's!
KK

allhorsestuff said...

Louise!
Hay thanks for signing up to "Follow/Lead/Share" at my horsey place!!!
I could have sworn i have seen you at my place long ago...your white horse profile logo is very eye catching!
Come back and tell me of who that fine horse is...or post about the beautiful creature!
Thanks KK

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I loved your walk!! It's so full of beautiful scenery and nature--When you walk on a track you miss all of that!! THANKS for taking us along!! I hope your week is off to a good start!

Terry said...

Thanks for taking me on a walk in the woods!

The spider photo was really interesting - I've never seen a big group of baby spiders.