Soldier's Delight Natural Environmental Area

We wanted to get a hike in today, but we also wanted to avoid the traffic of everyone returning from a long weekend. Soldier's Delight Natural Environmental Area, northwest of Baltimore fit the bill. The area has some of the rarest habitat in Maryland, including oak savanna, partly due to its unique geology. You can read more about that here. The day started gray and foggy, but cleared up about halfway through our hike. We had a pleasant 6-mile walk and saw a number of flowers along the way.

 Oenothera biennis (Evening Primrose)

Red Dog Lodge, which was a hunting lodge for the former landowner.

 A rabbit looks on skeptically while I try to take its picture.

 Ferns growing on the chimney of the lodge.

 Packera anonyma (Small's Ragwort)

 A snail hiding in a borehole in a tree.

 The serpentine barrens that the area is famous for.

Arabis lyrata (Lyre-leaved Rock Cress)

 Silene caroliniana (Wild Pinks)

 The entrance to chromite mine that once operated here.

 We had lunch near this tiny pond and listened to Green Frogs call to each other.

 A mushroom near the trail.

 A white moth on Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)

 An Eastern Box Turtle.

Cerastium arvense var villosum (Serpentine Chickweed) a rare variety that only occurs in serpentine barrens