A Ride on Skyline Drive and a Walk in Patuxent Wildlife Refuge

We have another big bike trip planned this year, so Saturday, we did our first mountain ride of the year on Skyline Drive. The weather couldn't have been better: bright, sunny, and highs in the 70s at higher elevations. We didn't realize it was a fee-free weekend in Shenandoah National Park, but we should have know because we got the last parking place in the lots just before the north entrance. There was definitely more traffic than usual and there were more cyclists than usual. We chatted with one of the fee station rangers that we know at the end of the day and he said they had nearly 50 cyclists ride through that gate. In spite of all of the people, almost everyone was considerate on the road, so I really can't complain about the crowds.

Little Devils Staircase overlook  and Old Rag in the distance.

The bikes resting at the top of Hogback at milepost 21.

Looking south from Range View overlook at milepost 17. Spring is creeping up the sides of the ridges.

Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot). Pretty flowers are as good a reason as any to take a break from climbing hills.

Redbuds blooming with Compton Peak in the background.

Apple blossoms.

Sunday morning, we drove up to the north tract of Patuxent Wildlife Refuge near Laurel, Maryland. As often as we've visited and ridden in the south tract, we had never made it up there. It is so much quieter. We saw fewer than ten other people there. We were only there for a couple of hours because we needed to get some work done in the garden, but we definitely plan to go back and explore further.

 Bailey Bridge Marsh

Claytonia virginica (Spring Beauty)

 Mertensia virgnica (Virginia Bluebells)

A cool fungus on a downed log

 Erythronium americanum (Trout Lily)

 Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman's Breeches)

We were lucky enough to see an osprey. If you click and enlarge the photo, you can see it near the center of the photo. It isn't the best picture of an osprey that I've ever gotten.

Skyline Drive Sufferfest 2013.1 and a Short Walk in the Woods

Yesterday, we rode our first Skyline Drive Sufferfest of the year. We rode from Front Royal, Virginia to Elkwallow Wayside in Shenandoah National Park and back again, for a total of 48 miles and almost 4,800 feet of climbing. It is one of my favorite rides in the area. The road is in great condition, most drivers are considerate, it is a very challenging ride, and the view at every turn is just incredible. One of the best parts comes right at the end:  After working hard, grinding up miles-long hills all day, the reward is a six mile descent back into Front Royal.  All things considered (only our second ride of this length this year and our first real climbing ride), it went very, very well.  This ride was part of ramping up training for Cycle Oregon, which we are doing in September.

My bike at Hogback overlook, the highest point of our ride.  We could not have asked for better weather:  temperatures around 80 and very little wind.

Michael and two of our friends who rode with us at Hogback overlook.

The view from Hogback overlook towards Front Royal and where we started.

Today, Michael and I went for a short (3 miles) walk at Patuxent Wildlife Refuge near Bowie, MD.  Although it is less than ten miles away and we ride there regularly, we hadn't hiked there in several years. It was quite a bit hotter than yesterday, but most of the walk was in the shade, so it was still enjoyable.  We paused for quite a while at the dam at Cash Lake to watch swallows diving and weaving to catch insects over the water.

Asclepias syriaca (Common Milkweed) near the visitor center. There were a lot of flowers blooming in the sunny meadows, including three species that I had never seen before.

 A mushroom along the Valley Trail.

 Rubus allegheniensis (Common Blackberry). No ripe ones yet.

Look closely and you'll see a tiny little toad. We saw several of these little guys along the trail in the woods. This one looked like a pebble until he jumped. He was only about an inch long.

Erigeron annuus (Fleabane) near the Cash Lake dam.

Nymphaea oderata (Water Lily) on Cash Lake.

Solanum carolinense (Horse Nettle), which is a member of the Nightshade Family.

Baptisia tinctoria (Wild Indigo - yes, really, even thought it is yellow).

Nuttallanthus canadensis (Blue Toadflax).  These flowers are only about 1/4 inch long. This is one of the species I hadn't seen before.

A dragonfly on the trail near the dam.

Scutellaria integrifolia (Hyssop Skullcap).  This is another one that was new to me. I didn't get a good picture of the third, Lyonia ligustrina (Maleberry).

A pretty island on Goose Pond.

Rainy Weekend - Patuxent Wildlife Refuge and the first spring flowers

The weather this weekend kept us from driving long distances to go for a long hike.  Yesterday, it rained hard most of the day.  The forecast for today was more of the same.  We decided to go for a four mile walk in Patuxent Wildlife Refuge in Laurel, MD just to get outside.  We piled three people and two dogs into our little car and drove over there in the rain.  This only works for short drives.  Once there, the rain stopped and we started the loop with the Fire Road Trail.  It was no surprise that standing water covered the trail in some places; in others, the trail became a running stream.  There is a lot of storm damage, particularly the holly trees, which did not take the heavy snow well.  The outlet stream from Cash Lake was over its banks, creating a second pond beneath the lake.  We saw several geese and a pair of ducks on the lake.  We had the trails completely to ourselves at what is normally a very busy park.

Pictures (click to enlarge):

The trail had become a full running stream in a lot of places.

An interesting fungus on a pine tree.  I don't know fungi very well, so I don't know what kind it is.  It is about the size of a golf ball.

Spring Flowers
Spring flowers are starting to emerge from the ground.   We found Simplocarpus foetidus, the aptly named skunk cabbage, in Rock Creek Park.  It is not the prettiest flower, by any measure, but it is one of the very first wildflowers to emerge in the spring.  Its odor and structure are adapted to drawing ground dwelling insects.  They crawl inside the flower seeking carrion and pollinate the flowers.

Simplocarpus feotidus in Rock Creek Park.

Snowdrops, one of the earliest emerging cultivated flowers, are also popping up everywhere.  Crocuses won't be far behind.