mountain laurel — 2012 — The 21st Century Matriarch

Gambrill State Park is in the Catocin Mountains near Frederick, Maryland and is a pleasant morning trip from where we live. Morning is the key this time of year - before the heat of the day gets too over powering. We were there by about 9 on Memorial Day and it was pleasant but humid...then warm and humid by the time we finished our short hike. We only hiked about a mile through the woods - enough to see some of the highlights of the park at this time of year.

The mountain laurel was in bloom...and the bees were enjoying the nectar.

And then their were ferns - at least three different kinds. They were well past the fiddlehead stage and transforming swaths of forest floor with their floating green. Stumps and fallen trees peek through the fronds in the slide show below.

The mosses grew in cracks of rocks and nearly covered others making them look like green islands in the leaf mulch of the forest. They seemed to not grow so well on the quartz as they did on the other rocks.

There was plenty of evidence of the storm that came through the night before: the muddy trail, small branches with green leaves detached from their tree laying on the trail with water droplets still intact.

The insects were warming up as we got ready to leave; next time we'll try to remember the insect repellent!

Goshen Pass Natural Area Preserve in Virginia is a natural heritage area under the auspices of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. We followed the directions in the fact sheet to the parking area located 1.7 miles north of the VDOT rest area on State Road 39 West. There is a swinging bridge to take across the Maury River. It was a great way to start and end the hike!

We were there in the morning and noticed that the little bit of extra warmth from the sun peeking through the clouds made the birds and butterflies more active. It was a wonderful woodland walk. The mountain laurel was just beginning to open and there were other flowers that seemed to be a bit further along in their blooming than what we saw in Shenandoah.

After the hike, I noticed more flowers blooming near the parking lot and walked over to take a look at them. The big surprise was the first hummingbird moth I'd seen this year. These are fun insects to photograph because they are big enough to see easily - but also a bit of a challenge because of their speed. Even with the coolness of the morning, this specimen was extremely active!