More Hiking At The Nature Center

As we head along the trail from the hut where Trevor and I sat and became friends… we come up to a trail on the left…. to the right is a special place we will come back soon to see, but to the left is a trail I call Niamh’s trail. She loved this trail and all of the collies love strutting down it for it is rugged, hilly and beautiful.  Cedars everywhere… high ground on the right, lower ground which is a swamp to the left as we walk on this low path….. When I walk this trail I love the beauty and adventure but I always become a bit sad for I remember Niamh…..

This is a place where they teach students about nature and the trail goes on behind these seat stumps….

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We are going down the trail and you can see the slant of the ground and its always green with pines and cedars all year….

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Lil Hallie and Lad looking at it all and enjoying it immensely….

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The trail ends here and swing up a steep hill to the right… but here are the twin Cedars we love to see. Actually they are 3 Cedars as you can see if you look closely that the one on the left actually was two trees which grew together… 🙂  We have picnicked under here and rested and enjoyed the beauty.  It is fun when it is just the collies and I, or my family with us or when my friend Georgia goes with us.  Soo, I will have to take my friend with us for she loves walking too… since it is getting into the walking season here it wont be long before we go several times a week again… 🙂

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These Cedars are huge for Cedars… if you look closely the one on the right was broken off in a big storm years ago, but she still lives and thrives which makes my day everytime I see her.

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We will now head back to where Niamh’s trail began and we will go to a spot Trevor and I discovered together…. or as I call it, Grandmother Cedar…..   its a special trail to get there and I can’t wait to show you the matriarch of the nature center….

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This is a picture from a very long time ago with Niamh….. it has to be at least 13 years ago……  a collie’s lifetime… it makes me pause since Niamh has now been gone 7 years…. you would think I would not miss her as much as I do…..

 

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Hiking At The Nature Centure-3

As we meander along the side of the Enchanted Forest we come up to a split in the trail.. to the left goes back into the Forest, to the right we go down a curvy steep decline to a river……. we have picnicked here, we have rested here, the collies get a water break here and we enjoy the beauty.  We have seen lots of ducks here…

In the winter this can be tricky to get too, but its worth it.  As you can see in the picture there are two fallen cedars in front of the drop-off along the river.  These trees have been fallen for over 20 years and are still alive!!!  We usually sit on them and enjoy the beauty here as the water slowly flows by.  On the other side you can see a steep embankment going up…. You can see Cedars and Pines…

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Here is a slightly different view from the same spot.  We love it here in the mysts, fog, rain and snow. It is a beautiful spot and so peaceful.  While we used to sit here Trevor would water the two trees, other bushes and trees in the area. Niamh would sit right next to me.  Big Hallie and Lil Hallie look at the water and enjoy it and then scan for squirrels…..  Lad whines since we have stopped moving.. Sadie would grumble for she wanted to get done… LOL…

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We turn around and climb back up the steep hill that has a deep bowl on one side.  Many times we go off to the right and go onto what I call the wild trail.  We will come back and go here but first I want to re-enter the Enchanted Forest…

As we go back into the Enchanted Forest we enter into a area where the trees are older than the rest of the Enchanted Forest. These Pines are very tall and as you can see, in rows!  Well, the CCC was here…..  As we walk down this trail between the beautiful rows of Pines I remember finding a Cardinal and a Blue Jay on different occasions who had died in the branches during the winter and had fallen onto the snow looking like they were still perched on a branch without the branch.  We buried them since the ground was still soft on both occasions.

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As we walk along the row of Pines we come to a slight opening on the left…. we go in and we are back into the Enchanted Forest.  This spot they build campfires and teach classes. There used to be logs to sit on embedded into the ground, until this visit. Like Trevor they are now just a memory…..

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Here you see Laddie…. this is where the log eats used to be.  Those who remember the story of Trevor squatting over a stump and … well… doing his duty upon it during one of our walks…. this is where it happened. We still laugh….  WHat is beautiful  about this spot is coming in the pre-dawn morning and sitting here and looking up at the stars through the opening in the canopy that is here. It gets dark and I mean pitch black here so you can’t see anything except those stars and it is stunning.

Now, we will turn and go back towards the river…..  Come back tomorrow to see more of our walk…..

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Our Walk At The Nature Center-1

The other day it was cold, rainy and windy and we packed up Lil Hallie and Laddie to go to the nature center for a walk.  We have walked at the nature center for 20 years…..Lil Hallie walked with Trevor at the end of his life and Laddie learned walking from Trevor when he was a puppy.  This was our first trip there since before Trevor passed and I had some mixed emotions.  It is sort of like letting go the last part of Trevor…. I miss him everyday and its hard sometimes, but life has to go on.

Do, we packed them into my truck and off we went.  Hallie in the back looking out the back window like her grandmother Hallie did, Lad with his head between the front seats looking at where we are going and whining on and off as he is impatient.

We pull up and Lad perks up and by his face I know he recognized the place after all these years.  Lil Hallie did too….  We unloaded them and headed for the trail with lil Hallie trying to cut of Lad and guide him where she wanted him to go (her grandmother Hallie did this to Trevor all the time!) and Lad watering everything in site and then strutting ahead of lil Hallie (just like Trevor did to big Hallie) so it was eerily a deja vu moment!

As we came up on the opening in the pines I could smell pine and the wonderful fall smells. The pines are much prettier than in the picture for they are tall and green and it gives it a mysterious dark look as we walk the curvy trail into the forest.  Ah, the cool crisp air felt good and my mind thought of Trevor and I missed him but I also wanted to make this fun so I said a prayer under my breath and talked to him and move along.

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As we moved around the curve into a small glen Lad was trying to figure out what to water as lil Hallie looked up and then smiled her glee!  As you look on the ground you will see between the plants these little pine like plants growing up about 4 inches high. I do not know what they are called but I sure would love to have some in my Japanese Garden at home.. they are so cool….

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As we rounded a bend we came back into the woods and ahead of us you can see the trail curves left or right.  To the Right I call it the Hallie and Trevor trail… it is curvy, hilly, narrow and since it was wet very slippery. So we went to the left towards the enchanted forest…..  Lad as you can see is looking back for I stopped to take the picture and he is impatient.. LOL

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The color is past the prime at the nature center while we are at the top of our colors 12 miles south of here…

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A mile down the trail we are coming up to a bend in the distance.  Around that is the entrance to the wonderful Enchanted Forest….. Nimah loved strutting through here.. Trevor would do his twinkle toes power walks and lil hallie and lad moved in unison at a quick pace…. on this trail one time I found a dead Red Tail Hawk….  look into this picture in the center and you will see two trees the trail bends just past there and the world changes…. the enchanted forest you see is a pine forest full of red pines and it has moss, red pine needles and black dirt with fallen trees and depending on which angle the sun is at it will be dark, or glow red or glow green.  The enchanted forest is also unique in that when you enter it is deadly quiet… like someone turns off the sound… strange.. but I love it there.. especially in the fog…. or in the snow….. it is fantastic.. and tomorrow you will learn more about it and see it…

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