First Day Hike - Mid January Version

Way back in 2021, a group of us headed out in the the New Jersey Pinelands, scouting out a potential route for a First Day Hike.

Well the first day came, Patty and I were in Florida, and back in New Jersey the weather was craptastical, so the hike was postponed. 

Until January 23rd. A cold but otherwise gorgeous day.

Which meant Patty and I could join in on the fun! Woo Hoo!

Our fearless, mostly, leader Terry, and her brother from another mother (and father) Tom.

We wandered down old sand road. Where by old it means from the 1940s. Older than all us hikers.

At which point we turned down another sand road, provenance unknown. Spoiler alert: it's sand roads all the way around.

Except for this bit. The sand road was bisected by this watercourse. The logs in the background a bridge we, where we were mainly Joe, a retired carpenter who helps maintain the Batona Trail these days, 'built' to cross.

Only five of us were brave enough to cross. Our previously fearless leader was not one of the five.

And off we went down a sand road covered with pine needles.

Along the way we spotted the remnants of a number of Earthstars. A type of fungi.

Patty likes Earthstars. (So do I.)

Eventually we made it to the beach, one of many such along the Wading River.

Not your typical beach attire. That's Joe, of bridge building fame, on the left.

A picturesque tree. On a warmer day a spot to sit and dangle one's toes in the stream.

Picturesque in the other direction as well. On weekends in the summer it would be crowded with kayakers. Some of us hikers, myself included, have been a part of the crowd.

On the way back we passed by what remains of the original Evans Bridge. A bridge Joe had no hand in the construction of. At least as far as I know he didn't.  

We exited the woods just south of the aforementioned Batona Trail. Joe may have had a hand in the construction and-or maintenance of these bridges. 

We then headed back to the cars for a bit of refreshments, shrimp, a variety of cheeses and meats, yummy lemon bars, chips and dip, among other stuffs. And took turns sitting on Terry's accordion chair.

Image courtesy Terry Schmidt

A good time was had by all.

Pinelands CBC

Once upon a time skill with a rifle meant food on the table. And birds were food.

And as with anything humans do, that skill was turned into a contest. And that contest became a team game, seeing which team could shoot the most birds in a day.

A skill useful to survival, putting food on the table, became one of excess and needless death, most of the birds (and other critters) shot in these contests left to rot.

A stream at our fist stopping point.

Then at the start of the 20th century Frank M. Chapman proposed a different activity. Instead of killing birds let's count how many birds we can see. And thus the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was born.

And for over a hundred years folks have been going out around Christmas time and counting birds. An incredible scientific resource, a database of bird population changes over the years.

Image courtesy Patty Rehn

A Golden-crowned Kinglet, one of four at this site, 

taken by Patty with her phone.

Patty and I have been adding to the database, for Area C of the Pinelands Christmas Bird Count for the seven years we've been here, including this past Sunday, when saw 35 different species (in line with previous years) and 986 individual birds (a bit on the low side, it was windy).

There is still time to get in on the fun. Here is a link to find a CBC near you. So get out and count some birds! It's fun, and it's science!

First Day Hike, Thanksgiving Edition

One of our friends Terry coordinates a First Day Hike every non-pandemic lockdown year. 

And this year is no different. 

Terry takes this responsibility seriously, despite what the image may convey.

So a couple of days after Thanksgiving we were wandering down muddy dirt roads in the Pines. Checking out a potential walking tour.

Looking at the occasional bird.

We wandered about a very picturesque area.

Once upon a time populated, now part of NJ's State Forest system.

And that's a good thing.

Some of the land is still privately owned, the bit on the other side of the dirt road by the Nature Conservancy. And to the that to the right of this image on this side by a cranberry farmer.

It was a very nice day for a ramble. And while we're not out of the woods yet (pun!), if we're smart about it we can return to normal-ish life.

But in the end, Terry decided that this was just a bit to remote for a First Day Hike. 

So she'll be leading a walk somewhere else on January 1st. 

And I hope you all find a First Day Hike to start your new year.

Leonard In The Sky ...

... with astronomy friends.

This past Sunday, I woke up in the middle of the night, got dressed, grabbed my gear, and went out in to cold. And it was cold. I drove down Route 206 to Atsion Field. There I met a fellow astronomy club member Joe, who had arrived sufficiently earlier to set up his scope and find the comet. Later another club member, Steve, would join us. It was very nice to be out with like minded folks under the stars.

We were there to see Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1), to be specific. The first comet found in 2021.

I had set up everything the evening prior. And was ready to go. 

The best laid plans ...

This is the first shot after I achieved focus. Note the pinpoint(-ish) stars. (Bigificaiton is suggested for all the images in this post.)

Finally, I found it (the green fuzzy bit). But the stars ...

No longer points. Nope, a bit on blobish side.  Grrr ...

It seems that I mounted the camera "backwards" on the ballhead. And thus the knob for the ballhead was hitting the mounting plate release lever. As Joe can attest, it took awhile for me to figure this out. Somewhere along the way I tweaked the focus. Of course, it looked fine on the small screen of the camera.

Note the location of the comet relative to the stars. In the time we observed it moved a noticeable amount. Very cool to see.

If you look closely at this image, you'll see a meteor trail or satellite track just to the left of the comet. It is very faint in the image. We saw several meteors in the two plus hours we were there. And one rather bright satellite as we were preparing to depart.

We observed until it got too cold (my hands were actually in pain, as I had to take my gloves off to futz with the mount) and the Sun began to intrude on the night.

☄️  💫  ⭐️  💫  ☄️

This comet was discovered on January 3, 2021. And it was expected to be the 'best' comet of 2021. And it was. Although for small values of best. It may become a naked eye object, barely, before it disappears in the glow of the sun. It will then become an evening object. albeit low in the sky, for northern hemisphere observes, once it reappears.

I had not been thinking of this comet until the last meeting of my astronomy club, when Joe mentioned plans to go out Sunday morning. I'm glad he did. 

Thompson-Wright Revisted

I noted in the Thompson-Wright post that that visit would not be my last. And true to my word I visited again this past Saturday, this time to just to explore. And Patty came with me.    

I walked from my house to the Preserve, and while I was waiting for Patty to join me I noticed this sign. Specifically I noticed the nails. Either this is very hard wood, a weak hammerer, or there is play left for the tree to grow out. I suppose I'll need to check back in a few years to find out.

The sign was on a sand road leading into the western side of the Preserve.

But today we explored the eastern side. Note the clear blue skies.

Not sure what this strap/belt is for, but it has been there for some time.

My old Kentucky home .. it looked as if the color had been sprayed on.

We've noticed this pattern in oak leaves before while wandering in the Pines.

Patty drew a connection to the fungal pattern. Coincidence?

Clouds are rolling in ...

Piney engineering.

The roads are surprisingly well maintained. Perhaps because of off road vehicle use? We heard, but did not see, said vehicles during our explorations.

A road not taken, at least not by us. It may connect up with South Firelane Road. 

It was obvious that maintenance had been done on the roads/trails. It was also obvious that it had be awhile since it was done.

Not clear if this was 'maintenance', accidental damage, or the work of some critter.

Along the northern edge of the Preserve is a deep ditch. The bridge built by the Piney engineers spans it, and the Road not Taken traverses it. And the above image is of an old water control station that connects the ditch to the Burrs Mill Creek, the water flowing under the sand road. I wonder the last time anyone used it tp actually control the flow (it was wide open when we passed).

The end of the road (and thickening clouds).

Or at least a gap, the road bisected by the Burrs Mill Creek.

The view from the other side. An approximately mile and a half detour.

The Creek the road I live on is named for.

A nice way to spend a morning. And I doubt this will be our last visit.

Fork Run Recreation Area

After we finished our hike at Swallow Falls we stopped at Fork Run Recreation Area, some 3.7 miles away. What a difference a couple of miles made.

This is one of the three species of fungi I saw on the trails.

And this was another. There were plenty of downed logs throughout the are we hiked. I would have expected them to be covered in fungi.

There were plenty of interesting lichens though.

Which are made up of a fungi and an algae. So there is that.

We were no longer a wet woods, but rather a dry uplands. Albeit wet from the morning's rain.

There were rocks.

Some conveniently numbered.

And all used by rock climbers, although there were none around when we passed through.

We started at 1, took the red trail to 5 where we switched to the yellow trail. Our plan was to take the blue loop in numerical order, but we missed the turn by 11 (it was not marked). So instead we took the white trial to the blue trial, and did it in reverse. Finishing up by taking the yellow trail back to 1.  A short hike, two miles or so, but a nice walk all the same. We then headed back to the house at Deep Creek Lake for more food and drinks.