Had to stick in town today but I had time for a quick mushroom hike before the sun went down.  🍄

The trail is in great shape. Very little mud. The foliage is dense but not overgrown onto the trail. Thank you to those who maintain this park  

Lots of mushrooms. Some are just popping out of the earth and others have turned to slime. I don’t know if they’re edible but they sure are interesting. 

Today the big maple leaves falling from the trees and wind snapped twigs sounded just like baby bear might sound if one was walking in the bushes. No dogs today... just me and my imagination. 

I was out running these trails today and saw two bobcats! They were way down on the south side of the park close to the river by where that old tractor is. That was pretty cool!

Did a little exploring up on Lord Hill today. Re-discovered a good sized erratic that I had forgotten about - I'll add it to the list. At the top of the hill, it levels off to little pockets of grass and boulders amid widely spaced evergreens, and a small cliff on the backside. No view through the trees.

Went down the hill to Temple Pond, then cut thru the trees to meet the Pipeline. Popped out at the Viewpoint Cut-off, and headed up to the Viewpoint to kick back for awhile. Sat on the backside, looking up the valley.

Heard someone right below, walking up the Midway. Haven't been all the way to the southend for awhile, so decided to Forrest Gump it: "Well, I figured if I come this far, I might as well keep going. So I did."

All the way to the Quarry Bowl. But now it was nearly sundown; and I was at the wrong end of the park. Figured this would be a good opportunity to see how long it takes to do the Midway.  At a brisk walk, it took just under an hour to reach the boardwalks. Not bad; but it was getting dark...

Anyway, here are some views you don't get to see from the main trails:

A whole bridge isn't out but the boardwalk on the first section of trail has two broken boards on it, the damage looks relatively recent (at least, it was intact a few weeks ago). Easy to walk over but wanted to make sure it was known.

Fall colors will be coming soon, there are a handful of yellow leaves on the ground but one can still pretend its summer if they wanted. We took our usual kid-friendly route: Board Walks > Beaver Lake Trail > Pipeline Trail > Pipeline Cutoff > Main Trail > Board Walks back to parking lot. The grass along the Pipeline Trail is super tall, we stopped for a snack and got to listen to and watch some woodpeckers on the nearby trees. The Pipeline Cutoff is my favorite, with the big mossy trees and large ferns.

Porta potty at the trail head is clean but someone left what appeared to be drug paraphernalia in the toilet (I didn't look too closely).

Lord Hill works when I have to stick close to home. Started out a little dark and misty with yellow leaves falling from the treetops. 

My first impulse was to feel a little bummed with all signs pointing to the end of summer. Rather than thinking about shorter, colder, wetter days ahead, I had to flip a little switch to stay in the moment. The moment was lovely.

I paused to listen to woodpeckers pecking and branches creaking in the breeze. Sat at Hidden Pond long enough for the critters to forget I was there. The birds sang and frogs croaked. 

Be careful on the little trail from the viewpoint. The dirt is dry and loose and you could easily slip and land on your bum. 

Change of season means the fungus is coming!  LH always has interesting mushrooms. 

Happy Hike-a-Thon!

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