mistressofmuses (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mistressofmuses) wrote2025-07-27 08:27 pm
mistressofmuses) wrote2025-07-27 08:27 pm
Tuesday, July 22: Roxborough State Park (again)
Last Tuesday we decided to go to Roxborough again, to do one of the other trails. We typically take the trail that goes down toward the old house, but there's another trail that goes the other direction that we've only taken once or twice.
After the more-tiring-than-intended hike on Monday, we also wanted a fairly mellow hike, which this one is. It's also a no-dogs park, which was fine, because Bella had a very tiring day on Monday too, haha.
We got a slightly later start than usual, because we had some errands to run. I discovered on the Monday hike (after I fell) that my shoes were way more worn than I had realized. They never had great tread, but the soles right at the balls of my feet were so thin they were in danger of wearing through pretty imminently. Like... could see light through them. So I needed new shoes, and we wanted to get a backpack for Alex, since the over-the-shoulder bag was what was pressing on his neck and causing problems. But success! I got better shoes, he got a backpack, and we were off!
Nice view looking back at the rocks and the valley.
A lizard on the pathway up to the visitor center. It looks like he lost his tail at one point, and has a new one growing back.
A honeybee on asters!
I love little insect houses. <3 A mud dauber wasp nest.
Lizard on the rock!
The visitor center has a log book where you can record any wildlife sightings you have in the park. We always like to stop and check for anything interesting. This entry was in there the last time we came to the park and it made me smile, so this time I took a picture:
Wildlife: boreal toad; Location: on trail; Field notes: Cute!
(Typically "location" is asking for where in the park. A+ field note, too.)
So then we headed down the Willow Creek trail.
Of course, the start of the Willow Creek trail basically provides two things. Hemlock, and...
Just... so much poison ivy. So much.
(I have never gotten poison ivy, though I've tried hard to avoid it. Years ago in Maryland I made the foolish decision to try and climb up the side of a mountain to check out a weird building foundation we could see from a trail. It was... not really worth the trip, and I'm pretty sure that everything I grabbed on the way down to avoid plummeting down the steep hill was actually poison ivy. If so, I've simply been lucky enough not to have reached my lifetime limit on poison ivy... but who knows how long that luck will last, haha.)
So much forbidden candy! Lots of oak galls.
Some nice rock formations.
A dramatic spiderweb.
More rocks!
The asters were blooming really nicely here, too. With a cute beetle!
Yucca and rocks!
This was a relatively short hike, but it was nice. I still generally prefer the other trail, but I'm glad we did this one again. Alex had a slightly better time on this one than the previous day, and the backpack definitely seemed to help. Still had to stop a few times to rest, but an improvement for sure, and the more frequent rest breaks are probably a good idea anyway.
After the more-tiring-than-intended hike on Monday, we also wanted a fairly mellow hike, which this one is. It's also a no-dogs park, which was fine, because Bella had a very tiring day on Monday too, haha.
We got a slightly later start than usual, because we had some errands to run. I discovered on the Monday hike (after I fell) that my shoes were way more worn than I had realized. They never had great tread, but the soles right at the balls of my feet were so thin they were in danger of wearing through pretty imminently. Like... could see light through them. So I needed new shoes, and we wanted to get a backpack for Alex, since the over-the-shoulder bag was what was pressing on his neck and causing problems. But success! I got better shoes, he got a backpack, and we were off!
Nice view looking back at the rocks and the valley.
A lizard on the pathway up to the visitor center. It looks like he lost his tail at one point, and has a new one growing back.
A honeybee on asters!
Ten more pictures:
I love little insect houses. <3 A mud dauber wasp nest.
Lizard on the rock!
The visitor center has a log book where you can record any wildlife sightings you have in the park. We always like to stop and check for anything interesting. This entry was in there the last time we came to the park and it made me smile, so this time I took a picture:
Wildlife: boreal toad; Location: on trail; Field notes: Cute!
(Typically "location" is asking for where in the park. A+ field note, too.)
So then we headed down the Willow Creek trail.
Of course, the start of the Willow Creek trail basically provides two things. Hemlock, and...
Just... so much poison ivy. So much.
(I have never gotten poison ivy, though I've tried hard to avoid it. Years ago in Maryland I made the foolish decision to try and climb up the side of a mountain to check out a weird building foundation we could see from a trail. It was... not really worth the trip, and I'm pretty sure that everything I grabbed on the way down to avoid plummeting down the steep hill was actually poison ivy. If so, I've simply been lucky enough not to have reached my lifetime limit on poison ivy... but who knows how long that luck will last, haha.)
So much forbidden candy! Lots of oak galls.
Some nice rock formations.
A dramatic spiderweb.
More rocks!
The asters were blooming really nicely here, too. With a cute beetle!
Yucca and rocks!
This was a relatively short hike, but it was nice. I still generally prefer the other trail, but I'm glad we did this one again. Alex had a slightly better time on this one than the previous day, and the backpack definitely seemed to help. Still had to stop a few times to rest, but an improvement for sure, and the more frequent rest breaks are probably a good idea anyway.
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Love the red rocks among the greenery. That is a cool spiderweb.
I'm immune to poison ivy, so far. I need to be extra careful, because I can have it on my skin and not realize it, transfer to other people.
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It's really nice how green everything is this year. It's certainly striking with the red rocks! The spiderweb was very neat.
Being immune to poison ivy is pretty great... but I don't want to squander my apparent immunity, haha. Though good point - I hadn't even thought about the potential to accidentally transfer it to someone else!
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Water is heavy, sadly.
Poison ivy immunity can go away and I def don't want to test it. More exposures means more chances for the body to start reacting.
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It's terrible how heavy water is, haha. Definitely the most important thing to bring, but... so heavy.
Same here. I'll appreciate my immunity, but I don't want to squander it, ha. I know it could always decide to desert me!
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Also, at first I didn't notice the spider web because the tree looked like a living being; the knot looks like an eye and the branch looks like a horn, so it looks like some kind of cow creature to me.
I'm glad you got new sneakers! Maybe they were the reason you fell.
And that Alex got a backpack to relieve his neck pain.
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Haha, it really does look like a creature, now that you say that! Some kind of cow or elephant creature or something... Demon tree! :)
Super glad about the new sneakers. They're very comfortable, and actually have soles, haha. I might have fallen anyway - the thin layer of mud was SO slick - but the completely worn soles certainly didn't help at all! I've slipped on rocks and such other times, and that really might have been because they were so worn.
The backpack has been really helpful. Distributing the weight (especially when we are trying to be so good about bringing lots of fluids to drink!) more evenly is very good.
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I'm glad the sneakers are comfy! And that the backpack helped.
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Eeeeep! Yay for new shoes! (And for new backpack!)
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Aww @ the honeybee on the asters! ^_^
LOL @ the "Wildlife Sightings" log entry haha, that's fantastic. xD
Blegh @ the poison ivy patch haha. Somehow I've managed to avoid poison ivy/poison oak exposures or at least never gotten it myself either, but like you and others have commented, it's probably a degree of immunity or lack of reaction due to limited encounter sort of phenomena for the time being. Fingers crossed we never test that theory out though haha.
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The bee was so very cute.
The wildlife sighting entry made me smile. "Cute!" is absolutely a perfect field note, haha.
I know that it's apparently fairly common for some people to have an immunity to poison ivy, but allegedly that immunity can always wear off, once your system decides it's had enough of that, haha. I'm with you: fingers crossed we never reach our lifetime limit.