This week I hiked on Wednesday (7/16) and yesterday (7/19) at Flying Squirrel Preserve. It's a beautiful county park with a variety of habitats and terrains.
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| Distant rain and faint rainbows. |
On Wednesday, my hike was between storms, which offered a nice breeze on an otherwise hot day and dramatic skies. A few highlights from my weekday hike included seeing around 2 dozen Pearl Crescent butterflies and several Meadow Fritillaries!
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| Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) |
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| Meadow Fritillary (Boloria bellona) |
I was thrilled to find an other-worldly plant that doesn't photosynthesize and instead is parasitic. I've only ever seen Ghost Pipes a handful of times, but I'm always fascinated by their delicate petals.
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| Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) |
Another highlight was finding a variety of slime mold that's new to me! I was attracted to some bright orange dots on a log and upon closer inspection, I found that they were smooth and shiny, and indeed a slime mold!
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| Salmon-eggs (Hemitrichia decipiens) |
Towards the end of my hike, I was walking along the gravel drive and noticed twin White-tailed Deer just off the trail. I snapped a photo then quickly and quietly moved on since they seemed concerned by my presence.
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| White-tailed Deer fawns |
Here's Wednesday's 2.83 mile path:
On Saturday (7/19), temps were a bit cooler and the humidity was finally lower than it had been for the past month. I set out to explore more of the trails at Flying Squirrel Preserve.
Actually, I wanted to hike all the trails this time. I packed plenty of water and a few snacks and set off. Despite having a goal of a faster pace and more miles (which I did achieve), I was still able to find some incredible slime molds and fungi! They seem to be thriving with all the moisture we've had lately.
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| Common Bird’s Nest Fungus (Crucibulum laeve) |
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| Olive-brown Cup (Chlorencoelia versiformis) |
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| Push Pin Slime Mold (Hemitrichia calyculata) |
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| Common Coral Slime Mold (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa) |
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| Common Coral Slime Mold (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa) |
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| Club-like Tuning Fork (Calocera cornea) |
Here's my 5.52 mile path from Saturday:
I'm doing these hikes and writing about my journey in order to raise money for cancer research through Pelotonia. I'll be participating in Gravel Days in October and hiking 7 miles with Pelotonia's Team Buckeye. As I did for June, I will again be making a donation towards my Pelotonia goal at the end of the month based on my number of miles hiked in July. One way that money raised by Pelotonia participants goes to help end cancer is through Idea Grants. These grants fund teams of cancer researchers to gather the early data that they need to later be able to apply for larger grants.
Thanks for following along! If you'd like to help me reach my fundraising goal, click here: https://www.pelotonia.org/profile/AW975358
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