A Tour of Timberdoodle

We may not be the best family to hike with- it is hard to see wildlife when two toddlers are being quite loud after all!  We invite you to join us anyway as we give you a tour of Timberdoodle Flats, an interpretive trail in the Allegheny National Forest. 

The Bluebird Trail is hardened with limestone, so we'll be following that one today with the kids in the double stroller.  You might hear us lovingly refer to that big clunky stroller as "The New Ride."  That's just it's name now.  Look!  You can see the blaze for the Bluebird Loop.  We're on the right path.  It's a half mile, and it ends right back where we started. 

You might not see any bears or deer with us around, but you can certainly hear the many varieties of birds twittering in the treetops. Perhaps they don't appreciate the toddler babble! Of course the birds will have to cope because we are coming through!

The late afternoon sunlight is filtering through the treetops making patches of light fall across the path and on the layer of ferns that characteristically grow on the forest floor.  It's this time of day when the ferns seem to glow with filtered sunlight. 

 We've come to one of the many birdhouses found here in Timberdoodle.  A timberdoodle is a bird after all. It's also known as the woodcock.  We just learned that today here at the trail. 

It's time to stop for a Geocache.  We don't like to go on a proper hike without doing one!  While Scott searches off path for the cache, let's look at all of the many many burls on the trees right in this area.  They can be caused by mold, insects, or another injury to the tree.  The wood in these burls has an uneven grain, and they are used to make expensive artwork and furniture. 

Scott found the cache dangling from a tree branch, so let's sign the log and move on.  Here is the next Bluebird Loop blaze.  It joins the Woodcock Loop in this section.  

 

 Here we come to one of the twelve signs that make this loop "interpretive."  This sign is mostly informative, but our favorite one is the one that is accompanied by a patch of mud where you can check for tracks.  We don't see any, so we'll have to come back here again another time. 

Apple trees are a great place to spot wildlife because they come to rely on it as a food source.  We don't see any right now, so we'll just have to keep walking and enjoy the scenery.  

 Right before the end of the loop we find this march covered in lilly pads.  Thanks for hiking with us, and I hope that you enjoyed your visit to Timberdoodle!

Tags: timberdoodle, flats, interpretive, trail, loop, bluebird, woodcock, marsh, swamp, pond, lilly, pad, birdhouse, burl, geocache, wildlife

789 Steps

Watkin's Glen State Park was an amazing part of our trip.  We are pretty close to New York when we visit the camp, but this was still quite a drive.  I thought that maybe it wouldn't be worth it, but I was very wrong!  I did not expect to see 19 stunning waterfalls with deep pools and amazing views.  The hike included walking through caverns and over stone bridges.  Not to mention I walked under/through several waterfalls which is pretty amazing especially on a hot August day.  Enjoy my favorite photos. 

Tags: Watkins glen state park, hike, gorge, canyon, steps, wildflowers, waterfalls, caverns, photograph, pictures, new york, finger lakes

Jake's Rock

This is an amazing spot.  As with most of the places in the Allegheny National Forest, I remember coming here since childhood.  On one truly amazing, I saw magnificent turkey vultures hovering at eye level since we were standing on the precipice of a cliff with an extraordinary view.  My husband (well, we weren't married yet at the time) and I stood and watched the amazing birds hover and circle and soar until they left.  I always hope for such an amazing experience to happen again when I visit. 

This trip was made complete with two noisy toddlers, so we didn't see much in the way of wildlife, but the ground was damp, and there were wild mushrooms and toadstools popping up everywhere.  I don't know anything about mushrooms, so I could not forage, but I certainly can photograph.  The purple ones were something I had never witnessed before.  I just found out now that they are fairly rare, and edible too!

Besides some beautiful scenery, we also found a geocache, and we did our first Earth Cache too.  It was a large one at the end of a beautiful hike.  the trees were all double or triple trunks since the area had been logged many years prior.  I was blessed to visit the place where so many happy childhood photos were taken, and I plan on taking my kids back many times for some photos of their own!

Tags: hike, Jake's Rock, geocache, fun, woods, forest, toddlers, path, moss, mushrooms, forage, cache, fern, fern, trees, overlook