All Seasons Hiking: Photojourney

Hiking at Ripples is amazing.

Fungus growing on a tree looks like a short stack of pancakes.

25 million years of geologic history is captured on Kessler Mountain.

Bluffs, stone walls, picturesque hills, mountains, creeks and tiny waterfalls are spectacular, yet also uniquely special are the sometimes unseen plants and wildlife.  There is too much to capture in just one photojourney post, so we’ll be making many more!  We live on an historic pear farm with rolling hills that beautifully capture what is meant by “amber waves of grain.”  When it’s partly cloudy and windy, cloud shadows dash across the grass faster than I can run.  In summer, there is lush green everywhere and the hills look like bowls of broccoli.  Fall is a painter’s palette of autumn colors that sprinkle the stone wall and trails with leaves.  Winter still offers a surprising amount of greens and yellows, but adds dancing frost flowers into the mix.  Moss is present on tree roots and large rocks even in wintertime.  Spring is supposedly full of tree blossoms and wildflowers, but we haven’t quite experienced them yet.  Stay tuned and we will share this magical journey with you!

The view down a gravel road in autumn, walking home.

Amanda spotted frost flowers growing in the orchards and flower beds.

Rock City on Kessler Mountain is an intriguing maze of history and wonder.

Frost flowers aren’t seen everyday; the temperature changes must be just right.

Moss growing on exposed tree roots in a unique shape.

A view towards the pear farm from Kessler Mountain.

Frost flowers are ice pushed out of the stalks of vascular plants.

A dirt road at the end of summer on Kessler Mountain.