Sat&Sun May 19&20, 2012 Old Rag Cottage

There are many commercially available houses, cottages, bed & breakfasts, hotel rooms, cabins and hostels available within a short drive of Shenandoah Natioal Park.    The one pictured below is within a mile of the Lower White Oak Canyon parking lot.

Jason S is one of the Rangers who is at the Old Rag Boundary Station this year.

Bluetts were plentiful especially along the Saddle Trail.

The Mountain Laurel was at its peak.

There are many trails on which hikers can no longer see Lady Slippers from the trail because hiker picked or tried to poach them.    We are very fortunate to stilll be able to see this rare flower from Old Rag's trails.  Please do not disturb any Lady Slippers you see in the future so that  future generations will be able to enjoy them!!!

My friend Louise was visiting from Texas.

We were blessed with a one of Old Rag's often wonderful sunsets.

The lights of Culpepper can be seen in the distance from one corner of the summit of Old Rag.

Not only does this cute little tree frog blend in to the bark of trees but his coloration blends pretty well with Old Rag Granite as well. 

If you are lucky you will get to see one of Shenandoah National Parks Black Bears.   If you are camping or having picnics in Shenandoah National Park you should read up and be smart about bear bags and protecting your food.    Bears that learn about human food are bound to become problem bears that may eventually need to be put down.  

The following link offers good information about North American bears:

http://www.bear.org/website/

 Ursus americanus

SAW MY FIRST FIREFLIES OF 2012!

Louise Casey Clukey Louis Casey Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey

Louise Casey Clukey Louis Casey Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey

Louise Casey Clukey Louis Casey Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey

Louise Casey Clukey Louis Casey Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey Louise Casey-Clukey

Sunday May 31, 2009 New Shirts and Fireflies

Sunday May 31, 2009

Just as GLOWUORMS (the Global Worldwide Union of Old Rag Mountain Stewards) was pondering a strike, our shirts arrived and the need for the strike disappeared along with the morning mist. Now the hikers will be able to recognize us even from a distance.

Just look for the big giant Red Spotted Newt(Eft) colored folks with the Old Rag Trillium blaze on their shirts.

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/salamanders/notvir.htm

Newts and other little creatures are often on the trail please be careful not to step on them. The newts often come out onto the trail during and after rain storms. Despite their beautiful color they are not as easy to spot as a Mountain Steward. On the other hand if your not seeing one of these guys good luck with the Copperheads and Rattlesnakes which sometimes (fairly rare but it does happen) cross our trails.

LITTER
Of course the better you get at seeing these things the better you will get at seeing any visually obnoxious gag reflex inducing litter left by those who have not heard about Leave No Trace. We have a lot of newbies on this mountain please get up to speed on outdoor ethics.
http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles.php

Except on our shirts I did not see any Trilliums they have truly passed until 2010. The Pinxter/Mt Azela bloom was in its last waning. The Mt Laurel were in the earliest stages of their 2009 bloom. Speaking of waxing and waning we had around a half moon showing in the late afternoon and evening.

MY SHADOW HAS NOT SHOWN ANYONE HIS TATOOS
He is very quiet, not much for conversation. My shadow very seldom scares any wildlife away. He seems to only like to join me on fair weather daytime hikes and he is not fond of the noonday sun(he never carries enough water). My shadow has been known to join me on rare bright-moonlit hikes. Even though he appears to be deaf, dumb and blind he is an idiot savant at both playing monkey-see monkey-do and also at practicing perfect Leave No Trace ethics.

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HELP YOUR SHADOW AVOID BEING TRACKED

Master trackers and sign cutters are taught that their only clues when tracking a shadow will come from past eye witness accounts, pictures, or by tracking the person whom the shadow has a symbiotic (some argue parasitic) relationship with. Considering this last fact, as a favor to your shadow, please behave such that no master tracker can find your shadow through your careless mistakes. You may even want to consider going one better than taking nothing but pictures and leaving nothing but footprints since these are the primary clues a master shadow tracker will be looking for.

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If your shadow could talk he would tell you that the one allowable exception to this request is when you are lost and need to be found.

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Struggling between his advocacy for Old Rag Mountain and his desire never to found by a master tracker my shadow would only release me to use this photgraph of him if I waited at least 12 hours before posting it.

Shenandoah Sunset from near CCC Stairs. If your hiking party is seeing a scene similar to this one than each member should have a light and a backup light. That is unless you intend to bivouac over night and hopefully survive to see the sunrise.

FIREFLIES ARE OUT

http://iris.biosci.ohio-state.edu/projects/FFiles/frfact.html

Travelling down the fireroad in the dark I saw the flashing of my first fireflies of 2009. I have spent evenings on the fire roads when their displays were absolutely magical. Mid June to late July seem to be the prime times for Firefly displays. Sometime during August their numbers slowly fade. I was surprised to learn from my young west coast nieces and nephews that they had never seen them before. Turns out there are no fireflies on the west coast. Such a shame for such a wonderous act of nature not to be shared by the whole world.