Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A Walk in the Woods

Yesterday we went to Tony Betz (tonebetsu) Forest, where we cross country skied in the winter.  Most of the snow is melted, so we thought it would be a nice day for a hike.
Most of the trail early on was open and in the sun, so the snow had melted there. The snow under the pine trees was sheltered and covered with pine needles.


Later in the year Ted will camp with first year students here.  There is a nice bath house and an area for cooking out.


There were a lot of large trees down. The weight of the snow caused damage here as well as in town.







We saw this interesting hole in a tree that looked very new. It looks like a pretty big hole for a bird.


It was exciting to see tiny wild flowers popping up through last fall’s leaves. Ted took some very up close pictures.



I saw this viney thing on several trees.  Is this Japanese poison ivy?


We had been in the woods for an hour or more all alone, when all of a sudden one of Ted’s aikido friends popped over a down tree.  It seems like everywhere we go we see someone that Ted knows.

 We hiked awhile with Ted’s friend.  There was more snow on this lower trail area.  You will notice that he was wearing big boots, while we slopped through the snow and mud in our gym shoes.


 The water in the stream was high and fast with all the melted snow.


We had a nice afternoon in the woods.  The forest is close to where we live so I expect we’ll be back often.

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