Chilling in the Bruce, Part 4

Plaque at Bruce's Caves

We stopped for lunch at a covered picnic shelter by a lake, where one of the birders in our group spotted a beautiful loon swimming along the shore. Unfortunately, the loon was just too far away to photograph, and I hadn't brought my new telephoto lens along today, so I settled for just observing him through my binoculars. The iridescence of his black and white mating plumage was lovely as he dipped his beak in the water looking for small fish, and he lingered along the shore for a long time.

After lunch, we drove a short distance to visit Bruce's Caves. The plaque above tells the story of eccentric Robert Bruce, youngest son of an impoverished Scottish noble family. Given a small allowance to live on, he chose to emigrate to Canada, where he bought land in the peninsula that now bears his name. He lived in this cave for a number of years before he was able to build first a small shack, and later a larger cottage where he lived to the age of 84. While living in this cave, he would arrange to spend the winters in the local jail to survive the cold.

Our group at Bruce's Caves

These caves were carved under the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment by erosion from the waters of the Great Lakes at a time when the water level was much higher, rather than by filtration, as most limestone caves usually are. Here we found many of the same plants found in the previous rich wood sites, along with some new ones: large-flowered bellwort, sharp-lobed hepatica, two-leaved toothwort, and rose moss.

Large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)

Miterwort (Mitella diphylla)

We had a hard time trying to identify the large-flowered bellwort until we found one flower. I'd seen rose moss before growing in Virginia, but this patch had fruiting bodies, which was unusual. Other flowers were just so lush, it was impossible to resist photographing them.

Two-leaved tooth wort (Cardamine diphylla)

Rose moss (Rhodobryum roseum) with fruiting bodies

Wild ginger flowers (Asarum canadense)

Large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflora)

At the end of the trail Bruce's Cave showed as two large openings separated by one pillar. The cave was quite large and deep, a good-sized suburban house would have fitted inside, and I wondered if the rubble on the floor had accumulated since Mr. Bruce's days or if he had lived there with the cave in the exact same condition. Had he cleared enough rubble for a space to sleep, a chair and a fire, at least?

Bruce's Caves

Exploring the inside of Bruce's Cave.

On the way back we examined a hop-hornbeam tree in full bloom and found some female flowers hiding under the foliage, something that although I have several of these trees growing in the woods behind my yard, I'd never seen at this early stage.

Hop-hornbeam tree with pendant male catkins.

The female flowers of the hop-hornbeam

With the chilly rain still penetrating the woods, we returned to the Evergreen Resort to warm by the fire.