Dan Ingalls Overlook Trail

View from the Dan Ingalls Overlook.

 

The day after my workshop at the Red House had taken place I decided to explore the Dan Ingalls Overlook Trail. A few days earlier I had stopped off at the overlook to take in the amazing view on my way back from Warm Springs, and thought the trail would definitely be worth exploring. It was probably not going to be an easy 1.2 miles to the top, because the first portion looked to be a steep climb uphill.

This tract of land on the highest portion of Warm Springs Mountain was acquired by the Nature Conservancy some 40 years earlier, according to the self-guided tour signage. It had previously been grazed for a long time, with only a few large shade trees growing on it. It was thus surprising to see how quickly the forest and native vegetation had regenerated. 

The signage identified a number of native trees and a few that weren't: American Linden (Tilia americana), striped maple (Acer pennsylvanicum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), Norway maple (Acer platanoides, a non-native species), Pignut (Carya glabra), red hicory (Cayra ovalis), and bitternut hickory (Carya cordifolia), American hornbeam (Carpinus carolinianus) and hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), black cherry (Prunus serotina)--in all a great diversity of species.

Solomon' seal (Polygonatum biflorum)

Once I got past the steep meadow, the trail leveled off into the forest, where I came across several Solomon's seal plants of impressive stature and bloom. Nearby were some early Meadow Rue plants exhibiting flowers of both sexes, again huge in size. I deduce that part of the fertility of the soil here might be due to all those years of being enriched by cow manure.

 

Meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum) with male flowers

Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum)

 The Virginia waterleaf had just about finished blooming, but other summer flowers such as spiked lobelias, some heucheras and a native beardtongue I'm guessing is Appalachian beardtongue (Penstemon canescens) appeared by the sides of the trail.

Spiked Lobelia (Lobelia spicata)

Heuchera americana in bud.

Appalachian beardtongue (Penstemon canescens)

 

I kept walking on the path through the forest, grateful for the shade--it was quite warm when I started and had become hotter as the afternoon progressed. Eventually I reached the top loop, a rocky promontory rising above the rest of the terrain. I wish the trail guide had warned about this stretch--it was tricky footing to get around the rocks, and I could have used a climbing pole or two here.

Whorled loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia)

There were huckleberry plants growing among the rocks, and whorled loosestrife was blooming profusely. I found an interesting plant with blueberry-like flowers, which after looking it up I believe is spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium). This plant is more typical of New England and northerly climates; I presume it's one of the remnants of boreal vegetation that migrated south during the last Ice Age and persists in the higher elevations of the Appalachian mountains today.

 

Spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)

I reached a staircase leading to a raised stone platform that offered another view similar to the one from the roadside overlook, though a bit cut off by the trees. The platform is probably some five hundred feet above the road overlook.

View from the top platform

 

The trail over the rocks reminded me somewhat of the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls Park in Maryland, but shaded and much more overgrown. Blackberry vines grasped at my clothing, and at one point the displaced vines swung back hard enough for the thorns to scratch me until my entire arm was covered in blood. I managed to find a paper towel to wipe my arm, fearing attracting blood-sucking insects, before going on.

 

Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies.

 

Once I completed the rocky loop backtracking on the trail now downhill, I reached the starting point in much less time than it had taken to get to the top. Back in the grassy meadow I found two lovely Great  Spangled Fritillaries dancing among the flowers, and got a nice shot of them. It was beastly hot, but I drove to Warm Springs, and sweaty as I was, stopped at the art gallery there to see if it was open, which it was. I made my purchase and drove back to the Red House, getting there just in time--a severe storm broke as I went into the house.

The wind and thunder were ferocious and the rain came down in buckets (neighboring Highland County recorded a rate of two inches per hour). The power went out a few minutes into the storm, and the outage lasted about three hours. I ate a cold dinner by candlelight that evening, since I couldn't reheat my leftovers, and put a pan in the kitchen to catch the drips from the roof.

A Walk in My Woods

I really miss the Virginia native Plant Society (VNPS) hikes this spring, so on 4/29 I decided to do a spring walk in the woods in back of my house, to see how many plants I could identify on my own. I usually don't go in there after the trees leaf out because I fear the poison ivy and noxious insects, but at this time of the year it's fairly safe.

There are several dogwoods in bloom that can be seen from my back yard. The big trees are mostly black and northern red oaks in their dotage, with some hickories (Bitternut and Pignut). The fact that there is a quite a diversity of plant species leads me to believe that my patch of woods is a small strip of native vegetation that was left undisturbed when the neighborhood was built, probably because the slope down to the drainage ditch is so steep.

Over the years I've managed to identify some of the understory trees. The distinctive flowers of the Witch Hazel trees (Hamamelis virginiana) are visible in the fall and winter months; there is a large patch of them on the east corner of my lot extending into my neighbor's.

Witch hazel

Another understory tree on the opposite (western) side of my lot is the American Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). About three summers ago I noticed a particularly abundant crop of the characteristic hop-like fruit on several trees in back, which allowed me to identify them. My explorations this spring reveal that these are growing all over.

Hop-hornbeam 

Pignut

There are several hickories too--Pignut hickory (Carya glabra) and Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis)--the nuts fall into my yard and the squirrels bring them too. There's also the ubiquitous red maples, perhaps silver and other maples I have yet to identify, bird cherries (Prunus avium), a few dogwoods, and possibly a Serviceberry that bloomed sparsely earlier on.

Further down toward the forest floor are a bunch of what I believe are Late Low Blueberries (Vaccinium vacillans)--much browsed by deer--and some shoots of bedstraw.

 Blueberries

Going down the steep slope towards the drainage ditch I found a few Lady ferns, (Athyrium filix-femina) and patches of Winterberry (Gaultheria procumbens) and star chickweed (Stellaria pubera) on the forest floor. There were also goldenrod shoots, blackberries, and the usual annoying honeysuckle vines.

Chickweed with Wintergreen

At first I wasn't sure what the plants below were, but farther down I found one plant with flowers and was able to identify it as Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum). I'd seen two lovely specimens of this plant farther up the slope a couple of days earlier, but when I started to look for those, they'd vanished. Eventually I located two decapitated stems--the deer had eaten them!

Solomon's seal

The day was so warm and lovely that I continued downhill crossing my neighbor's woods towards the creek that flows from a neighboring farm. There is a small clearing here where more sunlight reaches that can host moisture-loving species typical of our area: Golden Alexanders (Zizia aptera), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), and Bluets (Houstonia caerulea).

Golden Alexanders

Spring Beauty

Bluets

Walking along the spongy creek bed I noticed a distant clump of shrubs and small trees with bunches of white flowers. These looked so familiar, I got closer to confirm my suspicions, and they were native Black Haw Viburnums (Viburnum prunifolium), exactly like the two planted in my yard.

Viburnums

Doubling back towards the drainage ditch, I found a plant of Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), a clump of Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum), a Buttercup and more Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum).

Golden Ragwort

May-apples

Rattlesnake Weed

In my own back yard again, I continued through my woods toward the other end of my property, coming across lots of patches of Squawroot (Conopholis americana). This plant lives as a parasite on oak tree roots, and has no leaves.

Squawroot

I also came across a small woody plant with unfurling leaves that I thought might possibly be a native azalea, although the leaves seem a bit large for such. I'll try to keep track of this one as it grows to see if I can identify it.

Unidentified

I continued walking through the woods under the Hop-hornbeams before emerging onto the grassy hillside on my other neighbor's property for the conclusion of a fruitful afternoon exploring my woods.