Into the woods!

 It has been a long week of appointments and the frustrations of an ending (just the job folks - don't worry!). The weather has been cold and wet. We were expecting sleet and snow flurries. And because of this nasty weather the puppies and humans have been inside way too long.

Our walking friends were going to brave the raw weather and so we joined them at the creek.  We decided to explore off our usual path and walked for hours around this western side of the wildlife area .  We visited places we had not seen. I am not saying we got lost, but we lost sight of the high power lines - our landmarks once we are out of view of the large tree by the old homestead.

It was not "like herding cats." I think herding this bunch of dogs was actually harder than "herding cats." They spread out in all directions. They found amazing scents and followed into thick stands of cedar. They found deer bones which they proudly displayed and gnawed. Someone was always wagging a nasty bit of joint and gristle back to the group. There were no fights, but the "king/queen of the bone pile" never seemed to want to let go. Humans employed some trickery to remove these yucky bits.  [The most persistent chewers? - Paddy, Stanley and Hugo.]

Paddy also decided to try and stop our exiting the park. The walk never seems long enough I suppose. As I did the "shimmy" across the concrete bridge support * Paddy somehow crawled between the wall and me. Then she stopped. Nothing I said or did could budge her across. Finally TDW called her with the magic word (you guys know - cookies) and she moved so I could move.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, just extremely muddy. The water was high - almost high enough to stop our crossing.  We hope to explore again this weekend "if the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise."

Other than the cottontail rabbit that ran into the woods I caught most of what I wanted to picture. Here's what we saw:

The nettles mock me!

There was moisture, but not as much as during our last walk when drops or precipitation covered everything.

The dried grasses were flattened in swirls. Whether or not we found a path, walking was easy.

Paddy is watching some of the others head for the cedars (where the deer hide).

Look at the texture of this dried wildflower. I am not sure what it is, but I think it beautiful.

More drying wildflowers.

Many small trees were scattered in the area. The prairie could quickly be crowded by this scrub and brambles.

My sweet babies stopping for a minute. They see me put the lens cap in my pocket and think I am getting cookies out.

I was trying to picture the thorns on some of these brambles.

A bit of dewberry vine. In other spots the vines cover the ground creating

I saw what looked like yellow petals surrounding this tree (rather reminiscent of Christo's Surrounded Island** in yellow)

Then I saw this horse apple/Osage orange. The yellow petals were the detritus of destroyed oranges.

An old rock wall (?) and wooden fence line. Evidence of long ago land use.

El Diablo (dried goldenrod)

The dried weed is beautiful.

Dried seed head

Probably more dried goldenrod.

Bright pink berries

Light woods and somewhat camouflaged walking friend.

Lichen (not as bright as seen on last week's damp walk

More lichen

Bird nest low in the brush

Close up. This was the first of a number of nests seen as we walked "off path"

More bright yellow lichen

This lichen seems almost coral-shaped

The whole scene was shades of grey (can I say that?)

Part of ab

Another nest

More woods

I am not sure what  this is - still covered in sage green leaves.

Leaves against the overcast sky

Tomatoes of the silver leaved nightshade

Rusted tin can seems to have been here a while. I am not sure it it was used for target practice or not.

For Alice. This place will be covered in bluebonnets this spring if the roundels of leaves are any indication.

This intermittent stream was flowing rapidly to the creek. Perhaps we have had more rain than we thought.

When we saw the stream I noticed a wooden bridge in the distance. In trying to reach the bridge we found this old road.

And we found the bridge. Hugo was fascinated and started to walk on one of the metal beams supporting the bridge. Hugo started shaking and we managed to call him away.

I am not sure I would try to cross this bridge. We should follow this road and see where it leads.

It is probably not too far to fall, but it would be cold and wet. I think that is Hugo's print.

One final nest - this one well over my head.

I attempted a photo inside standing on tiptoe with my camera stretched out in one hand. Oh well.

Oddly shaped tree trunks

One almost feels like elves should be looking out.

We found ourselves far from the park entrance as it began to get dark. I stopped taking photos and we navigated by the power lines. 

 NOTES:

* A reminder of the ledge we walk along. I am not sure how my big feet and Paddy fit side by side on this thing. Anything to keep from going home, I guess.

 **http://christojeanneclaude.net/projects/surrounded-islands#.VLCf_6bDHLU