Scenes from my 40K birthday hike in July. This trip included walking to/through four of the Rock State Park areas from my home via some quiet gravel roads with a few sections of busier roads. I was able to visit Eden Mill, the King and Queen seat, Kilgore Falls, and Hidden Valley, before returning home to finish the last couple of kilometers walking around the ponds in our own yard.
1. male Twelve-spotted Skimmer at Eden Mill
2. male Blue Grosbeak on Falling Branch Rd
3. Eastern Kingbird on a fence along St. Clair Bridge Rd
4. Mama bluebird with a meal at Eden Mill
5. male American Goldfinch on some canadian thistle along Rt 165
6. 2 Snowberry Clearwing moths on some flowering pickerelweed at Eden Mill
7. me just after my dinner meal at Hidden Valley
8. view from the King and Queen Seat lookout
Eden Mill is always a beautiful, quiet place to visit and I went through it on the way out and the way back, enjoying the birds and bugs as usual. As I continued down Fawn Grove Rd towards 165 I saw a blue heron and great egret in a pond on a farm to the left. Later there was a low-flying helicopter refilling with pesticides to spray on hundreds of acres of corn fields.The King and Queen seat was predictably crowded, with beginning climbers off to one side. I spent a few minutes taking in the view and then meandered my way back out of the park on the blue and white trail routes. I saw a few interesting birds on my walk back towards Eden Mill, where I took a right at Red Bridge Rd and then a left onto Falling Branch Rd and made my way towards Kilgore falls. These are quiet dirt roads that have very little traffic on them, even on the waterfall’s busiest days, because most people travel in from the other side which is a far shorter trip on the rutted, narrow road. The desolate farm at the corner of Falling Branch and Red Bridge was one of my favorite places of the day. I saw my first Blue Grosbeak there singing in the field. A hawk and mockingbird prowled the premises and 10 other species of birds were present within an eighth of a mile.
I was surprised to find that I had only covered around 14 miles as it neared 2 PM. My goal was 25 miles/40 kilometers (for my fortieth birthday) Besides a stop for lunch and reapplying sunscreen and bug spray, I had been on the move all day. I wanted to keep a quick pace and finish before dark, but I also wanted to enjoy myself and stop whenever a photo opportunity or chance to observe wildlife presented itself. The terrain usually dictates my pace, a mile an hour or less on winding dirt trails and up to the 3.5 miles an hour at a leisurely pace on a paved road.
I stopped briefly at the wildflower garden at the overflowing Kilgore Falls parking lot and then continued onto St. Mary’s Church just up the road a bit to visit my father’s and a friend’s grave, placing some wilted roadside wildflowers I had picked on each (invasive weeds: chicory and canadian thistle). Emergency vehicles were passing me as I headed back towards Kilgore Falls so I elected to walk right past that mess and get back to Eden Mill, where I hiked even more slowly and did some real birdwatching. Eden Mill is a great place to visit frequently, you never know what you will see as the seasons change or even week to week. On this particular day, the lower pond was teeming with snowberry clearwing moths (the ones that resemble bees and move as fast as hummingbirds). I had never seen so many in one place before, not that it made it any easier to get pictures of them... they hesitate mid-air at each flower for just a second, off to the next one just before my camera focus locks. I got a 20 ounce water and 20 ounce soda from the machine there at the nature center, and drinking that Coke was the only time I felt a little sick all day.
It was quite a hot day, and humid, too. My shoes were soaking wet from sweat before they even had a chance to get wet in the grass. I had carried about 96 ounces of water with me, filling a hydration bladder in my pack and a bottle as well. I ran out of water by the time I arrived at Hidden Valley around 6:30 PM. I at a dinner of rice and cheese from a ziploc bag. It was surprisingly good and even warm and melted from the heat. I then walked back home and finished my 40K around the ponds in our backyard.
