Gypsy Moth Mayhem

While hiking the Sugarloaf Trail, Tammy and I kept getting tricked into thinking it was about to rain. The occasional clouds that obscured the sun, and being under the canopy of trees, caused the light to sometimes dim as if rain clouds were rolling in. And then we would notice the sound of what we thought were raindrops falling through the trees. But then the sun would come back out, and that sound of raindrops would persist. And we never felt a single raindrop.

So we focused on that sound and decided that it was like a really, really slow rain. Almost like the rain on the very edge of a storm. Since nothing was wet and it was really more sunny than cloudy, we knew it could not be rain. But that sound of something falling through the leaves was always there.

When we later stopped to examine some caterpillars on the side of the trail, we finally put two and two together. There were lots of caterpillars. At first, I was assuming these were Eastern Tent Caterpillars, but after some searching on Google, a bit of reading (here and here) and some picture comparisons, I have decided that these were Gypsy Moth Caterpillars. The Gypsy Moth is an introduced species in North America. We have Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, and his fleeting interest in entomology, to thank for this.

The caterpillars were happily munching on leaves. Everywhere you looked you saw caterpillars on leaves, and the leaves had holes in them or giant chunks missing from them. And when you examined the trail closely, you noticed bits of green leaves everywhere. Our conclusion was that the massive number of Gypsy Moth Caterpillars were chowing down on the leaves in the canopy, and an endless stream of leaf pieces were falling down to the ground.

Sugarloaf

As I mentioned a few posts back, Tammy and I recently hiked the Sugarloaf-Keyser Run Fire Road-Hogback Mountain loop in Shenandoah. It was a beautiful day, not hot, and very sunny. Here are a few pictures from the hike. The first is a view from Hogback Mountain, looking west over the adjacent valley. The second shows the lush undergrowth of ferns on Hogback Mountain.

Other Shenandoah Stuff

While hiking, we ran across a few other things that were cool looking, but not really fall foliage.

Fall Colors

Today was a perfect day to visit the mountains and to enjoy the fall foliage. It started out cold (when we left at 6am, the thermometer at my house said it was 33 degrees outside), but it warmed up to be comfortable by the time we were actually hiking. We entered Shenandoah National Park on Route 33 and then drove south to the Loft Mountain Wayside where we parked the car and began our hike. We hiked about a 5 mile loop that took us over Loft Mountain. After hiking we ate lunch, and then continued driving south on the Skyline Drive and exited the park onto Interstate 64. Here are the three pictures I selected as the best of the bunch.

Views from Cape Perpetua

Cape Perpetua is the highest point along the Oregon Coast. The first picture made me very nervous. Just a couple more steps forward and I would be wishing I could fly. The second photo is an attempt to capture the light filtering through the vegetation on the cape.

Japanese Gardens

Right next door to the International Rose Test Garden are the Japanese Gardens. Within the Japanese Gardens are lots of very quaint and relaxing spots to contemplate whatever ails you. This picture is of a koi pond fed by a waterfall.

Blackberry

Mmmmmm...Blackberries are yummy. No...I did not pick and eat this, or any other blackberries today.

The Japanese Garden

A shot from the back corner of the Japanese Garden at Maymont. Tammy probably does not realize that she was being photographed. The wide angle lens I was using snuck her into the frame.

The Italian Garden

Here is a picture of the Italian Garden at Maymont. Lots of cool colors.

We walked into this garden from the far end, down where that dome is on the left. When we first got there, a man in purple nylon jogging shorts (the kind that are just maybe a little too short or just maybe a little too loose fitting or both) was under that dome singing. Loudly.

We were a bit stumped on whether he was part of the overall Italian Garden experience, or just some guy in purple jogging shorts who decided that the accoustics of that dome were worth experiencing. He was not singling badly, but he was in our way. And he was wearing those shorts.

We decided to avoid him and his scary shorts for a few minutes. We took a small detour and then came back. He was gone.

Summer Home of a Winter Wren

I heard a bird singing a very complicated song while I was walking back down The Anvil. The song was familiar to me, but I just could not place it. So I trudged up into the woods to find that bird. It was a Winter Wren. It might be in this picture, but that would be an accident. They are tiny little birds with a big song. I recognized it from one of my ultra-geeky birg song CDs. I have seen a Winter Wren before back home, but they are only there in winter and thus not singing.

Note that the forest floor was covered in moss and decaying wood, and my feet would mush in a couple inches each step I took. It was quite a weird feeling, almost like I could break through and sink up to my knees at any point.

The Anvil

Towards the southern end of the Schoodic Peninsula is a little hill called The Anvil. It is about 450 feet high and provides wonderful views. Assuming that it is not foggy. Since it was foggy today, I could not take pictures of the views. So I instead took pictures of what the top looked like. That is my pile of junk towards the bottom of this image. A sign on the left points you down various trails. There are rocks. There are trees. And fog. Did I mention the fog?

Guest Shot

This is a picture that Tammy took in Big Talbot Island State Park, near Jacksonville Florida. She went with black and white when taking pictures of this big gnarly tree.