Dolly Sods on Fire

Heading east from the rolling hills of southeastern Ohio, fiddling blues and folk rock filled the car and the minds of three like-minded people who are connected by a deep fascination for the outdoors - each equipped with their own perspective on nature to create a well-rounded, inspiring atmosphere. As hills grew into mountains, the entrance to God's country appeared quicker than our ears could pop. Color greeted us at the gates from a palette full of anthocyanin, carotene, and xanthophylis pigments. We arrived with our headlamps guiding our path, hinting towards an unfamiliar landscape through moonlit red spruce treetop silhouettes. By morning, a sense of shock seemed commonplace as we sat and built a warm fire beneath a grove of colorful, stunted blackgum trees -  eggs, bacon, and summer sausage would fuel a long day of hiking.

 I've wandered through no other place as vibrant during autumn as the sub-arctic tundra of Dolly Sods Wilderness Area in northern West Virginia. I hiked the same trails exactly one year from this past weekend; though, the views seemed completely fresh as this weird-weathered year continues to bring surprises. Rather than last year's colorful forest canopy, the low-growing understory and meadow plants seemed to be burning brighter this year probably due to such a dry spell, which helped trees shed their leaves much quicker.

We moved through the upland sods with the falling leaves. Mountain oat grass, hay-scented fern, and blueberries created an enchanting weekend for Kaitlyn and Alex who have never experienced Dolly at her best. Alex (a former guide at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of the northern woods) and Kaitlyn (a prolific rock climber and trip leader at Hocking College Outdoor Pursuits) both thanked me by sharing stories and teaching me about camp-cooking tricks and "leave no trace." It's so rewarding to have the chance to share a place as beautiful with good friends.

Golden carpets of hay-scented fern provided a beautiful aroma along the trails. These ferns not only out compete other plants through forming dense colonies, but also through their alleleopathic chemical composition, which inhibits growth of even the mightiest of tree species like oaks.

From the meadows to the forests, biodiversity means color during autumn. My home-state of Massachusetts was well represented with its state fower, "mayflower," mixed in with bristly dewberry, deer moss, sphagnum moss, and blueberry leaves. Beach-maple forests lit up the normally darkened woodlots.

Early on, we were graced with a heavily anticipated show from the sun.

A photo from the same spot exactly one year later. This year, blueberry leaves and quartz deposits added an extra element of beauty at Bear Rocks overlooking the alluring Allegheny plateau. The geology is made up of white sandstone.

Within minutes upon arrival to this view, we were quickly swept with a familiar sight of billowing fog rolling up from the valley. Instantly, we were able to fully understand the presence and power of sub-arctic tundra weather - Dolly Sods.

Cool Plant Discovery on Hocking Campus

I thought for sure that my next blog post would be a good two weeks from now detailing my trip next week to the Ozarks. But you never know what exciting natural wonders might pop up - even on your daily walk to school. In fact, I've been walking the same path to school for a few years and I just now came across an odd looking plant: Black chokecherry (Photinia melanocarpa). According to BONAP and USDA Plants Database, this plant doesn't exist as a native in Athens County; however, it was planted years ago in the nearby Waterloo Wildlife Area, which is also in Athens County, as well as in landscaping. I'm not sure whether or not this plant emerged from a wild seed but it sure is a pretty native plant nonetheless.

What I found most exciting about this is that it has emerged and survived in such harsh growing conditions. This old train trestle also had wild hydrangea (Hydrangea aborescens) - an indicator of rich habitat - growing out of its crevices. That just goes to show that human disturbance is not always a bad thing. Southeastern Ohio's bedrock is sandstone, which is what the foundation of this train trestle is carved out of. The exposed outcrop-like sandstone combined with the shade created by the bridge creates a sort of disjunct habitat for plants that are tolerant to those conditions.

A Garden of Art

Just finished and shipped a custom drawing for Daricia (A Charlotte Garden) - my very first customer. She provided me with a picture of her house and a list of her favorite plants and animals. I included a few native North Carolina woodland spring ephemerals that occur in Ohio as well. Thank you again for providing me with an opportunity to be creative and to have some fun in between classes!

Extra Early Ephemerals

Today, Andrew Gibson (The Natural Treasures of Ohio) took me on another stroll through his stomping grounds of the biologically diverse Adam's County, Ohio to explore an extra early array of spring ephemeral plants. There, we found approximately 20 new early bloomers for the year!

One of the highlights for me along the trip was the Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale). Of course, as the common name implies, this species - the smallest of the 8 Ohio trilliums - emerges so early that they are often blooming through snow. However, they certainly didn't have to live up to their epithet this winter.

The white trout lilies did not disappoint either. Like T. nivale, this species tends to prefer calcareous soils, which are aplenty in Adams County with such an abundance of dolomitic limestone parent material. We were surprised to see them blooming this early; we were absolutely mind-boggled to see that many had already gone to fruit! The noble plant on the right is surely the king of the ephemeral forest.

Only one bloodroot was to be found today among a complete absence of rue anemone. Similarly, there was no spring beauty to be found, either. We were a bit curious as to why some plants were not in bloom yet when their associates were already so far along. Perhaps some species are less anxious to bloom when such early warm weather occurs; rather, they might rely more on an internal clock. In any event, dwarf larkspur surprised us by blooming much earlier than normal years.

Blooming toad shade trillium (Trillium sessile) was a major surprise to me since I found a healthy patch near peak bloom last year in Athens County on April 24th - almost a month and a half later than this year! Granted, Adams county is two-hours south of that population.

Two other "firsts" for me were the state threatened Michaux's leavenworthia (Leavenworthia uniflora) and one of Ohio's rarest plants - the endangered little whitlow grass (Draba brachycarpa).

Among virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and yellow fumewort (corydalis flavula), we also came across two toothwort species, common blue violet (Viola sororia) , and many more. I'm already looking forward to visiting Adam's County again. Happy Spring!

The Ohio Fish and Wildlife Conference

This year, The University of Rio Grande was well represented at one of the largest natural resources conferences Ohio has to offer - The Ohio Fish and Wildlife Conference. As one of the three student chapters of The Ohio Chapter Wildlife Society (OCTWS), Rio was fortunate to be asked to operate and find donations for the raffle table. As the President of our chapter's TWS club, I was a bit nervous because our program is small; thus, there are a limited amount of available volunteers to help out with this project. But, I was pleasantly surprised when I showed up at the carpool meeting area in Nelsonville at 6am to find approximately 10 eager Rio students ready to volunteer! Andy Montoney, State Director of the Wildlife Services, asked us to seek out donations from any local vendors in the weeks leading up to the conference. All in all, club members were able to find donations such as personal photography, two homemade blue bird boxes, gift certificates, a walking stick, and many more items.

               

Jerry with a blue bird box that our student chapter built. Our professor, Don Althoff and his wife, Karen, were kind enough to design the box and let us use their tools. Also, some photography I donated.

              

It was very rewarding to see people choose my photography in the raffle!

Ultimately, everybody had a great time running the table, speaking to employers, and viewing presentations. I had a chance to step away from the table to view a particularly interesting topic for me presented by Roger Williams titled, "Using fire to restore forests and wildlife communities." Already looking forward to next year's conference as we've been asked to operate the raffle for th second year!