Knobstone Trail, IN

Long in the planning, our Knobstone Trail hike finally materializes! Here we are at the trail head, ready to depart. From L to R: Steve, Jennifer, Paul McAfee, Savannah (four legs) and Tim Geradot. Pic by Paul McAfee.

Getting the hydration system tweaked (two engineers, no troubles).

Paul, Tim and Jennifer: ridge runners all of them.

A bit of rain? No problem. Just put on your pink 100 gallon garbage bag moo-moo pack cover!

Leaky tent? Just set it under a tarp. Seem redundant? Not when you end up dry!

How many people does it take to start a simple campfire? At least 3: one to light matches, one to blow on embers, one to pray (the rain was a drizzle now and we really had to work at this fire).

But all was well. Night #1's fire was exquisite:

And, ohhh the nature! A few sightings:

Female Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma dentricus)

Yellow-haired Dagger Moth (Acronicta impleta) caterpillar

Arrowhead Orb Weaver (Verrucosa arenata)

Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)

Lycopodium

Eastern hardwoods and mist...a better combo we could not think of....

Bleeding fairy helmets (Mycena haematopus) - reddish mushrooms below

Beech-Maple forest on the moist landforms....

Oak-Hickory on the dry. Nature's mosaic draped over the land, how cool is that!?

Bedrock exposed in the creek bottoms.

Creekside and on lower slopes with moist, thick soil is where we saw the finest of Paw-Paw patches. Seemed tropical...

No matter where we are in nature, we find nature's grandeur w/o too much trouble...

Gray Treefrog (Hyla sp.)

Other than all the nature sighting we also hammered out solutions to the world's problems so watch for the publication!.