Sunday turned out to be the best day for Janet and me to begin exploring Pachaug State Forest, which is the largest one in Connecticut, with a total of 24,000 acres in parts of five towns, including Voluntown, where we began.
We had to adjust to not having signs to identify the trees and plants we were looking at. This place is pretty wild, not like the well-marked arboretum we’re used to!
There were a lot of unusual mushrooms, like the red one with white dots (above) and the huge rust colored ones sticking out of a stump (below)…
of a very tall stump
Next trip Janet is going to introduce me to me kayaking! Wonder if I’ll have to leave my camera on the shore…
What a fun day! I like the shelf fungus close-up picture. Have tried several times to photograph that without any success and here you have a beautiful shining picture. Bet you breathed easier after a day among all that greenery. Any mosquitoes?
Thanks, Kathy! I cannot take any credit for the way the way the picture came out, my little camera has a mind of its own. š I even think it is subject to mood swings…
It felt very good to be outside and getting a lot of exercise, in spite of the pesky mosquitoes and deer flies! Of course we picked a trail in a swampy area, but I think they’re everywhere this summer. We’ve had 7 inches more than average of precipitation so far this year – I haven’t had to water the garden even once yet. More rain due tonight…
I am drooling over your photographs — delightful!
Thanks, Laurie! I’m still wondering what the circumferences were of some of the huge stumps we saw. The mushrooms were pretty large, too… They must be enjoying the damp summer.
Hi Barbara,
Lovely photo’s, it certainly does look like a nice place to go for a walk.
It is amazing the things that can be found in places like this.
Thanks, magsx2! We were also thinking how pretty this forest might be in the fall when the leaves are turning color… It would be nice to have a place close by to do some leaf-peeping!
A nice set of pictures and words to remember our walk by. And not a word about getting lost! (We didn’t get lost, we just couldn’t find the blazed path for a bit!)
I came back and looked at my cultivated rhodies and none of them had the leaf “buds” remaining after they flowered. So there is some hope that all those buds we saw c o u l d turn into flowers yet!
I think we managed quite well to extricate ourselves from getting lost this time – better to retrace our steps when the trail inexplicably disappears than to find ourselves going around in circles again. š
Are you willing to go back in a week or so and see if there will be some flowers? The guide book did say the show would last until July 15th, and if all those things were buds it could be pretty spectacular if we can manage to be there at the ideal time…
Sure!
With kayaks next time.
š Oh well, maybe next year we’ll make it! š
How I laughed at your comment about a moody camera-ours must be related! I never know what mine will do. Lately it has been washing everything out into an acid green. But not always.
I loved this entry- it felt like you took us all along with you!
Oh my! Acid green doesn’t sound to healthy! Having an unpredictable camera sure makes life interesting – we can get great shots when we’re not even trying, and terrible ones when we’re trying our best. š
I’m happy you enjoyed the walk, Melissa! We were supposed to be seeing a rhododendron sanctuary in full bloom, but apparently we were too early and found an abundance of mushrooms and ferns instead…
A very nice walk I took with you!
We have mushrooms like those around here. All I can think of as I see them is “I wonder how poisonous those are?”
Happy you enjoyed the walk! Me, too – I grew up in the woods and I can still hear my parents voices admonishing us not to eat any mushrooms or berries because some of them are poisonous. It might be interesting to take a walk some day with a naturalist who could say with certainty which ones were safe to eat.
Thanks for taking us with you on your beautiful walk – your photos are great especially the ones of the mushrooms. I think I was was taught that bright colored mushrooms are the poisonous ones. Is that correct?
I have no idea, Rosie! I wouldn’t try any of them unless an expert assured me they were all right to eat! But they are so amazing to look at – I should have put a hand in the picture to illustrate how big they were – certainly larger than my hand!
I crave a forest!
The photos of mushrooms remind me of underwater coral reefs. Not so unusual, actually, as I can easily imagine swimming through the cool air and depthless trees of a lovely forest.
Aubrey, you made me think of the lines in a song:
“One sweet world
And in her breath Iām swimming”
~ Dave Matthews ā« (One Sweet World)
Mushrooms and coral reefs – wonders everywhere! Hope you find a way to enjoy a forest soon!
Looks like a fun outing. I love the mushrooms. They remind me of Colorado. I have never seen the red mushrooms here in Ohio.
I usually leave the camera behind when going out on the water unless I’m as certain as I can be that I (and it) won’t end up in the water.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed the red mushrooms around here before either. When my sister lived in Sweden for a year she discovered that red mushrooms with white dots were part of their Christmas decor. They had little bowls filled with moss and little hand-made mushrooms and four little advent candles. She made me one!
I think you’re right – I’ll have enough to do learning how to handle the kayak without worrying about keeping a camera dry!
Hi Barbara,
Seems like you had a fun day out in the forest. It looks fresh and the pictures are good too. Kayaking will be a real awesomefun, believe me! do try it out and let me know how you like it š And, Don’t forget to… Take Care!! š
Everything is lush and green this summer – we’ve had so much more rain than usual! I will let you know how the kayaking goes, but there probably won’t be any pictures of that experience! Do you get to go kayaking often? It must be beautiful being on the water where you live… I’ll be very careful! š