Overcast with an extended break in the clouds allowing some sun through this afternoon.
I realized it had been quite some time since I last walked Mosquito Cove loop. Last summer or fall they worked to remove some logs that had proved challenging after an extensive blowdown a few years ago. I was curious to see the results.
I had forgotten about the gate. When I arrived at 3pm and saw it was scheduled to close at 4pm. I wasn’t concerned about my ability to make it around the loop in an hour in principle, however in practice it meant I couldn’t stop too much to look at stuff.
I took the overland route and made brief stops several times to check green Sphagnum mosses growing in the forest. All the ones I checked had branches in bundles of three, which I understand makes them not S. girgensohnii. I had previously assumed it was the typical forest Sphagnum, but that seems wrong now I’m not entirely sure, but I think these are all S. rubiginosum.
Coming around the point from Mosquito Cove, the trail was completely opened up compared to the last time I was around. Off the trail looks like a bit of a mess in places. Especially where they took out the larger fallen trees (my understanding is they resorted to explosives, as no other method was deemed possible to do without too high of risk).
On the shore side, there’s a place where a tree slid off the hill side. What’s left is steep, bare rock. In some ways it’s impressive that a tree was able to grow there in the first place. The one that fell looked to be at least a couple of feet in diameter.
I might have stopped to look at more along the way, but for the 4pm gate closure. I made it back with 15 minutes to spare. I could easily have blown through that if I had stopped to photograph mosses or liverworts more seriously.
With a half an hour to pass before ultimate this evening, I stopped at Sea Mart parking lot to watch. Heavy clouds lay over the sound, but above them, higher clouds took on some warm colors as the sunset.
I considered moving on, but decided to be patient and see how the clouds and color changed.
When I arrived at Moller Park, I could see the Sisters were looking quite striking covered in white snow with lavender and pink skies behind them. I didn’t figure it would last long, and still had 10 minutes before ultimate, so I made a quick trip across the bridge.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the scene, as I saw several other people taking pictures. I’m not sure I caught the peak of it, but I was close. I didn’t really have time to look for a nicer view (especially with other folks in places I might have been inclined to try). Even so, what I managed in the few minutes I had was striking. I could see the color was slowly fading as I drove back to the field.
We had to wait for Connor to play three on three. The weather was pleasant, and it was good to run around.
Connor joined me at the radio station after to record a conversation for tomorrow’s show. I decided to record it straight through instead of editing in an intro and outro recorded after the conversation. I’ve done this a few times before, but today was the first I’ve ever managed to wrap up at basically 59:00 even. Usually I have to edit out some pauses, ums, and uhs to get it down to time.
Today I published photojournal entries through the 11th. I have a similar number of days to be caught up for the month. If I could manage to publish one week’s worth of entries each day, it would take me over 300 days to work through the backlog.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
