trails

Summer Hiking

| terriaw

I don’t go hiking on the trails too often in summer because it can get pretty buggy (mosquitoes love me!) and muggy with our warm, humid summery days. Our weather has been all over the place lately, from temperatures in the 60s and breezy to 90s with a heat index. We’ve had a few nice weekends of low humidity and temps in the 70s to low 80s, so I’ve been able to spend time on the hiking trails the past couple weekends.

I love noticing all the sweet little flowers (er, maybe weeds) along the trail. They look dainty and fragile but they are usually vibrant and hardy.

I’ve also been noticing the bluest skies lately which means low humidity or haze in the atmosphere.

I’m still working from home for a little while longer, which is great but feels like too much time in front of computer screens, so I’ve been trying to soak up more fresh air, wide open spaces and time on the trails or in the woods.

Hope you are taking the time to pause or slow down, get out there and enjoy lovely summer days!

Sunday Are a Good Day For a Hike

| terriaw

Sundays are proving to be a great day for a hike. No snow on the trails yet, but the blue sky was wonderful.

Hiking has become such a wonderful reprieve lately to clear my head. Sometimes I’m just feeling tired and worn out but I go anyway, and I’m always happy I did. There’s not much wildlife activity these days, just a few crows and juncos here and there. I’ve only seen a handful of people on this trail lately so it’s been very peaceful.

Take A Hike

| terriaw

I left work a little early on my birthday to go for a hike before it got dark. It was wonderful to get out there!

One of my favorite things to do is hiking, especially in the woods, so I’m grateful to have a trail so close to my house. It’s always fun to see nature change through the seasons.

Afternoon Hike

| terriaw

It’s been over a month since I’ve been on the hiking trails! Life can get busy at times, and I forget to stop, take a deep breath and listen to the quiet in the woods.

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IMG_2471It always feels good to step away from the computer, get some exercise and breath in the fresh air. Often times, I end up doing a little treasure hunt, looking for a variety of colors, shapes, textures and patterns.

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IMG_2476It was just the mental pick-me-up I needed for a Monday afternoon! Happy hiking!

Terri

First Hike of Fall

| terriaw

We went on our first hike of Fall over the weekend! It felt great to be on the trails again, exploring the woods.

indian lake trail

woods at Indian Lake

Remember that old hollow tree I love so much? It’s still toppled over.

broken hollow tree

me in the hollow tree

It’s still early in the season, and we’ve had a lot of warm, sunny days lately, so we didn’t see a lot of fall colors yet.

leaves starting to turn

sweet gum trees turning color autumn leaf on the trail autumn maple leaf on the trail

indian lake Hope you’re out enjoying Fall too!

Terri

Field Notes: Summer On the Bike Trail

| terriaw

We have a great bike trail near our house, so it’s become a new routine to go for a long bike ride on Sundays when we’re in town and the weather is nice. We also like to turn it into a field day of identifying all the wildflowers, birds and bugs along the way.
bike riding the trail

bike trail

We found milk thistle, wild phlox, pasture rose, ox-eye daisies, common milkweed, golden alexander, queen anne’s lace, a big ole feather, lots of bees, chipmunks, red admiral butterflies, cabbage white butterflies, cardinals and red-winged blackbirds.trail scenic views

Field Notes-Trail Collage1

queen annes lacetrail wildflowersField Notes-Trail Collage2trail feather

trail

It’s always a fun day on the trails! Hope you’re making time to go outside and enjoy summer.

Terri

In the Woods

| terriaw

There’s nothing like a hike in the woods to kick off the Fall season.

at Indian Lake trail at Indian Lake trail

goldenrod at Indian Lake trailThese woods were full of lichen, moss, mushrooms and all sorts of other hidden treasures.
 lichen at Indian Lake trail lichen at Indian Lake trail lichen at Indian Lake trail

acorn in the woods

mushrooms at Indian Lake trail ferns at Indian Lake trail

wild asters at Indian Lake trailWhen we started out on this trail, I was complaining that I never see an owl in the wild. A few minutes later we heard an owl hoot really loud! We looked for it the rest of the day, but the only wildlife we saw were blue jays and woodpeckers.

I’m looking forward to hitting this trail again soon to see some of the fall color that seems to be popping up overnight. Hope you’re enjoying some fresh air this Fall season.

Terri

Back on the Trails

| terriaw

When Fall weather arrives, we are ready to hit the trails. Another one of my favorite things to do is to go hiking.

trail in September

I love treasure hunting for artifacts on the trails and in the woods.

oak leaves and acorns on the trail

It’s especially fun to find hidden critters.

chipmunk hiding

I think it’s magical to see all the different textures, colors and shapes hidden in plain sight in the woods.

Queen Annes Lace closed

Queen Annes Lace opening

Queen Annes Lace

Queen Annes LaceI love to take notice of how the same plants create different textures, shapes and colors as they mature.

wild sunflower opening wild sunflowerWe also noticed a few different types of ferns in these woods.

ferns

fern fernNot only were the exercise and fresh air good for the soul, but all this photo reference will be great for filling up my sketchbook with more illustrations.

Terri

 

 

 

Exploring In My Backyard

| terriaw

I was hoping we would get a chance to go hiking again last weekend, but we had too many other things to do.

So I settled for exploring in our yard.

It’s always fun to take notice of the variety of colors in Autumn while there’s still green leaves on the trees.

I noticed of a lot of red, orange and yellow, so it was fun to compose my photos with those combinations.

Our lawn was practically carpeted in leaves of all sizes, shapes, colors, and random overlaps.

I’m usually excited at the beginning of each season, but once leaf peeping is past and most of the leaves are on the ground, I feel a little sad, missing that foliage which provides cover in our backyard park. My mom pointed out to me a couple years ago that it’s nice to be able to admire the architecture of trees when the leaves start falling.

That idea really stuck with me, so once I’m tired of drawing leaves, I look forward to practicing drawing tree skeletons without leaves. Seeing something with a fresh perspective keeps me from feeling melancholy about the bareness coming with late fall / early winter.

Thank you for stopping by!