Monte Sano -- Dead Tree Edition

Google Maps reminded me Madison County Lake is closed on Wednesdays so I turned around and went to Monte Sano State Park again.  I've always said I walked 3 miles on flat land every morning so I could walk one mile up a mountain to take pictures of the sunrise.  I thought I might was well put that to the test.

It turns out -- between breaks, taking pictures and talking to folks -- it takes me an hour to walk the 1 and  1/4 miles up the Bankhead Trail to the Monte Sano overlook.  

I find it telling I didn't even bother taking a picture of the view once I got up there.  It was another overcast day.  I wasn't trying to beat the Sun and by the time I got up there it was way past the "golden hour".  (Not that there was one today.)  It was just a white, hot sky. But the wind was wonderful after the exertion of getting up there.

Nope, today's hike was the dead tree edition.

I assume I'll be playing around with a new subjects now that I'm not in the same place every morning. Whatever it is, I found myself looking in closer today.  I don't know what these plants are (Queen Anne's Lace?) but if they blossom, the trail will be very, very pretty for a while

There is a lot of rock under Huntsville and the surrounding mountains.  I keep reading the term "karst" so I guess I'll have to read up on it at some point in time.  There is rock, water and shade so there is lots and lots of moss.

Sometimes I envy the Westerners with their open forest floors.  I remember walking through a forest around Vail, Colorado amazed at the lack of vines, brambles and plant life on the forest floor.  You won't find that anywhere around here. Any open area is quickly put to use by the forest.

I will make the suggestion that the authorities-that-be rename this abandoned road the Chipmunk Trail.  I've never seen so many chipmunks in my life.  No foolin', I saw at least a dozen this morning.  They seem to be eating some part of the "tulips" (flower) that have fallen out of the tulip polars that line the trail.  I have no idea what portion of the flower that might be.  (Come to think of it, that might be what the deer were eating also.)

I think the overwhelming lesson I'll be learning is just how the forest takes care of itself.  A road is a minor obstacle when compared with the rock it has been eating for centuries. It will cover it with litter, vines, briars and dead trees too.

 Don Brown
May 19, 2021